Madden 13 seems to have a love/hate relationship with the Madden faithful. On one hand many embraced the new graphics engine and the addition of ‘Total Control Passing’ was well received. On the other hand some online exploits ruined the game for some and Connected Careers wasn’t exactly getting rave reviews. So when I wandered on over to the EA Sports booth at E3 last week, I went in loaded with questions. More importantly, I was looking to get my hands on Madden’s latest NFL game so I could see firsthand if some of the issues with the Infinity Engine and those exploits from Madden 13 had been addressed.
While at the EA Sports booth I played Madden 25 on both the current and next generation consoles. On the next gen console we were limited to playing just one formation with none other than Adrian Peterson in the backfield. In fact, we only ran one I-Formation stretch run – that’s it. More on that later as I had a chance to play a full game on the Xbox 360 and have several observations to share.
The first thing I noticed was that precision passing or rather ‘Total Control Passing’ is back. It is a feature I loved in Madden 13 but instead of simply dropping it into Madden 25 as is, the development team made some modifications to it. In a sense, it has been toned down a bit. For instance, pass leading the Tight End on streaks all the down the field will be a lot tougher this year and is simply not as effective as it was in Madden 13. Granted, I was still able to hit my Tight End on streaks but the coverage was tighter and I could not lead him as much as I can in Madden 13. Some may balk at this but the fact remains Madden 25 is certainly more true-to-life when it comes to hitting your TE on streaks.
EA Sports is touting the revamped running game this year and during my demo I noticed the changes. For instance, stretch run plays will not be as effective as they were in Madden 13. Well they will still work in certain situations but not for every single running play. The Running Back feels heavier in Madden 25 and his moves are a little more defined. There is now a precision modifier where you have over 30-new ball carrier moves. Learning these moves will take some time and during my 45-minute game I kept slipping back into old habits not taking advantage of the new moves. Yet it felt good and I found the run blocking was a little more effective as well. Not to mention it was nice to be able to run into one of my Offensive Lineman and not instantly collapse to the ground (I am looking at you Darren Sproles). Last but certainly not least when it comes to the running game swerving Running Backs in Madden 13 have been replaced with Running Backs that make hard cuts. Again, it just adds a little more realism and eliminates some running exploits that so many take advantage of online.
Many of the other new additions in Madden 25 take play off the field. No longer can you pick your 5-favourite plays and throw them in your set audibles. Well you can but it doesn’t work quite that easily. In Madden 25 you can only audible to formations that match the personnel you have on the field. For instance, if you come out in ‘5 wide’ then try to audible into ‘I-Formation’ just to get your slot receiver in the backfield, good luck, because you can no longer do that in Madden 25. Again, it is all about making the experience true-to-life and the reality is you never see Megatron lining up as a running back. At least very rarely we do. I did however notice that shifting your offensive line during pre-snap adjustments is a little more finicky this time around and there are now position-specific hot routes for receivers. Each position now has hot routes specific to where they are on the field. It is some interesting stuff and I sense there will be a bit of learning curve for us Madden die-hards.
Another noticeable improvement with Madden 25 comes in the form of the playbooks. I played with the Seahawks playbook and I was impressed with the amount of Pistol and Shotgun formations. In other words, I have more options and more ability to run with Russell Wilson. The developers noted that this year you will see more Option plays as mobile QB’s have these plays as staples in their offence. All in all, you can expect a little more from the playbooks and a renewed emphasis on Pistol formations and plays out of the Shotgun. I envision the Niners, Seahawks and Redskins will be popular teams online this year.
As I mentioned, I also spent some time, albeit briefly, with Madden 25 for next generation consoles. Right away, I noticed the absolutely stunning visuals. In fact, it makes current generation Madden look a tad shabby. The shadow and lighting effects are spot-on. You can see individual blades of grass with detail unlike I have seen before. The field wears down as the game progresses just as it would in a real life NFL game. The player’s facial animations look identical to their real life counterpart and stadiums never look so much better. The new camera angles really highlight how good the game looks and heck it is not even done yet. I can’t wait to see what else the development team has done in the presentation department.
I noticed some new tackle and hit animations as well but this is to be expected as we see a plethora of new animations with every Madden game that is released. I never did notice any O-Lineman double teaming defenders but apparently this is a new feature we can expect. In fact, former NFL’er Clint Oldenburg who is now a designer at Tiburon has done some work on the O-Line and was able to put his stamp on the pass blocking. He says you can expect the lineman to double team those that are identified as a threat to the QB. I would have to play the game quite a bit more to notice some of these new enhancements but it nevertheless sounds very encouraging. On a final note, I was a little disappointed to see the fade routes were taken out of the hot route menu and they changed the way the Running Back streak from the backfield. These are not deal breakers by any means but they are two routes I turned to frequently in Madden 13.
When you shake things down, Madden 25 looks unquestionably promising. The Madden 13 exploits appear to have been addressed, the graphics engine has been fine-tuned and the revamped running game brings a whole new level of depth to an already deep NFL experience. There is no question new exploits will eventually surface (they always do) but as it stands for now, Madden 25 is shaping into the best gridiron game we have seen to date. Yup, that’s right I said it – the best! And the news gets better when Madden 25 arrives on next generation consoles, as the franchise should once again take another leap forward.
EA Sports Madden NFL 25 will be released on August 27, 2013 on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It will also be a launch title on both PS4 and Xbox One.
