There have been plenty of deserved complaints about Madden over the years—from unrealistic gameplay to lack of depth in Franchise Mode to underwhelming presentation. Basically, if EA Sports was going to have the only simulation NFL game on the market, football fans needed it to be better.
Fortunately, it seems steps have been taken in the right direction, including improved gameplay that still feels like Madden but has some positive changes that were perhaps plucked right from College Football 25. In particular, player movements feel more natural, which was one of the priorities for EA based on details leading up to the game’s release.
BOOM Tech (not associated with “The Rizzler”) is the new physics-based system in Madden 25, and it’s something that felt new when jumping into a quick game for the first time. A revamped hit stick is the first thing I noticed because you’ll get a pleasing green indicator when you perfectly square an opponent up, and it makes good on the promise to create more authentic contact on the virtual gridiron.
As I continue to play and use different players, running the ball has been my favorite change, as the BOOM Tech system has created more realistic movements—but unlike previous years, you aren’t really “pulled” into an animation; instead, players have the ability to bounce off tackles, rebalance themselves, and perform a sudden ball-carrier move to make a defender miss late.
The two most realistic examples of running so far have been Raheem Mostert cutting back on a zone toss that has become such a big part of Miami’s offense, as there was a tight end on the second level that Mostert followed towards the end zone—even putting a hand out to steady himself as he was guided for a touchdown; the other was a simple inside run by Christian McCaffrey that looked like real life based on his pacing and movements, which have been consistently accurate for this year’s cover athlete (including his strength shown when a defender tries to tackle him high or smoothly spinning on the run for a catch in the flat).
In general, I still prefer the CFB 25 gameplay because I believe the passing is a little more realistic and gives us more overall control, but that is not to say Madden hasn’t improved. I’m not always focused on how the quarterback looks because I want to keep an eye on the coverage, but one time when my wide receiver beat a cornerback cleanly at the snap with no safety over the top, I waited a beat for him to get deep for a “go” ball and watched C.J. Stroud as he calmly uncorked a pass that looked true to life.
With more games played, there are more positives that I notice, and Madden 25 feels closer than ever to authentic player movements, and that includes signature animations for guys such as CeeDee Lamb and Jalen Hurts before the play, or defensive backs sort of hovering into position after breaking the huddle like they do in real life.
Other gameplay changes include using the right stick to switch defenders (something I have underutilized but have liked), a new kick meter similar to CFB 25, and new customizable routes to modify the distance of route breaks (ex: changing a slant route from three yards to six yards).
Presentation
Two new commentary teams are a very welcome addition to Madden 25, as in addition to the returning Brandon Gaudin and Charles Davis, we now have pairings of Mike Tirico and Greg Olsen as well as Kate Scott and Brock Huard. To me, getting Tirico is the best addition because he’s obviously a staple on Sunday Night Football, and the games feel more authentic with his iconic voice on the call. The only complaint here is that none of the three teams are a real-life pairing, which does take away from the immersion.
In terms of in-game graphics, I am disappointed with the updates with more of a virtual/futuristic theme rather than trying to create a realistic scoreboard. For example, the game clock now turns red in the final 30 seconds of each half, which sort of makes you know it’s a video game. Compared to CFB 25, I don’t feel the same kind of realistic experience regarding how the presentation is packaged.
There are some positives, though. Backdrops of stadiums appear to be more accurate and detailed, defensive celebrations have been added, and post-game interactions have been improved.
To provide exact examples of what presentation got right, I played with the Eagles against the Commanders, and after going down 14-0 in the first half and stalling out under two minutes, the Philadelphia fans let me hear it with some boo’s raining down. But when I engineered a comeback and tied things with a two-point conversion late in the fourth quarter, the crowd was then going nuts with “Fly Eagles Fly” heard in the background.
Snow has also been improved to cover more of the field, but more dynamic weather is something I will always push for; and game start times still not being accurate has been an issue for years with 4:15 (a kickoff time that hasn’t occurred for years to my knowledge) being an option rather than 4:05, 4:25, or even 4:30. It’s a minor complaint and I guess purely cosmetic, but I wanted to at least mention it.
Franchise Mode
As a die-hard football fan, I have to be honest here and say Franchise Mode simply isn’t good enough to get me to spend time on it at the expense of Dynasty Mode. Rather than getting into the changes—almost all of which should have been in the game for years, such as realistic player progression—I’d like to offer a recommendation to improve the mode: make it focused on being a general manager.
As I mentioned in our review for College Football 25, my favorite part of Dynasty Mode is being a coach and trying to work your way up the ranks by getting hired by bigger schools. It’s basically perfect for a coach-based career mode, and Madden is too far behind in details—big and small—to get excited about the traditional franchise experience.
Instead, being a general manager would create a whole new experience with a focus on the NFL Draft (which was updated in Madden 25), free agency, and the general team-building aspect that people dream about rather than what feels like empty progression as a coach. Not to keeping comparing it to CFB 25, but I think it would change the perspective of the mode and add more layers similar to recruiting in Dynasty.
Before moving on, one very cool addition that will be appealing to those interested in Franchise is the new Team Builder website that allows you to create a fully customized squad. This means you can rebrand the Washington Commanders to the Washington Wolves or do a franchise relocation with full customization when it comes to uniforms, stadium, etc.
Superstar Mode
I am not much of a Superstar Mode guy, but the notable changes here are an improved player creation process and the ability to import a character from Road to Glory Mode in College Football 25—the latter of which was a favorite during the classic days of NCAA Football 14. The issue is users will play an entire career in CFB 25 (starting with the 2024 season and ending in either 2026 or 2027), but then will begin their NFL journey in 2024, so it’s sort of an immersion killer. The easy fix here would be to have three or four seasons automatically simulated in Superstar Mode before you debut as a rookie, which might make me more likely to play both RTG and Superstar.
Ultimate Team
An improved UI—something that is updated for all modes—makes Ultimate Team (“MUT”) feel different and better than previous years, and the lineup screen allowing you to substitute and shift players makes the process much more streamlined. For example, if I pull an 83 overall Nick Chubb card, I can choose the shift players option to move a 76 overall Rachaad White down to second string and 72 overall Ty Chandler to third string, rather than in previous years when you would need to manually change each slot on the depth chart to bump everyone down.
In general, MUT has been improved for offline players by adding “Solo seasons” versus AI opponents—giving better opportunities to earn top rewards for those who don’t want the stress of playing online head-to-head versus potentially overpowered opponents.
Also, there are more planned “seasons” (think Most Feared for Halloween or Zero Chill for Christmas) to keep things fresh in Madden 25, but I will continue to suggest a dramatic overhaul to improve MUT with highly rated cards from launch. There should be very limited “core” 99 overalls for the likes of Tom Brady and Lawrence Taylor, but the rating system should be more spread out with an all-time scale to create variance.
This would allow MUT users to work towards earning rewards early on without knowing they will soon be outdated as higher overalls are released, and there could be different versions of players—whether it be a 99 overall Alvin Kamara for his six-touchdown performance on Christmas or a rookie Dak Prescott with a lower overall than his core card, but increased mobility ratings, which would be more affordable but also create team-building and collection variance.
Issues
Sticking with ratings, it truly does need a complete overhaul in regular modes as well. Jonathan Taylor not being a top ten running back is just one example of a huge miss by EA, and the ratings have been a point of contention for years.
Respectfully, the ratings might speak to a lack of overall football knowledge by the development team. And that belief is highlighted by inaccuracies when it comes to schemes. From my first game, the playbook for the Eagles was wrong with them switching to a 3-4 under new defensive coordinator in real life, as Brandon Graham and Josh Sweat are often used as 3-4 defensive ends rather than edge players, and plays from “coach suggestions” often featured Devin White and Zack Baun lined up as edge rushers instead of Bryce Huff, Sweat, Graham, and others.
The new kickoff rules were a necessary add to match real life, but even EA doesn’t fully grasp the rules with the kicker freezing with the rest of his teammates until the ball is touched, but he should be allowed to immediately move up and get in position to tackle.
The skills trainer is very buggy tracking the success in a drill, and blocking a punt has been impossible for me.
EA is aware of the issue, but many are missing rewards in MUT that should have been earned from playing College Ultimate Team.
Conclusion
Madden 25 is a definite step in the right direction, particularly with gameplay seeing improvements to make things feel more authentic. Still, I am repeatedly offering other recommendations for how to improve rather than highlighting the actual improvements, so we’ll see if EA can build on things next year to match the success of College Football 25.
Score – 7.4