Madden NFL 25 comes at a crossroads for NFL video games; at the close of the last console generation, EA SPORTS and 2K Sports were locked in a bitter competition for the market share. Nearly 10 years later, Madden NFL is the lone game remaining and set for a dual release on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 as well as later this year on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. As the franchise celebrates 25 years of existence, it’s as good a time as any to reflect on what the game has achieved and what still needs to be done for the game to be as great as the league it represents.
As a single game trying to carry the history of 25 years, Madden NFL 25 is a difficult entry to assess. The revisions of the Infinity Engine from last year’s Madden NFL 13 result in a better overall gameplay experience, but the introduction of the “Precision Modifier” to the running game controls—part of the overall #RunFree marketing for the game—actually serves to needlessly complicate the experience of playing the game. For many, it may prove easier to use the left and right analog sticks for ballcarriers—just as in previous football games from EA SPORTS, like this year’s earlier NCAA Football 14 release—to achieve success moving the ball on offense.
Unfortunately, additions and improvements to offense in Madden NFL 25 have not truly been met with equal improvements to the defensive side of the ball, leaving gameplay unbalanced in favor of the offense; a common complaint in football video games, for certain, but frustrating here nonetheless. Heat Seeker tackling and Ballhawk interception assists try to keep the defense on equal footing, but CPU quarterbacks can still too easily post completion percentages in the 70-80% range, making games a battle of attrition instead of the chess game that football should be.
The game continues to look great visually, but Presentation remains stale, particularly when compared to the statistical tracking and broadcast elements of NCAA Football 14. Commentary features some new lines from second-year duo Jim Nantz and Phil Simms—supplemented by new commentary from sideline reporter Danielle Bellini—but the overall presentation is still lacking in terms of being able to convey the gravity of important games over the course of the season in Connected Franchise Mode, save for the Super Bowl; even then, the presentation for the biggest game of them all will be all too familiar for anyone who has played Madden NFL in the past three or four years of release.
Speaking of Connected Franchise Mode, this year’s revision of the career mode—where gamers can assume the role of Players, Coaches, and Owners—helps to build a lot of goodwill with longtime fans of the franchise. The ability to control Owners and make decisions big and small for their team—ranging from which player’s jerseys are marketed, to the prices of concessions, to big decisions like relocating a franchise and choosing a new name, uniform set, and stadium—helps to provide plenty of off-field tasks for players to be engrossed in, especially with the ability to access all of these experiences in a full 32-user online league. While one would like to see a more persistently-updated XP notification system like what was present in NCAA Football 14’s Dynasty mode this year, the career offerings of the Madden NFL franchise continue to trend in a positive direction.
Fans of modes like Madden Ultimate Team will see some new additions to their favorite part of the game, including Chemistry and Head-to-Head Seasons which have been brought over from FIFA Ultimate Team. Not all modes have seen improvements like these; indeed, “GMC Never Say Never Moments” (rebranded from the previous mode title “Madden Moments Live”) and Online Team Play (a focal addition to Madden NFL 11, largely untouched since its debut) are tucked away from the main menu, not nearly as touted as the Play Now, CFM, and MUT experiences.
Madden NFL 25 on the current-generation of consoles—specifically the PS3, in this case—is by no means a bad game, or a game unworthy of being played by fans of video game football or the NFL. It is, however, caught in a difficult position; its launch coincides with the start of the NFL season—a key time for any fan of the league—but the game’s release on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 lies less than three months away. With good trade-in programs being announced for players wanting to upgrade their experience heading to next-gen, Madden NFL 25 on current consoles can certainly be a stopgap or holdover until the franchise debuts on a new console generation. However, the start of this new generation will hold high expectations for Madden NFL as a series, and results will need to exceed what was achieved in this year’s game in order for those expectations to be met.
2K’s cancellation of its MLB series leaves The Show with no rival, which isn’t a good thing, as history shows.
Imo Fifa was superior to PES from 08-10. But PES has really upped the ante since then. Lets be honest though Fifa sells loads more becasue EA has all those licensees snatched up and Konmai cant touch them. Try selling your football game in Germany when you aren't allowed the rights to the Bundesliga. Or in England when you cant call it Liverpool but rather Merseyside Red and the team dons a fake kit?
On the flip side in countries where PES has rights to said league ie Brasil, Japan, Argentina, Chile - sales are much closer or PES outsells Fifa. While the PES community creates option files that can rectify missing kits and teams I dont blame people for choosing Fifa if they want those licenses in box. However to look at the two games and say well one is a masterpiece and the other is just meh ignoring the advances its made is completely false. That seems to be the narrative when comparing the two games.
"The Show with no rival, which isn’t a good thing"
well, it's not like The Show was already raping all the other baseball games anyway.....
Exactly the show is probably the only sports game that doesnt need competition because its been smashing 2k since '09 There's a reason its the best rated sports franchise
What about NBA Live that had a rival and it just got worse and worse every time. Maybe some games dont need competition, they could just challenge themselfs to make it better than last years.
@hyper its harder for basketball because its so many things going on at once baseball is essentially pitch hit catch throw its not that hard to perfect that
I agree. Madden has been horrible since the NFL exclusivity license came out. (Not that it was great before) I miss the 2K NFL games.
I agree. I dont think the problem here is competition. Mlb 2k backed out because the show was that good. If the show starts to suck, someone will swoop in and try to take over. The potential for competition is still there. With madden they paid to get rid of competion which is different. Madden was the worse game. This has to suck for baseball fans on xbox though.
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We all saw this with Madden! Still a good game but absolutely no real reason to buy it every year with the exception of an updated roster and stats.
Which could be done via a patch if EA wanted to!!!
MLB: The Show is routinely good quality, but with no competition, the developers can slack off. It happened with Madden; once it was the only American football game available, the developers had no one to one-up. Competition drives improvement, as companies are always trying to be better than each other, with consumers reaping the benefits.
Fans had to settle with Madden; there was no other option. Hopefully, The Show doesn't go down that road, but if it does, I wouldn't be surprised.
PlayStation Beat: EA had some headline worthy issues in 2013 when it came to their online focused games. For this new year, EA should focus on their single player efforts.
their multiplayers are grand it's where the money is made (see COD and BF4), what they need to do is invest in a decent server set-up, stress test em for a large number of gamers and release a game without a huge amount of crippling/game ruining bugs
There is still a market for a great single player experience. RPG's like DA Origins, Dark Souls, Skyrim and The Witcher series prove that. They obviously need both single and multiplayer games. Divide and conquer! (and don't dumb down)
It may not celebrate its past in a way that fans would have hoped (it doesn’t really celebrate it at all to be honest), but anniversary or not, Madden NFL 25 represents the best Madden release in years and the most enjoyable, brutal and lifelike representation of the sport to date.
