3rd and very long
Yes, it is that time of year again. The tradition of Madden opening the Fall gaming season is upon us. This year certainly feels different though. With the threat of no true NFL this year Madden has more on its shoulders to provide fans with a game to enjoy if players are in fact not playing this year. This year also marks the transition of generations for consoles, which has historically not been kind to sports games. They opt to trim down games in favor of new engines. Madden 21 has its share of problems, but the one that sticks out like a sore thumb is that it just doesn’t feel like a worthy upgrade.
Let’s start with the Franchise mode. This is easily the part of Madden each year that I spend countless hours with. I just uninstalled Madden 20 last week, as I was still playing through the mode in last year’s game. Madden 21’s Franchise mode feels virtually untouched. There are a couple font and background changes, but the core of the experience is identical, including the bugs. Things like players sending messages after a bye week talking about a “loss” is infuriating. These are things I had issues with last year that make it even more evident that little to no work went into the mode this year.
MSRP: $59.99
Platforms: XB1 (reviewed), PS4, PC
Price I’d Pay: $39.99
I have been a staunch defender of Madden over the past few years. I spend countless hours in this mode and enjoy playing the game, but these updates feel a lot more like a glorified patch than anything else. Things that were standard in other games in the past have still not made it into Madden. The halftime show is still a joke. Seeing player stats and breakdowns before a game are few and far between. Even the Super Bowl celebration hasn’t changed in years. It is disappointing and gives credit to the joke that each year is just a roster upgrade. Heck, even as of this writing players that have opted out of the season are still in the game.
Face of the Franchise makes a return and outside of a few new college teams and the ability to switch positions to a running back or wide receiver, it feels a lot like last year. The story mode feels devoid of any emotion, and some of the most crucial scenes are not even voice acted. I get that times are different in the world, however this mode just feels like a minor update to the previous outing. After the initial work to get drafted the game reverts to the core Franchise experience just like last year, completely removing any investment in the character. He simply becomes yet another stat on the field.
The new addition to the game this year is a 6-on-6 mode called The Yard. Think of it assomething like NFL Street but lacking the swagger. This mode was extremely buggy compared to other modes, with players not appearing on the field and weird progression glitches that made it unplayable at times. When I did manage to get a game going it just didn’t feel like what I expected. Things are fast and confusing at first. The rules are all over the place and nothing ever clicks right away. The hook here is to unlock new swag for your characters, which I hate to keep bringing it up, doesn’t feel as good as the carrot-on-a-stick unlockables that were in NFL2K5. The crib items were neat and again feel more rewarding than a new jersey.
MUT of course makes a return and remains the bread and butter of the series as far as retaining players. This year’s feels similar like everything else, but the menus are atrocious. Lagging constantly and not easily navigated this makes my already slim interest even more so. I get why this mode is here, but I also feel like it could be broken off into its own release and kept on a different dev cycle as it continues to feel like a drip feed of content just to get players to spend money on packs.
While the modes feel strikingly familiar the game play has received some nice upgrades. The new stick controls for defenders and ball carriers are nice. Being able to swim past linemen at the snap feels really good. I also really enjoy posting up as a defensive back now. Defense is finally fun again and keeps me from picking “Offense Only” in my franchise games. Using the stick as a ball carrier isn’t quite as innovative, but it works. The hit stick is still overpowered for turnovers and penalties don’t seem as linear this time around. I am also happy to see better recognition of breaking the plane on touchdown runs this year. Last year I knew I had scored so many times and even challenges wouldn’t recognize it. The improvements are subtle, but they are there.
Finally, we get to the visuals department. The game still looks good, but so did last year’s. I am excited to see what this thing looks like on the next generation of consoles, but this version still has some juice left. There are new tackle animations and ball carrier moves. Things move and feel great on the field when the glitches are not present. The presentation still lacks that spark I feel on Sunday afternoon. I really wish the team would add more flair to the commentary or diversity to the pre-game and halftime shows. These go a long way to making players feel like they are really playing. Still the game looks good even if EA has a super dark HDR mode.
Madden 21 is the first time I have found it hard to recommend upgrading. It truly does feel like a roster update in a lot of areas. Franchise mode is super disappointing for me. I spend hundreds of hours in it yearly and I can’t tell a difference between the game I played last week and today. The developers have said they are listening and have heard our requests. This could be patched in. I still want to see this game on new hardware, but as of now I am having a hard time saying Madden is worth the annual upgrade for gamers.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
