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Madden 25 (PS3) Review

 
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At A Glance...
 

Genre:
 
Year:
 
Publisher:
 
Final Score
7.5
7.5/ 10


User Rating
1 total rating

 

We liked?


Solid game play

Not so much?


Significant Technical Issues
Lack of Substantial Game Improvements


Final Fiendish Findings?

So is Madden 25 just a repackage with an updated roster? No, not really. But it’s difficult to find improvements that are really compelling enough to warrant shelling out full game price. When you also consider how many people have had their game crippled by online syncing and players may want to hold off until it drops a few bucks and some of the kinks get smoothed out. There are still going to be the die hard Madden fans who are going to perennially run out and get this game, but it’ll play the same (and hopefully better) a few months from now.

1
Posted September 8, 2013 by

 
Full Fiendish Findings...
 
 

Madden is one of the few sports franchises that has managed to maintain its annual releases due to its devoted fanbase. Each year, it has to face criticisms and scrutiny to determine if it’s deserved. This year, Madden 25 celebrates its 25th anniversary.

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This installmentshas Phil Simms and Jim Nantz returning as the announcers, who are joined by Danielle Bellini as the sideline reporter. While some players seem to complain about the announcers each year no matter who they are, I didn’t find anything about them that really annoyed me. In fact, I think the phrase randomization has gotten better so the repetition is less noticeable. But if they really bother you, you can always just turn the volume down for the announcers

Madden 25 features some new and improved moves for the ball carrier. Added functionality brings with it added complexity as it’s beginning to feel a bit like the precision button pressing skills required by fighting games just to execute some of these moves. Fortunately, some of the default spin, juke and truck moves are still in place for those who don’t feel like mastering these moves. Madden 25 also touts a new gaming engine, but I can’t say there was a significant change in the feel of the game for me although running did feel less like an arcade game and more like a simulation which will be nice for those who would like a realistic experience. Overall, the controls are still responsive and precise which I have come to expect from EA with their sports games.

To help with learning those new moves, a training mode has returned to Madden with the Skills Trainer mode. If you played earlier versions with training camp modes, it’s very similar. If you haven’t, it boils down to this. You get setup with a play scenario that you need to meet certain metrics to pass the training. Goal metrics are set in place that grade you on your success. Perfectionists may end up spending some time attempting to achieve the elusive gold rating on all the training exercises.

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The rest of the play modes have returned from the previous version. You have your normal exhibition play, connected franchise and ultimate team. The various game modes gives every football fan the experience they are looking for.

Ultimate Team mode returns and has gotten some updates. Even how you start your Ultimate Team has changed. Last year, you would pick your team and you would start with a main player from that team. This has changed slightly by picking a team captain from all the captains available, 1 from each team. So the difference is slight, but it’s there. The biggest change is how that captain affects your team. Ultimate Team now has a Team Chemistry attribute added to them. Bonuses are given by maintaining and building a team with other players and coaches that share that team chemistry. The player contract metrics have also been revamped. Each player starts with a 25 game contract. which is better than the 10 games you used to get from the players you got out of bonus packs last year. Another big change, that I’m not really a fan of, is that you begin with star level players in your initial pack that have lowered stats since they are considered to be in preseason form. This means that the same players have multiple cards with different skill levels which, not only gets confusing, but a bit frustrating when your Tom Brady is no Tom Brady.

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Connected Franchise brings back its really solid version of Connected Careers but also features some improvements made to the game. Along with player and coach mode, it now lets you choose Owner mode where you try to be the ultimate franchise mogul. How this mode works is you earn XP points which you can then spend to improve your players or team to become the ultimate. This year, it also features an extensive list of legend players and coaches to choose from.

Madden 25 is further embracing the social media allowing you to save, upload and share replay videos so you can brag about your own beast mode run to win the Super Bowl with time expiring. One can only expect this to be a continuing trend as people seem to be enamored with the thought of sharing every minuscule aspect of their lives.

The biggest complaint I’ve have with Madden 25 ends up being a significant issue from a lot of players. There have been some significant freezing issues when operating the game. For me, this would happen when it would try and connect to the Ultimate Team servers after many of the games completed. Sometimes, it would even reboot my whole system. While I don’t think I ever lost any progress or information, having to reboot my system in between games certainly made for a less than enjoyable gaming experience.

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So is Madden 25 just a repackage with an updated roster? No, not really. But it’s difficult to find improvements that are really compelling enough to warrant shelling out full game price. When you also consider how many people have had their game crippled by online syncing and players may want to hold off until it drops a few bucks and some of the kinks get smoothed out. There are still going to be the die hard Madden fans who are going to perennially run out and get this game, but it’ll play the same (and hopefully better) a few months from now.


Anthony

 
I've been a game enthusiast since my 2600 enjoying RPG, platformer and adventure games. Also a film buff who enjoys quirky, indie films and a huge Hitchcock fan.


One Comment


  1.  
    Zeth Ward

    Errr dude… your football is the wrong shape ;)

      



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