Madden 25 Review: Tecmo Super Bowl Edition

With no competition for Madden from anyone else, EA Sports created its own in EA Sports College Football. It is not a bad plan, and if the results are consistently as good as CFB 25 who can argue? It is so good I wasn't looking forward to stopping it long enough to play Madden 25.

Before I knew it, my first week with Madden had passed and I hadn't fired up CFB 25 at all. My kids probably think I ditched them for the University of Texas gig. If you forced me to play only one of these games for the rest of the year, I would pick CFB 25. But the race is far closer than I expected.

Your Defense Is Offensive

The game seems to be in a familiar pattern. Defenses struggle really badly at launch, and a patch sometime later makes it a little more fair. The theory I've heard is that EA believes casual players like it better when the game is more arcade-like. And us hardcore players? The ones that play in tournaments, the ones that create content? We're not going anywhere. I have zero proof that this theory is true, but it happens every year.

As you have probably seen in EA's marketing materials, this is the 20th anniversary of the Hit Stick. Madden 25 offers timing-based feedback, similar to NBA 2K's shot meter. Perfect hit sticks have a chance to knock the ball loose. Several player abilities work with them to increase the chance or give a more generous timing window. These are other features we've seen in NBA 2K.

Madden also includes CFB 25's Switch Stick, and it is a revelation. Rather than mash buttons to switch defenders, the Switch Stick allows you to do it with a flick of the analog. The pros will be baiting people harder than ever now.

These are great innovations, but I think the problem is they require a lot of practice and perfect timing. I know I need more work with both sticks. Meanwhile, all that's required to succeed on offense in Madden 25 is to play offense.

Corner routes are as overpowered as ever. In addition to the three different catch types that already exist, a one-handed catch type is now available. It's been my experience that the offensive skill moves are easier to do, thus giving them greater impact on the game. Again, I believe this is a conscious choice on EA's part. It's the same reason the NFL generally changes rules to favor the offense. Most fans like 32-28 scores more than 10-7 scores.

Defense is possible, I've seen several of my opponents do it quite well. Nickel Double Mug blitzes are already available in E-books and all over YouTube. In my Ultimate Team games, I started having an entirely different experience after deploying two fully upgraded X-Factor players in my secondary. But man, did I give a lot of points before then. There's no doubt that defense is much, much harder than offense in this game.

Also, Madden has a problem on its hands with abilities and X-Factors. Players stocked with the best superpowers are great, often game-breaking. The other guys get hit right in the hands and act as if they've never played football before.

Where'd That Guy Come From?

Madden 25's signature feature is BOOM Tech, named after the coach's signature catchphrase. Its focus is on using real-world physics to make tackles less scripted. I am pleased to tell you the feature works as advertised. After the first week, I have gained a lot of hours on three separate runners: Baltimore Ravens star Derrick Henry, his backup Keaton Mitchell, and Christian McCaffrey, the main runner on my Ultimate Team.

Rushing the ball with each player is a completely different experience. I use the Ravens playbook in Ultimate Team and was shocked to learn my favorite play from regs didn't work as well with McCaffrey. Henry often bowling balls the first defender. McCaffrey can do that but needs more momentum to do so. He's almost a hybrid of the powerful Henry and shiftier Mitchell, just as in real life.

You can tell the work EA put into making players look and act like themselves. Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco has his angry running style, in which he appears to have a vendetta against the ground beneath him. Patrick Mahomes runs around with his arm raised between plays.

Each tackle feels like its own glorious unscripted experience. And that's before learning the newest techniques. Competitors with stick stills have many opportunities to display them. Ballcarriers can enter a setup state that has as much in common with NBA games or fighting games as it does with previous Maddens.

By pressing R2 on PlayStation or RT on Xbox, players enter a setup state that will allow them to select from a tree of skill moves. The moves are stackable, leaving all manners of ways to leave the defender grasping for air. The beauty skilled players will be able to create is immeasurable. We're going to get some epic YouTube videos as pros get the hang of this.

EA implemented this state and these moves to counter players who steer their defender to the ball carrier and then click off, letting the computer line up the tackle. The AI will be more vulnerable to these moves by design.

Supa -STAH!

Superstar Mode feels way more alive than it has in previous years. I'm currently the rookie QB of the Las Vegas Raiders and yep, they'd be lost without me. This year Superstar Mode contains quests you'll fulfill to gain XP and grant bonuses to your teammates. As a QB, I can learn abilities that make my receivers better at catching the ball.

I got to watch a live talk show with former NFL players talking about how impressive my stats were, but also noting that they weren't translating into wins on the field. I mentioned we were the Raiders, right?

In the midst of these struggles, star wide receiver DaVante Adams told me he believed in me and that I should look his way early and often. During the next game, his X-Factor was on the whole time. We carved up the opposing defense, and it was glorious. This has been the kind of stuff I've wanted to see from the career mode for years.

Superstar Mode also has Unrivaled challenges, in which an opposing player calls you out and dares you to put up stats on him. In my cases, Chris Jones of the Kansas City Chiefs didn't believe my hype. Just as with my Adams experience, Jones' X-Factor was on for the whole game. That was not quite as exciting as my teammate having it. Jones kept me in a box the entire game. Now that I've gotten a lot of XP, I'm ready for the next one though.

Franchise Player

Franchise mode works a lot like Superstar, with various quests to unlock based on statistical goals or coaching decisions. It's not always clear what the "correct" dialogue choices are in the mode's interview segments. As Saints Coach Dennis Allen, when a reporter asked me about a position battles amongst my tight ends, I informed them there wouldn't be one. This decision apparently upset my whole team so bad their morale dropped.

It's good to see Franchise mode getting some work after years of feeling like an afterthought. As with much of Madden, it's not perfect but there's a lot to build on.

Ultimate Team Is Still The Main Draw

If you are not a fan of EA's card-collecting, team-building mode, nothing this year is likely going to change that. In fact, I'm quite concerned about the power creep already in play. Many players still haven't received the rewards they earned playing CFB 25 and Madden 24. The incremental increases baked into the game mean those cards may well be obsolete by the time they're received.

EA is also manipulating the market by dictating what prices players can sell cards for. Combine this with taking away the ability to trade cards and a lot of fun from the actual collecting has been sapped. That said, the mode is as addictive as ever. A new solo seasons mode that debuted in CFB 25 gives a way to play the game and earn coins without getting curbstomped by players who have spent thousands on their teams.

Wrapping Up

This is easily the most fun I've had playing Madden in years. The tools given to both offensive and defensive players will likely take me the whole year to master. Stick skills and understanding football concepts create skill gaps. At the end of the day, we all want the best player to win and I feel that's happening in most of my games.