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Madden NFL 25
INTRO
The annual installment of Madden NFL Football has arrived and no, today is not August 27th, 2024. EA named this year’s version of the game Madden NFL 25 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the game. With the launch of the PS4 announced and the launch of the Xbox expected within the week, there has been lots of concern in the community as to whether Madden NFL 25 on the PS3 and Xbox 360 would get the attention the community expects. While there are things that still require some attention, it is safe to say that if you liked Madden NFL 13, you will find a lot to like about Madden NFL 25.
PRESENTATION
For the most part, presentation is improved in Madden 25 but there are still areas that could use a little polish as it moves into the PS4/Xbox One era. Jim Nantz and Phil Simms have returned to the booth and for the most part their commentary is on point. There is still the occasional comment that comes across as odd, for example Phil saying a last minute TD in a blowout as “closing the gap” when the game is effectively over. Danielle Bellini is an excellent addition as the new sideline reporter and provides timely commentary on injuries and updates from the team. One thing that jumps out at me is seeing the stands at Lambeau Field half empty for a playoff game due to inclement weather. That would never happen in real life and should be addressed in future releases.
There are more than 60 player celebrations in the game this year with several fan favorites like the Colin Kaepernick “Bicep Kiss” and Clay Matthews “Predator” added to the game. The popular Cam Newton “Superman” was removed this year and replaced with his “Flip the Ball to Fans” celebration. Aaron Rodgers “Championship Belt” celebration was in the game last year but never looked right. This year, it has been fixed and looks as it should on the field.
One of the biggest things that fans ask for each year has been the halftime show which is effectively missing again in Madden NFL 25. EA has the ESPN license in its possession and it would be great to see a halftime show that leveraged that license on next gen.
GAMEPLAY
The Infinity Engine 2.0 that made its debut in last month’s release of NCAA Football 14 is included in Madden NFL 25. This is where the game really stands out over last year. Running up the middle was almost impossible at times and this year you are able to follow your blockers with more success. The “Run Free” feature brings precise control to your ball carrier using the left stick and the right stick can be used for a series of “Precision Modifiers” that cover the gamut of spin moves, jukes and trucks. Combos are possible and those gamers who also play fighting games might find them to be very reminiscent of the old Street Fighter II or Killer Instinct series. User controlled “sprint” returns this year after being an automatic feature last year. I’m glad to see it return but I am sure the community will have a split opinion.
The AI for defensive backs still allows money plays on curl and slant routes but I did notice improvement on the zone defenses that were lacking in Madden 13. The exploit for “Ball Hawk” abuse has been fixed this year and you can no longer just hold the button from the time of snap.
CPU AI was hit or miss in the games that I played. Where it did show improvement in late game situations, the CPU would also run the clock down to 2 seconds before snapping the ball in situations where that would never happen in a real life NFL game. The CPU QB’s also have incredible accuracy in the game. They were routinely hitting upwards of 80% completion in games, even on the All-Madden difficulty setting. Hopefully most of the CPU AI issues can be addressed in the first post launch patch that we will likely see within a few weeks.
CONNECTED FRANCHISE MODE
This is where Madden NFL 25 really shines for the hardcore videogame football fan. The return of Owner Mode adds the level of granular control over your franchise that makes sure your plate is always full. From managing your stadium and merchandising all the way to setting the price of hot dogs, there is always something that requires your attention with Owner Mode. Team relocation is also included and allows you to choose from a list of eligible cities, team names and uniforms.
The ability to use a custom roster is a welcome feature this year. League commissioners will be able to import draft classes from NCAA Football 14, the gaming community or use the ones generated by the game. If you read our interview with CFM Lead Designer Josh Looman earlier this year, you’ll recall that he said his goal was to make draft cheat sheets obsolete for the draft classes generated by the game. His team has done a great job in achieving that goal.
Last year, the website to manage your league provided a lot of great features but at times could be sluggish to load. The preview version of the site that I looked at over the weekend appears to load much faster and have a cleaner interface.
Absent again this year is the ability to manage a draft board either on the web or in the game. When you are dealing with a 32 owner league, it is impossible for everyone to be available at one time in order to draft. This would be a non-issue if you could set a draft board with the players that you scouted by position. Instead you either have to trust someone with your online login information to draft on your behalf or hope that the CPU doesn’t draft a player that you had no interest in whatsoever going into the draft.
There were only 2 things that puzzled me about Connected Franchise Mode. First, with all of the attention paid within the mode to social media and even adding new Twitter personalities this year it is odd that you can no longer have your league interact with Twitter. In Madden 13, a commissioner could tie the virtual Twitter feed from within your league to an actual Twitter account so that you could keep up with your league news on the go. This feature stopped working around May of this year and our contacts at EA were not able to provide an answer as to why. This year, it’s completely gone though you can still share the results of your games to facebook.
Secondly, and this could just be the fact that your friendly neighborhood reviewer couldn’t find them but where are the new commissioner controls? We heard about them in interviews with EA and they are even mentioned in the media kit that came with the advance copy but if they are there, I can’t find them. League commissioners, especially those in leagues that play the game with 32 owners year round, need the ability to put owners on autopilot via the web portal.
EDIT: EA confirmed that the commissioner controls are the ability to see how many times a game has been restarted (available in Madden 12 but not last year) and the ability to reset salary cap penalties.
Madden Ultimate Team (MUT)
Admittedly, this is not an area where I have spent a lot of time in Madden’s past but I realize there is a segment of the Madden audience that is just as fanatical about it as I am Connected Franchise. That said, I have spent a reasonable amount of time in this mode over the past few days and find it to be very enjoyable.
You are able to compete online against other players with the “Head to Head Seasons” mode that allows you to even compete in the playoffs against other owners provided your team has the record to make the cut. The “Chemistry” feature returns this year and allows you to build team chemistry by completing certain objectives as you play through.
CONCLUSION
In the end, Madden NFL 25 does a lot more right than it does wrong. There is always room for improvement as we look forward to the next generation of consoles but the development team has shown consistent progress over the past 3 releases so there is reason for continued optimism as Madden regains some of the glory of the PS2/Xbox years. Madden NFL 25 is the best football game of this generation.
SCORE 8.5
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