You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games here
When it comes to reviewing yearly sports games like Madden, there’s a balance to be struck, with games needing to score on two fronts. Of course, they need to be good games in their own right, but they also need to introduce enough new content to make them worth playing over the previous year’s game. Typically, games from series like Madden will nail the first criterion, but fall short at the second, but I can’t help but feel like Madden 25 is just not up to scratch in either regard.
Let’s start with the good. The team at EA Sports has gone all in on realism this year. Changes to the physics mean that tackles hit harder and players have more genuine reactions to big hits. Certain signature celebrations and pre-play behaviours add a bit of character to some popular players. They’ve added more playbooks. Superstar mode has better customisation. It feels like the name of the game this year was ‘realism’, and while that realism has been achieved, it appears that it’s come at the expense of everything else.
Several tweaks have been made to the gameplay, such as updates to pass blocking, catching controls, and ball carrying, but these are hardly noticeable given the state of the gameplay in general. The UI when choosing plays is clunky and frustrating to use, and things don’t get much better when the ball gets moving.
When I reviewed College Football 25 a few weeks ago, I was mightily impressed with the on-field gameplay. The game had been fully built from scratch and had been done so masterfully. It runs like a dream, with each play flowing seamlessly thanks to the tactile and responsive controls. Madden 25, in comparison, feels stiff and sluggish from the start. What was always a breeze in College Football 25 never feels quite right in Madden 25, and it’s a shock how much worse it feels to play considering that this is meant to be EA’s flagship football game.Â
As for game modes, Franchise mode continues to be a decent option, offering the best way to get some long-term game time out of the series without having to dip into the monetisation-fest that is Ultimate Team. The introduction of dynamic storylines for players adds an extra layer of depth to the management, while the new team builder and player progression systems are ideal for those who like to go all-in on their preparation. Superstar mode is, as always, there for people who want it, but is hardly a must-play mode for most players.
To be perfectly honest, that’s about it for the substantial new content – a few gameplay changes and a couple of new features in Franchise mode. The rest of the new content is little odds and ends like a new 3v3 game mode for you and your friends’ Superstars. Sure, it’s nice to have, but as new additions go, these features are the equivalent of garnishing a meal you forgot to cook – there’s no point to them without any substance to underpin them.
Madden is a series that’s been coasting for several years now. Year after year EA adds a selection of new features that look like good additions on paper. But without any significant overhaul to the core gameplay, the new additions fall flat as the entire package continues to disappoint, growing more stale with each new instalment. The graphics are still great, and the added realism is a nice touch, but what good is a nice-looking, realistic game when the actual act of playing it simply isn’t fun?
As previously mentioned, this issue has only become more apparent with the release of College Football 25, a game built from the ground up, through which the passion of the developers is clear to see. Madden, on the other hand, feels like a game that is only interested in producing the bare minimum of new content each year to justify putting out a new iteration and rake in some more sales. There’s fun to be had with Madden 25, I won’t deny that – Franchise mode is the saving grace among a sea of other decent, but not particularly special options. But if you’ve still got Madden 24 and are considering upgrading, I see very little reason to.
About the Author
Madden NFL 25
- Platform(s): PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X
- Genre(s): Simulation, Sports, Strategy
