Madden 25 Review
Madden 25 celebrates twenty-five years of football by adding a couple of minor tweaks to the core game that you either love or hate. Or are indifferent to.
Look and sound wise, Madden 25 is as hit or miss as picking a Manning in the postseason. At its best, the commentary is reminiscent of an actual broadcast, but at its worse, is disjointed and stoic. But the good moments usually outweigh the bad. The players on the sideline look uneven, and in a lot of cases, indistinguishable, especially when it is not a starting quarterback or running back.
As sadly, is kind of expected at this point, the football part of this year’s Madden – aside from some minor tackle animation touch ups – is almost identical to Madden 13. If you are looking for something that will blow you away with an overload of new or a super polished version of last year’s game, this is not the right place to look. That being said, the game plays as solidly and looks as good as it ever has.
Perhaps the most noticeable addition on the football side is an emphasis on the read option. Most of this year’s Madden playbooks, as with the NFL IRL, have at least a couple of read option plays. Using these adds another threat to the arsenal of mobile QBs, and mastering it will lead to big plays and lots of points. But as with the read option game in the NFL IRL, after a while it is easy to figure out, and stop, if not used at only the most appropriate time. But still, it is nice to see that Madden tries to stay as true and current to the NFL IRL.
Among the minor tweaks I mentioned are the improved running controls. Ball handlers now feel like they move more freely and fluidly than they ever have. Along with the new, "free-er" movement comes a new arsenal of abilities, by way of the new precision modifier activated by simultaneously holding the left trigger and pushing any of the face buttons or the right stick. These new abilities include a stronger, Demaryius Thomas-esque stiff arm that will make defenders look like Ike Taylor if used properly and more precise juke and spin moves that would make Tony Parker jealous.
While the "free-er" sense of movement is nice and very much noticeable, especially when compared to previous iterations, the new abilities are way too nuanced and difficult to properly use for anybody aside from likely only the most committed Madden players.
The ability to properly use them can widen the gap the rookies from the vets even more, which can be a good or bad thing, depending on which you are. If it were always two All-Madden type players playing each other, it allows for the opportunity of numerous awe inspiring, "I need to save this replay" moments.
Thankfully, or un-thankfully, the use of the precision modifier is not vital to success, and most players will be just fine ignoring the new, only slightly more effective moves in favor of the conventional spins, trucks, jukes, and stiff arms if they really want to. And that's kind of a shame when you consider that more movements and animations, especially those of the precise nature, are always a welcomed addition to a sports game. But ultimately, they provide more cool looking moments, but not many more instances of practical use.
In the pantheon of Madden features, it's nowhere near as useless as the Madden IQ of 2009, but I also do not think it is as much of a game changer as something like the Hit Stick was in 2005. With some refinement and more emphasis put on it, I could see if becoming something similar to the Hit Stick.
The other big addition this year is the Connected Franchise mode, which combines the names of last year's Connected Careers and previous years' franchise modes. Beyond the new, cool name, it is basically just any other franchise mode where you are able to play with up to thirty one of your friends (or totally normal, trustworthy people you meet online).
What’s different with Madden is the ability to take the role an NFL owner, player, or coach, with each role responsible for specific things. Wanna take a player from third string guard to the 21st century version of Gene Upshaw? Well, you have some weird tastes in what you want from your Madden. But you can do it! As a player, your only real responsibility is to, well, play. Basically exactly like the Superstar mode of the past, you have control of your player, and your player only. As a coach, you handle every aspect of the team; scheme management, personnel decisions, etc., and at the same time, you play every game as you would any game of Madden. Being an owner gives you all those options plus some options that will make you feel like you are playing a Tycoon game. You set merchandise prices, concession prices, ticket prices, manage your staff, renovate or rebuild your stadium and be able to relocate and rename your team.
All and all, it is what you would expect from a sports franchise mode. The Tycoon like things you do as an owner are nice, but they are not anything especially new or exciting. But they do give people who invest a lot of time into the mode another layer to sink their teeth into.So, aside from those additions, what was done to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Madden? Well, they added loading screens that spotlight milestone editions of Madden over the years. And… uh, Barry Sanders is on the cover! Besides those things, this is essentially what Madden ‘14 would have been with a different name. You get your roster update with all the modes one would expect, which is okay, but given the amount of promotion, and really, commotion the 25th anniversary thing has gotten, I feel like they missed some opportunities to make this one feel like more of a celebration of the series. Even some small things like having a gallery of the different covers or maybe having some kind of retrospective would have made this feel like something special and more worthy of purchase. Instead, it just another iteration with lip service paid to the anniversary, but nothing in the game to make it seem important.One of my favorite modes from last year’s Madden was Madden Ultimate Team, a mode where players, contracts, jerseys, stadiums, coaches, injury cards, and playbooks are all turned to trading cards that were auctioned off, or bought and sold with in game currency that is earned through winning games against other players or by completing challenges. I am not doing it justice with my words, and the true joy of finding that Darrelle Revis you want available for cheap on the auction block, or beating that last challenge to get the coin you needed to reload the contracts on your players.Sadly, Madden ultimate Team has gone through some changes that, in my opinion, unnecessarily complicates the version of last year. Others may appreciate the added layer of depth that comes with having to manage team chemistry and schemes, but I prefer the simplicity of Ultimate Team from Madden 13.
Overall, the football part of Madden 25 is exactly what veterans of the series would expect. If rookies wanted to get into the series, and do not want to wait for the upcoming next gen versions, they may as well get in now. There are no revolutionary changes to this specific edition, which is neither a good or bad thing; it is what it is. There are just enough changes in the franchise and Ultimate Team modes for you to justify a purchase, as long as those changes appeal to you. But if you have no interest in the NFL IRL, this is not one of the rare sports games that transcend sport fandom and appeal to just anybody.