Here it is, folks. A new year. A new Madden. I will let you know that I have not played a Madden NFL game since Madden 13. Yes. That is important.
Madden 24 was an exciting thought for me. Having not played one in ten years, I felt like there would be plenty of NEW to experience. Well. I was wrong. This does beg to question: How much NEW can you put in a simulation game? That is pretty hard to answer. I will say that while I can very much notice the new fresh pain and details, this pretty much feels like Madden. A clunky menu that takes far too long to load, especially on these new gen consoles, glitchy ball and player physics, bare bones modes (the new Showdown mode has literally nothing to it other than 3 v 3 gameplay) and more "That costs HOW MUCH?" microtransactions than before.
I started off with the Superstar mode. Which seems like a direct knock-off of the NBA 2K MyPlayer. I know story modes have been in Madden before but this gives you a player rating, currency AND badges to upgrade your MyPlayer--ermm--Superstar. And you can then take your upgraded footballer into the previously mentioned Showdown mode. The story is all too familiar. You're drafted! You made it to the NFL. Now you have to prove to Ochocinco that you can play in the NFL. You do this by picking very mundane tasks from a menu. You can do a trendy dance (just text, no actual footage of said dance), make personal appearances for sponsors, stream gameplay to fans, and a select more items that give you some small boosts for a game or two. You have to do these before every game so at first it is nice to get the boosts but by the time my QB had to pick one of the same 3 drills over and over, I was hitting the simulate button as fast as I could.
The games themselves are pretty traditional. If you have played Madden before, you have here. There is a new accuracy meter which when you are doing a bullet pass you have to time correctly or there may be a chance at a misfire, but it is nothing too game changing. I have let it fire without that being accurate on All Pro and still made the play. You will run into glitches, dropped passes, CBs jumping at the exact time to swat a ball even when they aren't looking at it, and your running back slamming into the back of your O-Line like THAT is his job instead of finding the holes. There are some cool looking tackles and animations but it is REALLY hard to be impressed when a player gets a sweet tackle and the ball flies around the stadium or his neck pad (or even neck) in some cases will stretch to the lengths of a giraffe. Coaches and staff off the field have such strange movement animations as well. Oh. But the refs are back.
I had no real attachment to the story mode so I moved on to try Madden Ultimate Team and Quick Play. MUT seems to be exactly where it was those ten years ago. Buy packs and take your team online head to head. It's fine if you are into that but as usual, it does seem to be as "buy me buy me buy me" as possible. There ARE some goodies to unlock by advancing through tiers but the real deal is if you cough up the money for packs.
Multiplayer Is Where The Test Is
I ended up going to quickplay with a buddy online to test servers and shake off my rust from ten years ago. He had a good 10 hours or so into the game before I got a chance to play him. That being said, I ran the same plays I knew from previous Madden iterations that still worked or tricked defenses and still ended up coming out on top. The Madden 13 I played? This hasn't changed. Now, the thrill of Madden online against your friends or other player is absolutely there. Even with some of the glitches or connection issues (this was at launch so it gets a pass), it is still a great time. Is it worth it in the long run? Not for me. But I do see where some of the appeal lies. Not to bring a 2K vs EA conversation into the mix but at least with 2K's MyCareer there is a whole city to explore and it feels like an experience rather than "press a button to advance" type of deal. Even with addition of Showdown (which, if Madden is not your life, do NOT attempt. You will get your spirit crushed over and over), the 3v3 mode that almost but not quite brings a feeling of blitz/backyard football to life again, Madden still can't deliver on its promise to be revolutionary. EA has explained that this is a make or break season for them and honestly, I feel like they NEED to take a break, go back to the drawing board and wait a few years before releases.
Overall Madden feels the same as it has in the last decade. This is not a great thing to say as EA just cannot figure out how to get rid of its nuances. I WANT to enjoy Madden since I love some good ole fashioned football but I cannot shake the idea of a 70 dollar game feeling the same way it has (sometimes even worse) for the last ten or so years. It is a really difficult thing to suggest to any gamer anywhere. There's nothing really to be said about this franchise that hasn't already been said. While it can bring you some joy by beating your friends online, I feel it would not satisfy a whole season's worth to justify the price of admission. Here is my score for Madden 24:
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