Madden NFL 21’s PS5 / Xbox Series X update really makes it a new game

In a preview call with the executive producer of Madden NFL 21st, Seann Graddy promised me that I would see the difference between generations of consoles in my first game. I was skeptical. But he was right.

Sure, the game looked sharper than ever, but that’s not the difference Graddy was referring to in the discussion. He spoke about the gameplay, player movement and behavior that is now determined by real data from Amazon Web Services spanning five years. On my first few downs, I took control of the defensive back (which I rarely do) and fixated on receiver routes, not really seeing much in their change in pace or direction as I defended against San Francisco.

But I saw the difference on my sixth game when Robert Woods of the Los Angeles Rams was a punch slower against my mental memory of a sloping route and I threw the ball behind him. And I definitely saw when I took control of the line of defense. And absolutely in my solo franchise, where my preferred style of play is powerback.

The play of lines is the biggest difference for me Madden NFL 21stand I suspect it will make the same difference for users more familiar with football’s brute force techniques than its speed or finesse. Being able to find holes and hit them, even with a taller and slower runner, shows what new technology EA Sports is making possible.

In previous Maddens, when I ran the ball, especially between tackles, the holes closed so quickly that if I didn’t get through them cleanly, I felt like I was being drawn into a tackle animation. With the improved game along the line in Madden NFL 21stThis means a lot more than just slowing down the pace. I saw a lot more distractions, fleeting blows, and stumbling blocks that resulted in productive gains of six or seven meters instead of being dragged down for three.

Image: EA Tiburon / Electronic Art

That said, slower-developing games take a big bite in their effectiveness. A vivid example is the scrolling through the screen, which was probably a bit overwhelmed with the last generation. But it makes sense that when my linemen move more directly and naturally to cover the receiver, the line of defense moves more directly to my quarterback. I think I had maybe two out of seven screen passes that ended with my quarterback being fired or distracted at the last second.

Elsewhere, I can’t pretend to see the differences in the trajectory of a realistically driven wide receiver route and the automatic ones chosen by the AI ​​in Madden games over the past few years. However, I can say that the passing lost a lot of its automatic feel where I could even toss to a guy way too early on its route and still get the completion.

In addition, even AI quarterbacks are less happy and accurate. Who knows what might be the real cause of this, but to speak for the single player audience, it’s actually refreshing to see the average passerby like Ryan Fitzpatrick putting the ball right in front of a player’s outstretched hands. Usually Madden chooses imperfections in two ways, with a drop or the ball sailing over him.

Defense is rarely a job I like (why do you think my franchise is a single player career?), But the biggest difference I can tell is how much more effective defensive linemen are with their movements in the user’s hands . I sense that when balancing the game, the designers gave users an edge with a bigger window to get on their block-shedding train (especially if you follow an on-screen prompt).

Image: EA Tiburon / Electronic Art

Offensive line movements and behavior are always in the hands of the AI, of course, so it may be frustrating for those in Madden’s competitive community to see users constantly breaking through with good stick skills while being told that pass protection is really better this year. Conversely, stick skills are now vastly improved as the player’s swing, turning and acceleration are much heavier and more realistic. But I really don’t have an opinion on whether this real player data creates a more realistic and exploitable pass coverage or whether the linebackers and the secondary are just more inattentive.

I understand this was an extremely technical American football discussion, but EA Sports promised that Madden NFL 21st: New technology feathered into an older game. The play-calling menu and windows are different (makes sense) and there are tons of presentation gains, but those weren’t really the issues this series faced. And I was skeptical that applying something this wide once could really solve so many of the nagging problems of this game at once, and no, I can’t say it does.

But as a legitimate upgrade to the last generation of consoles, I feel like EA Sports has improved gameplay better than their peers NBA 2K21 or FIFA 21 did with them. (NBA 2K21 is undoubtedly a mile-long forward-looking other new generation game, but it’s mostly down to its modes and content offerings.)

Madden NFL 25 made a similar jump when it switched from PlayStation 3 to PlayStation 4 – and the next game at the time was rightly the most entertaining one in the series. For now, Madden NFL 21stHaving the same modes and features as the lackluster version of the last generation has revived my interest in gameplay alone. It might not be love first, but as Seann Graddy said it was the first game.