The start of the NFL season is right around the corner and that means it’s time for a new Madden game. Does Madden NFL 25 warrant a new purchase, or should this version ride the bench?
Read on to find out.
The Madden franchise is, and always will be the top NFL game on the market, and with little to no competition, EA Sports could just slap a roster update on the previous year’s version and call it good. Lucky for us, they seldom choose to rest on their laurels and are always adding new bells and whistles, and updating things like animations and interactions. This year they even added BOOM Tech to make the hits look even harder.
Madden NFL 25 Review – What’s BOOM Tech?
Madden NFL 24 brought with it more than a few animations changes and AI changes that made the game look and feel more realistic. QBs were more fluid with their in-play reactions, while receivers and defensive backs actually looked like they knew what they were doing, and not just going through their own AI scripts. Where last seasons game created better game play for offensive and defensive maneuvering, this years game created better gameplay for defensive tackling and offensive trucking and stiff arming. These guys hit HARD! They also look natural while hitting hard as well.
Both sides of the ball has seen massive improvements in this area and that’s thank to BOOM Tech. You hit stick interactions are much more precise. The re-engineered Hit Stick uses a timing-based mechanic to provide harder-hitting control determined by your angle of impact, stick-skill, and accuracy for cut sticks, big hits, and trucks, with more realistic physical movements and results. What you get is a more realistic looking experience.
Madden NFL 25 Review – Superstar Mode
Madden NFL 25 totally revamped their Superstar Mode, and if you happened to travel through your Road to Glory in College Football 25, you can import your retired college football star into Madden NFL 25 for five extra training points to start out with and bring all your awards and accolades with you. Once you’ve created your star, you can hit the NFL Combine to increase your draft stock. Once you’re ready for the draft you can either take your chances on getting picked by a contender or force your way onto whichever team you want, as a starter.
Your next task is to complete Superstar Quests. These will propel you to NFL stardom or keep you grinding in the trenches. Your quests are triggered in narrative moments throughout your journey. Maybe your coach pulls you into their office for a 1-on-1 meeting, maybe a teammate wants to let you know they want the ball more. How you respond in these narrative moments will determine which quests open up for your Superstar.
Madden NFL 25 Review – Madden Ultimate Team (MUT)
MUT in Madden is where most folks spend all of their time, building the best team possible, and then competing online head-to-head against other team builders around the world. This years edition has made some quality of life changes that help you to make sure you are fielding the best possible team based on the players in your binder. Anytime you earn or unlock a new card that has a higher rated OVR than someone in your line-up, there will be a dot on your line-up menu (that was there before) and now when you open your line-up, you’ll see a new menu layout on the left hand side that helps direct you to positions that need replaced.
Seasonal challenges are where you can earn some decent starting cards for your team, as well as teach you new ways to play the game. As the NFL season progresses, so will the quality of these cards. This aspect of the game has pretty much stayed the same for the last few years, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth the upgrade.
Madden NFL 25 Review – Franchise Reborn
Franchise takes it to the next level with a rebuilt NFL Draft night featuring Roger Goodell, team and rookie records, new environments, personalized storylines, more ways to customize your NFL team and season, a fresh Super Bowl celebration experience, and Franchise Central with simplified league creation tools and more information at your fingertips so you can drive your Franchise to victory.
Play-by-play never sounded so good. Two new teams join the booth to accompany Brandon Gaudin and Charles Davis for the first time in eight years. Greg Olsen, Mike Tirico, Brock Huard, and Kate Scott are here to bring your play experience to life with over 35,000 fresh recordings.
Madden NFL 25 Review – Conclusion
EA Sports once again could have just laid back and phoned in this seasons version of the game and folks would have still scooped it up. Luckily for us, they didn’t. Madden NFL 25 continues to evolve and grow, with improvements in almost every aspect of the game. From hard hitting BOOM Tech, to QoL changes in MUT, EA Sports once again redefines what it means to be an NFL video game.
Awesome Job!
9
Madden NFL 25 review code provided by publisher and reviewed on a PS5. For more information on scoring, please read What our review scores really mean.