San Francisco 49ers fans should be happy — or maybe unhappy — to see running back Christian McCaffrey as the cover athlete for Madden NFL 25. It depends on whether they believe in the Madden curse. (Electronic Arts)
Electronic Arts was ahead of the game when it comes to creating the Madden NFL series. The venerable football series launches each year, and there’s a handful of improvements along with a roster update. Every once in a while, the developers push the genre forward in terms of graphics or gameplay, but otherwise, the series is all about incremental upgrades.
The video game’s production cycle is comparable to the iPhone. Apple’s flagship product generally stays the same with refinements over a few years before the smartphone receives a huge redesign. It essentially means that year after year, the improvements aren’t exciting, but every once in a while, there’s an iPhone worth the hype.
Big on small refinements
I see that same approach to the Madden NFL series. Some years, the game is an essential purchase while other iterations can be skipped. With Madden NFL 25, gamers experience an update that again refines longtime franchise elements but doesn’t necessarily offer anything groundbreaking.
The developer has added what it calls Boom Tech to its animation-branching system. The feature now calculates physics into player tackles and collisions that impact the defense and running game. EA Tiburon backs up these changes with skill-focused tweaks to the Hit Stick and ball-carrier skills with the Setup State that allows gamers to fake out defenders for bigger gains. Receivers also have a spectacular catch option that expands their radius at the expense of a higher chance of dropping the ball.
These changes improve the realism and offer gamers a higher degree of control while also benefiting the highly skilled gamers. It’s the type of incremental improvements that casual fans will gloss over, but hard-core Madden gamers will appreciate.
In Superstar Mode, gamers can create a player and control his career from his college days all the way through his pro career. In this most recent Madden NFL edition, if a gamer created a player in Road to Glory in College Football 25, the player can be imported into Madden NFL 25. (Electronic Arts)
Different approaches to gameplay
The challenge of designing a game like Madden is to keep the franchise accessible to a wide range of skills and fans, and EA Tiburon has done it by adding more modes and ways to play. Madden NFL 25 maintains this effort through the Ultimate Team, Franchise Mode and Superstar Mode.
Over the years, Franchise Mode has faded in importance and Ultimate Team, a type of fantasy football, has gained in prominence. EA Tiburon now puts it front and center. The mode starts gamers off with a squad of average players and lets them add to their roster by opening packs and collecting cards. The developers have refined this part of the gameplay in the past iterations by adding more role-playing game elements.
Ultimate Team is also where Madden NFL 25 makes more money through microtransactions while also extending the life of the game beyond the Super Bowl. Meanwhile, the Franchise Mode has mostly stayed the same as gamers can take on the role of coach or owner and manage different aspects of building a team into a championship contender.
It remains an all-encompassing experience and it’s where gamers can spend hundreds of hours scouting, negotiating contracts, upgrading players and coaches while building a dynasty that stands the test of time. It can even be played as a multiplayer league. With so many areas to monitor, it’s the most demanding and intimidating mode.
I actually preferred Superstar, which allows gamers to create a player and control his career from their college days all the way to the twilight of a pro career. What’s new to this mode is that gamers can import a player created in Road to Glory in College Football 25. Madden NFL 25 will keep track of the player’s college history and mention it in the draft and during broadcasts.
This is an option that gamers haven’t had in years, but with the return of a college football game, it opens a new avenue for Madden NFL 25 to grow. The Superstar isn’t as cinematic as past efforts, but it does the job of letting gamers feel as though they’re a burgeoning NFL star. The mode does have microtransactions as well if they want to give their athlete a boost.
For those who have friends over, Quick Play offers a short diversion. It’s simple and direct, a fantastic option for newcomers. The developers offer Training Camp, a mode where players can check out Mini Games, Skills Trainer or a free-form Training Practice. The option is a great way to learn about how to play video game football, and it will also deepen gamers’ understanding of the sport.
Madden NFL 25 isn’t groundbreaking, but for fans who haven’t played the game in a few years, it’s worth the price of admission.
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One
Online: ea.com/games/madden-nfl
