Madden NFL 25 review: Boom and bust

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Madden NFL 25 review: Boom and bust

boom, bust, Madden, NFL, Review

Last year, the team I followed, the Seattle Seahawks, missed the playoffs. They weren’t terrible by any means. In fact, there were some interesting moments as they stumbled to a 9-8 record. Hats off to you, Jake Popovich, and hats off to you, Geno Smith, for being kind to Drew Lock.

But they weren’t that good, either, which is why they “fired a head coach who defined an entire era for their franchise.” They were in a soft period for the NFL, with enough ups and downs to keep you cheering and freaked out at the same time. Madden NFL 25The – no, not that – it’s a bit like that.

As always, if you’ve played Madden in the past five years, there are a lot of things you’ll recognize immediately. What makes this year’s game stand out from previous titles is the subtle differences. To be fair, in a year that saw quite a bit of attention and marketing devoted to the returning EA Sports College Football 25, there are some real improvements.

Taking the gameplay as an example, the big selling point is “BOOM Tech,” which is designed to provide more realistic tackles and collisions, which is one of the aspects that EA has long been working on improving, as anyone who has seen a group of players fall to the deck and flop around like fish will understand. This time around, though, it really helps. You still get the odd awkward collision, but most of the heavier impacts, especially those delivered via the smack stick, do feel smoother and more natural.

On the other hand, as a runner, your sprints, fakes, and swings feel more dynamic. I found myself spinning and hesitating a few more times than usual, suggesting that the new running mechanics gave me enough extra confidence that I didn’t have to rely too much on sprinting straight through the end zone before something unexpected happened. It’s a fairly fun base of moves, if not particularly adrenaline-fueled.

Hugging has improved a lot.

In most of the games I’ve played against the AI ​​so far, I’ve felt like the offense has been a bit stronger than the defense, likely due to the new catch changes, which are designed to facilitate high-risk/high-reward catches by receivers and tight ends alike. This hasn’t always been the case, but I’ve ended up playing quite a few games where I’ve been a bit more defensive, though the tackle changes could give the D an upper hand, and if it turns out that things have been going in the direction of those trying to score, I’d understand and probably take that into account for this year’s adjustments. Of course, there’s a lot more depth here for clipboard connoisseurs, including new signature animations for different players and changes to run blocking, which will be rewarding if you’re a stickler for detail. The new dynamic kickoffs also align with this year’s new rules, but aside from the reduction in fair catches, you probably won’t notice much of a difference unless you’re a big fan of special teams.

Then there’s the new kick meter, which follows Madden 25’s theme–replacing things that looked rather dated, even if they weren’t always that dated. With one click to set the direction, and another immediately afterwards to set the power, there’s less margin for error than before, so it’s more likely to mess it up. Yes, kicks, especially long ones, are more challenging now, as any fan who has collected all my attempts that just cleared the post will tell you.

Following the theme I outlined earlier, one of the most noticeable changes off the field is the redesigned menus, which really make things feel a little fresher, even if the changes are pretty superficial. The redesigned Franchise mode’s draft visuals follow a similar line of thought, in this case replacing a setup that had felt decidedly stale and unreflective for some time. Now, however, we have a silent Roger Goodell to boo as he poses with your team’s next hopeful and everyone else’s top pick. I kid, but it does have some nice variety, even if it’s toned down a bit, as some of the faces you’ll see being drafted are ones you’ll recognize have appeared in the series’ drafts over the years. Additionally, some of the players’ body proportions look a little odd as they stride across the stage, but considering how weird real-life athletes look in suits, EA might need to cut some slack on that front.

Look, Micah, please stop staring at me. I’m sure you don’t look weird in a suit.

Beyond that, Franchise Mode is a mixed bag, remaining largely the same, with the same minimalist rendering – which in itself isn’t a good or bad thing, in my opinion – and cutscenes without voice acting or much drama. The changes to player progression do seem to have achieved their goal of allowing young stars to rise more quickly, with Jordan Addison and JJ McCarthy’s rapid rise to help the Vikings to the 2025 championship a save for me (sorry Vikings fans). The new team-building mechanic does build on the recently improved team repositioning mechanic, but at first, I seemed completely unable to assemble my own team through the website you have to use. As of the time of writing, the UK version seems to be completely broken, so you have to pretend you’re in the US to avoid getting a 404 error when trying to load it.

While it offers a decent amount of logo, uniform, and stadium customization overall—even if you might run into an issue where your team is referred to as the first half of its name twice upon entering the game (e.g., Boston Boston)—that episode made me question why the team creator isn’t integrated directly into the game, instead of forcing you to use an external site. Especially for players who might not mind uploading a tiny custom image as the logo for a team they call the Grimsby Gobblers or something. It’s commendable that Madden is finally trying to match the long-superior customization offered by games like NBA 2K, but further improvements are definitely needed if it’s to truly close the gap with MyLeague.

Gillette Stadium in Madden NFL 25.

It’s like this, but the JPG you uploaded is too bad to be a logo. | Image source: EA

On the other hand, Superstar Mode has smaller changes, with the ability to import your College Football 25 players and a creator that lets you make a player that looks detailed enough to be more than a generic NPC if you don’t make the whole import process a headline. That creator isn’t bad, I guess, even if you only have one tattoo option at the beginning, which looks a bit bad, but you’ll earn more just by playing. Come on guys, at least give the newbies three different awkward 2000s tribes and some flaming footballs.

OK, now onto Ultimate Team. Generally speaking, if you’re just looking for something more to do during those dopamine rushes when you lose an online match and you’re probably complaining about the scripting, then EA has taken up that challenge. There are eight seasons of content planned for the game’s lifespan, some pretty fun single-player challenges to work your way through, and some changes to the way head-to-head rankings are played, with a greater emphasis on wins and rewards.

So it’s another year of mixed results, even if it feels like things might be heading in a slightly more positive direction. The problem is, much like the Seattle Seahawks, unless Madden can make some more meaningful changes going forward, things are just going to continue to stagnate. Hopefully, the series’ cheeky bros can return to the streets, complete with marching bands and moral dilemmas about exploitation, to help drive that shift.


Madden NFL 25 is available now on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, PS4, Xbox One. It was reviewed on PS5 using a code provided by the publisher.

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