It's that time of year again-- time to lace up the cleats, throw on the shoulder pads, and pick up our controller for some gaming on the gridiron with this year's Madden, Madden 25. This 25th anniversary edition of the Madden franchise highlights its prowess as the official football game for NFL junkies. The Madden franchise has certainly seen its ups and downs and received its bumps and bruises along the way, but is Madden 25 the ankle wrap the Madden franchise needed, or will this latest iteration force some Madden players into retirement?
EA's Infinity Engine returns for a second year in Madden 25, and while there have been upgrades added, it also hasn't improved upon some of the issues in last year's iteration. On the plus side, there is a significant addition of player animations, including exciting touchdown reactions, tackle animations, and sideline banter between players. But, on the down side, the physics quirks from Madden 13 are still seen in Madden 25. At times, players contort awkwardly in a way that would make the mightiest NFL player cringe.
EA has provided some seemingly minor improvements to Madden that actually have a significant impact on how the game plays. Probably the most notable improvement in Madden 25 is the games preservation of a running back's momentum. Even when bumping into your offensive lineman, your running back uses his opposite hand to push off of the lineman to create some space, thus not losing his momentum. Gone is the annoyance of bumping into your offensive line and falling backwards. There's a definite feel of having more control with your ball-carrier.
The new defensive mechanics also stand-out as major improvements, with the addition of switch assist and heat seeker. These mechanics allow you to switch your defensive player to the one closest to the intended receiver and potentially get an easier interception or at least swat down the ball. There's also an improvement to tackling; tackling in Madden 25 gets rid of the apparent guesswork tackling that was abundant in Madden 13. Players have a greater control of the direction of their tackles, which opens the door for some huge, bone-crushing hits which will satisfy those out to damage Tony Romo their least favorite NFL player.
Madden 25 provides for the best Madden presentation yet, but, again, there are some minor snags. Sure, the players, coaches, animations and actual stadium all look incredible (which are all really what matters). However, terrible sideline camera angles that unintentionally zoom in on the side of a player's helmet and incredibly bad designs for the cars and area around the stadiums prevent Madden 25 from being visual excellence. The crowd still looks absolutely terrible, and hopefully we will see a major difference in the next gen iteration of Madden 25 when it releases.
Madden players that aren't seasoned veterans to the franchise are in luck, as this year's Skills Trainer is one of the best ways to learn effective tactics that we've seen in the franchise's history. Each drill begins with a brief tutorial video showing players how to do what the drill is asking them to do. It's a simple explanation of the many new elements added in Madden 25, including Ball Hawk, the Precision Modifier, and the new Stumble Recovery mechanic. There are also other “bonus” tutorial videos that briefly go over Madden 25's other elements that aren't covered in the drills.
Players that enjoy franchise mode and more than just the everyday exhibitions have plenty of toys to play with; some old and some new. Although EA has renamed the career mode to Connect Franchise mode, the heart of the gameplay remains the same. Players can chose to play as a player, coach or owner and tailor their favorite team to their liking. Players can choose to play as one of the many player legends included, such as cover-star Barry Sanders, as well as Dan Marino, Mike Ditka, and many more (you can also use Ditka as a coach).
Madden 25 also feels more socially connected. Some of the game contains the ability to upload your victories directly to your Facebook page to brag to your friends online. However, the status update isn't available for all modes, as the option isn't available while playing in an offline exhibition match-up. On top of that, players can now share custom rosters to keep them up-to-date.
Like all of the Madden games in the past, Madden 25 does have a major annoyance. For one, there are way too many injuries in Madden 25. While I was playing an offline game as the Dolphins, Tannehill got hurt, Dustin Keller got hurt, my CB got hurt, and then Daniel Thomas got hurt. By the end of the game, it felt like I was left playing with my B squad. This wasn't the only game that had too many occurrences of injuries, though, as it happens all too frequently. Hopefully, EA will release a day one patch to tone the amount of injuries down a bit.
Despite its flaws, Madden 25 is the best iteration of the franchise to date. With a slight visuals increase, running back control like never before, and defensive additions, Madden players looking for all of the glory are sure to find it here.
Pros and Cons:
+ Dozens of gameplay control improvements
+ Slight graphics increase
- Too many injuries
- Doesn't solve many of Madden 13's minor hiccups
Gameplay – 8.5/10
Graphics – 8.5/10
Sound – 8.5/10
Replayability – 9/10
Den of Geek rating – 8.7/10