| Madden 25 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gameplay & Story | Release Date | Pre-Order & DLC | Review |
EA Madden NFL 25 brings football back, featuring improved animations, gameplay mechanics, and faster menus. Read our review to see what it did well, what it didn’t do well, and if it’s worth buying.
Madden 25 Review Overview
What is Madden 25?
EA Madden NFL 25 is the latest football simulation game following the National Football League (NFL), where players experience what it’s like to play on the NFL’s biggest stage. With new technology in FieldSENSE enhanced by BOOM Tech, Madden 25 looks to be the most realistic and dynamic football simulation game to date. It also adds a ton of new gameplay features, like the revamped Hit Stick, which allows for more precision with your passes, catches, and other on-ball moves. Additionally, the game looks to improve even more of its past game modes and adapt more of the appreciated gameplay experience from their past releases, like the recent EA College Football 25.
Madden 25 features:
⚫︎ Realistic Graphics and Animations
⚫︎ Improved Gameplay Features To Give Players More Control
⚫︎ Enhanced Franchise Mode, Superstar Mode, and Madden Ultimate Team (MUT)
⚫︎ Online and Offline Multiplayer Head-to-Head Gameplay
⚫︎ Live Updates to Rosters for Trades, Injuries, Etc.
For more gameplay details, read everything we know about Madden 25's gameplay and story.
 Madden 25 |
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|---|---|---|---|
 Steam |
 Epic |
 PlayStation |
 Xbox |
Madden 25 Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
 Improved On-Field Gameplay Great Audio and Visual Experience Revamped Game Modes |
Microtransactions, Microtransactions Always Online Game Modes Still Lacks Immersion |
Madden 25 Overall - 76/100
Madden 25 is, without a doubt, an improvement from its predecessor. With better physics and gameplay features, it’s a way better game than it was before. Not only that, the game also ups the realistic graphics that it already had, with more animations, better scans, and more attention to detail. However, the game still keeps up with its online-only game modes, which may put some people off, especially if they just want to play certain game modes, like Superstar Mode. Ultimately, however, when compared to EA’s other recently released football simulation, College Football 25, it feels a lot less authentic than it could’ve been.
Madden 25 Story - 5/10
The Madden franchise never really had a distinct story for you to follow, unlike some other sports games, specifically NBA 2K. But the game actually has storylines revolving mostly in the game’s Franchise Mode. This isn’t to say it’s a bona fide Story Mode, as it depends more on your imagination and actions in the game. There are different aspects of the game mode that affect the in-game players, as they’ll be telling you their goals, motivations, and even intentions during your playthrough. It’s up to you to juggle your players’ quirks and preferences while making a dynasty to dominate the league.
Madden 25 Gameplay - 10/10
The game is a direct upgrade from its predecessor. While it already had a good foundation for its core gameplay, they made a lot of things better with its physics, animations, and overall control. With BOOM Tech, the on-field interactions have improved, specifically when it comes to tackles, catches, and the like. Additionally, the game also revamped the Hit Stick, which does more for you both in offense and defense depending on your timing.
Its other game modes also had more improvements across the board. Franchise Mode got revamped to have more dynamic interactions between you and the game. Superstar Mode has an improved character creator and builder, so you can team up with your squad for some 3-on-3 football. Lastly, the game also has more community interaction since you can import your College Football 25 rosters and have live events for you to compete in.
Madden 25 Visuals - 9/10
Madden has always been a very good-looking game, but this release makes it look a little better than before. The game features more animations and better interactions on the field, but there are still a few problems that the game has. Some specific issues with this are how some players run in the game, as well as some victory animations looking a bit choppy when they happen. It’s not a bad-looking game by any means, though.
Madden 25 Audio - 9/10
The music choice in the game is pretty good. It rotates around a few genres, like pop, hip-hop, rock, and the like, but the vibe of it all is captured. The game’s ambient noises and sound effects are also top-notch, as you could even hear a bit of the quarterback’s cadence before a snap. One main thing that holds it down is the game’s commentary, as it feels choppy and not very interesting a lot of the time.
Madden 25 Value for Money - 5/10
For $69.99, Madden 25 improves on what it already had in past iterations and slightly improves its features. If you enjoy Franchise Mode and Madden Ultimate Team (MUT), then you could make the case to buy the game for these alone. It’ll be hard to sell this game to a casual fan, especially if they just enjoy the game with friends and family, and not to people who actually play in Madden’s online community. If you’re interested in the game but not that big of a fan, we would suggest waiting for a sale rather than buying it straight up.
Madden 25 Review: Take What Works And Run With It
For years now, EA’s Madden NFL has dominated the sole space of American football video games. It’s pretty much a yearly tradition now to find out what minimal changes they made for another cash grab. However, it definitely surprised us to find out that the game has a few more improvements in the bag than we initially thought. Tons of gameplay improvements, overhauls of certain game modes, and the inclusion of other features made it better than its previous version. But is it enough to make it the best football game again?
Visually speaking, Madden 25 looks great, especially on the PS5. There are options for you to choose a higher fidelity, but honestly, the game’s performance mode already looks good while running at 60 frames per second. The designs of the uniforms and character models are almost lifelike, to the point where some of us thought that we were watching an actual football game. There are improvements and additions to the game’s animations as well, which definitely upped the standard they set for themselves.
In terms of audio design, it is top-notch. The music choices are great, which enhance the game’s vibe of being its own sports game. The sound effects and ambient noises during gameplay are great as well, as it does make you feel like you’re both watching and playing in the game at the same time. It’s not perfect, though, as the game’s commentary makes the game sound a little too robotic at times and breaks immersion, which we’ll get to later on in the review.
There’s no actual plot to Madden’s Superstar Mode. What it does have is Franchise Mode, where you take the reins of a team as its coach or owner. Madden 25 added more events and conversations that will have the game react to your choices and decisions made during the course of your playthrough. You’ll have to work around players’ personalities and staff members’ needs while running a team to have a winning record. There’s a lot to like about this game mode; however, it’s not exactly for everyone other than those who really like the sport to its core.
Let’s briefly dial back to Superstar Mode, which is Madden’s equivalent to a Career Mode in other sports games. The character-creation process is very simple and actually pretty good. It’s deep enough to give you options for specialized builds and simple enough for you to understand without looking into it too much. It’s a shame that this mode is locked behind being online, as it may be a great game mode to play offline by yourself.
One problem to point out is that the game demands that you be online all the time to record your progress. Some game modes are inaccessible when offline, which is a shame since we feel that Superstar Mode could be a great single-player feature similar to 2K’s MyPlayer. Speaking of Madden 25 being a live-service offering, let’s pivot to the microtransactions.
Sports games nowadays are egregious when it comes to microtransactions, and Madden is no exception. Cashing in on their Ultimate Team game mode for their other sports titles, Madden 25 is littered with these practices. Buyable currency to buy player packs, season passes for players to spend on, and even boosts for their created players in Superstar Mode. It’s still quite invasive and annoying to deal with, especially since we primarily play the game for its Franchise Mode.
Let’s get to the meat of the game: the actual gameplay. To put it simply, it improved. Comparing Madden 24 and Madden 25 is like night and day, with the latter having a ton of changes when it comes to physics, interactions, and on-field controls. The Madden series has kept claiming about its questionable physics-based tackles, but it feels like it’s a reality with the current iteration.
The improved Hit Stick also made it so that you have more control over the actions and how to move around defenses, as well as how to disrupt offenses. These two features work hand-in-hand to create a satisfying gameplay experience that only one other football game could provide. It’s all thanks to College Football 25 (CF25).
The gameplay improvements are clearly lifted from the game that was released earlier this year; however, it didn’t take with it the level of immersion that CF25 brings to the field. This is one of the big issues that the game has, since it still doesn’t quite feel like an actual National Football League (NFL) broadcast. However, they are getting very close, and if they could just pull a few more beats to really fuel that NFL hype and immersion, then we have ourselves the perfect football game.
To sum it all up, Madden is a good football game, but it’s not quite the perfect NFL game that we all dream of. The gameplay is definitely the best in recent times, though, so hopefully they keep pushing with this current design and change things less about the gameplay moving forward with their releases and focus more on the interactions and realism. There are still a few things that we wish the game had, like something similar to CF25’s Dynasty Mode, but it’s a step in the right direction.
Pros of Madden 25
| Things Madden 25 Got Right |
|---|
|
Improved On-Field Gameplay Great Audio and Visual Experience Revamped Game Modes |
Improved On-Field Gameplay
Madden 25 actually does deliver on its improvements to the on-field gameplay. The physics in the game feel a lot better than they have ever been. To add to this, the revamped Hit Stick adds more control to your rushes and tackles, which is completely essential since the game will revolve around these interactions. There are also more aspects of the game’s on-field gameplay that were improved, like the catching, on-the-fly playcalling, and more. The game is a way better football game as opposed to its previous release, and we can thank EA College Football 25 for a lot of the features in the game.
Great Audio and Visual Experience
The game’s audio design and visuals are top-notch. Sports games have always been trying to replicate realism in video game form, and over the years, developers have gotten very close to it. The game’s audio design is perfect for the game. The music fits the vibe of a sports game, and the ambient noises and sound effects in-game are pretty accurate to what you’d hear when watching a football game. Visually, the game looks amazing. There’s not much to say about the designs and the uniforms, as they’re close to what they look like in real life. At different angles, the graphics may even fool spectators into thinking that you were watching an actual game.
Revamped Game Modes
Franchise Mode got a pretty big revamp. With more dynamic storylines that react to your decisions, the game has you managing teams and players a lot more than before. With more decisions on hand, you’ll have to juggle players’ personalities and the team as a whole. Additionally, Superstar Mode got some improvements as well, specifically in the game’s character creator and customization. There are a lot more features to customize your character’s build without sacrificing how easy it is to make and edit a build.
In addition to this, the game also got the mini games and drills back. We at Game8 find ourselves enjoying these a lot, so we welcome the addition of these back into the fold. It also bolsters the game’s tutorial a lot, since it can help players improve their timing, precision, and execution on the field.
Cons of Madden 25
| Things That Madden 25 Can Improve |
|---|
|
Microtransactions, Microtransactions Always Online Game Modes Still Lacks Immersion |
Microtransactions, Microtransactions
Modern sports games are now in that space where microtransactions are unavoidable. EA, in particular, makes use of this through their Ultimate Team game modes in their other sports games. To break down Ultimate Team, it’s pretty much making your own dream team by collecting player cards that you can use to make up your team. Collecting these cards is similar to gachas and lootboxes, where you get a booster pack to open and randomly get a card depending on the pack’s description.
If you’re looking to play Ultimate Team, especially later on after a few weeks or months, you may need to buy a few packs or do a lot of A.I. Challenges just to catch up with the rest of the players playing online. Similarly, there are also microtransactions in the game’s Superstar Mode, as there're online events and leagues for created players. To add to this, the game also has a season pass system for players to get more rewards. Like the previous game, the game has a lot of these offers and might even be considered predatory to some when they’re advertised in-game.
Always Online Game Modes
There’s not much to say about this other than certain game modes being locked by online-only functionalities. What’s making this worse is how the game forces you to always be online to access these modes. You could make the argument to lock Ultimate Team out of offline play, but it feels like a missed opportunity to give players a Superstar Mode that you could play offline for that single-player experience.
Still Lacks Immersion
The game looks realistic and even has enhanced physics to make sure it's as close to the real thing as possible. However, the game’s immersion is completely thrown away when it comes down to the commentary, Franchise Mode events, and more. While it’s appreciated that the commentary now has two teams, it does feel disconnected at times when you’re playing. When comparing it to College Football 25, the commentary in that game has more specific lines for specific situations, which makes the experience a lot fresher.
Franchise Mode has some puzzling conversations where the characters are way too specific with their answers. No one really specifies the number of receptions and yards they’ll be getting in the season, which is very weird to point out. Same with players trying to specify the number of touchdowns or yards they’ll be getting in a season; it just doesn’t feel like an actual person would say this.
Lastly, some of the animations in the game still have some issues, wherein some have their legs just magically go through when doing jukes and other moves. Another example would be the animations being choppy when doing celebrations. Don’t get us wrong, it’s definitely improved from the past releases, but there are still some things that could be improved and made more immersive.
Is Madden 25 Worth It?
The Gridiron Can Wait, Unless You’re a Massive Fan
Madden 25 is a great game, and for the longest time, it has been uncontested as the sole juggernaut of American football games. It’s been long overdue for the series to have big improvements, as it has grown stagnant for a while now. The past few releases have improved the gameplay in droves, but it still lacks a few more points just to make it the undisputed game for the sport of American football. It might even be worth it to note that most of the gameplay features came from EA’s other American football game, College Football 25 (CF25).
In terms of cost, both games are similar, but CF25 gains the edge in immersion and overall better offerings. Madden, however, has NFL branding as well as the Ultimate Team game mode, if you’re into that. Either way, both are great football games that offer the best experience on the virtual gridiron. Another thing to consider is to simply wait for a sale, as Madden is a yearly release game that will be on sale after a few months.
| Digital Storefronts | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steam |
Epic |
PlayStation |
Xbox |
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| Price | $69.99 | ||||||
Madden 25 FAQ
How will Madden 25 keep up with the NFL Season's trades, releases, and injuries?
Madden 25 features a live update system that updates its roster in real time, similar to its previous release.
I don't know much about football, can I still play Madden 25?
Madden 25's tutorials are pretty good and robust. It teaches you the basics of football and the game itself, and has options for you to go deeper if you desire to do so.
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Madden 25 Product Information
| |
| Title | MADDEN 25 |
|---|---|
| Release Date | August 16, 2024 |
| Developer | Tiburon |
| Publisher | Electronic Arts (EA) |
| Supported Platforms | PC(Steam, Epic Games Store), PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One |
| Genre | Sports, Simulation, Strategy |
| Number of Players | Local Offline (1-2), Online (2-6) |
| Rating | ESRB E |
| Official Website | Madden 25 Official Website |
