EA Sports Madden 25 Review
By Cian Crowdy
Note: A Review code was provided by the publisher and the review was carried out on an Xbox Series X.
With the NFL Season underway, it can only mean one thing! It’s time for the annual release of the long-running simulation football series Madden. Smaller improvements are all we got for the last few years. So the question to answer is, does Madden 25 take big strides or is it baby steps again?
Gameplay
The answer is…. kind of???
I will admit, after playing EA Sports College Football 25, Madden 25’s movements feel noticeably slower, but there have been significant improvements on either side of the ball, let’s start with the defence from the new Boom Tech that helps deliver those big hits through the “hit stick” improvements and a new physics-based tackling system. Depending on your defender’s point of attack, height, weight, and your “right stick movement timing” then the attacker could simply bounced off your tackle, or he could get tackled held up, or driven to the ground or smash through and cause them to fumble. There are multiple versions of this outcome which helps avoid the feeling that you are locked into animations.
The timing of the boom tech is supported with on-screen feedback letting you know if you were early, hit the ideal timing, or came in too late. There is a risk and reward with this mechanic, time it too early and the attackers would have an empty field ahead of them, time it right and it could be a huge stop or turnover.
Another new Defence feature is the “Swap” feature. This allows you to move the stick and quickly take control of another player, so you can rush the QB as a lineman for example, and quickly move the stick and take control of the player nearest the ball to then try to make an important interception.
The commentary teams in Madden now have multiple options to choose from, from the regular “Brandon Gaudin & Charles Davis “ to “Kate Scott and Brock Huard”. The last option is “Mike Tirico and Greg Olsen “ with each team bringing their own style to the commentary, with Greg Olden and Brock Huard bringing the added insight from being former players. The different options do deliver different commentary lines and how they react to events taking place is noticeable. This is very much a personal choice, with the Mike Tirico being my least favourite.
The new HUD and opening presentation are slightly improved from last year, with different cut scenes during warm-ups etc. But like elsewhere these get repetitive after seeing the same one repeat after several games.
Player models look incredibly realistic with new face scans added this year that help make touchdown celebrations more fun, especially when tied in with the clips of the bench joining in with the celebrating. But I think Madden could have taken a page from College Football with the number of celebrations as we quickly see the same ones appearing several times during a game.
Player animations have been improved both on and off the field with new tackle animations. I’ve seen the improvement in tacking as mentioned at the start, the different tackles from the DB, Edge rushers etc, all have a different style of tacking. You can see improved animations for better throwing, catching, and tackling.
Madden’s core game modes this year are as follows; Madden Ultimate Team, Franchise Mode, Superstar and Training Camp. In quick play, you have your local, online head-to-head, pro bowl and superstar ko.
Ultimate Team is still largely the same as last year, open packs and build your team, although some new sets and challenges have been added for you to complete with a new layout.
Franchise mode this year has several real improvements over the last few years, the commissioner settings are the same as last year, adjusted draft class strength, and trade difficulty. I’ve started joining several Madden leagues, the overall menu is more streamlined with stats on the main screen.
Added to franchise /superstar and training camp are mini-games, these range from skill passing with target passing, to rushing attacks, WR battles and a backfield survival (think of it as the gauntlet a few years ago) for the defence side, coverage battle, db battle, trench battle, and of course special teams with punt roulette, kicking to corner and Field goal events. Some new mini-games have been added for several positions.
Superstar mode is Madden’s latest version of The Longshot. A story-driven career mode where you can customise a character and adjust your play style for the position you play and enjoy a narrative emerging.
The positions you can play are QB, WR, RB or on defence. To start you take part in the combine with a few mini-games (which aren’t seen again, not even in training camp) then you can take a Multiple-choice questionnaire to see how well your IQ in football knowledge. From this you get drafted, this time with your player showing up on the stage with the NFL commissioner, over each week you may get a cut scene in the training room, press conference or practice field, with a Multiple-choice question that could give you buff or disadvantage you in the next game. Your character can be upgraded with skill points that can be used to upgrade skills such as throwing power, catching and more. Even add options to change your character celebration.
The overall goal of your character is to get to the 99 Club. From Playing this mode the same issues occur from last year, being on the offensive side of the ball is a lot of fun, be being an LB, or CB is not, as no plays head in your direction etc. I do like that you are shown your progress on the top right, e.g. A+, B etc. Your player can be customised from throwing style as a QB, You can bring your created player into a 3 v 3 mode called superstar showdown, to try to rank up your player via this mode. It is a lot of fun if you have 2 other friends playing, but if you take anything less than a 90 player into it then you’d struggle against the online player.
Overall: Madden NFL 25 is a reasonably good game; It feels like much of the effort put into it was well-intentioned, and the animations for tacking are a lot better and realistic, even with the improved “boom tech” players can still bounce off tackles, I think that needs to be nerfed. Defence is a lot smarter with coverage and positioning.
I would have liked to see a bit more polish with some cut scenes, I would like something to unlock like in F1 23 from team history, stickers, or even a short video. A few bugs did appear in Face of the Franchise and during gameplay combined with some clipping issues with players going through white walls in the scene after a match which ultimately takes the shine off the whole experience.
SCORE: 3 /5
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