When “Madden NFL 25” came out Tuesday, I planned on going the less popular route and writing about the three things I actually liked about the game. And there are some really good things about Madden. Fantasy Draft is available in the “Offline Connected Careers” mode, the running game is a lot of fun and the opening for primetime NFL games when you’re playing Connected Careers is pretty epic.
However, now that I’ve had a couple days to play I feel compelled to share some grievances. So here they are—the top three things that annoy me about “Madden NFL 25”:
No. 1—You get an injury! You get an injury! Everybody Gets an Injury!
I know we’re playing football and injuries are bound to happen. But why do they happen on every other play! In one of my Connected Careers’ games I had one game in which my starting quarterback, top tight end, top wide receiver and top running back all left the game. It would be nice if that could be toned down just a bit.
No. 2 – The computer has to be a little bit smarter
There has been two instances in my gameplay in which the computer has completely ignored something that’s pretty obvious. The first was when I as the quarterback ran past the line of scrimmage and threw the ball. The penalty was rightly called, but the ball had been intercepted. Instead of declining the penalty and taking the touchback, the computer decided to accept the penalty and let me keep the ball near the goal line. Highly unrealistic.
The second example came when the opposing team was in the red zone. My linebacker intercepted a pass but since there was a stoppage of play—I do not remember the exact reason—the computer saw it as an incomplete pass and did not allow me to challenge the play.
No. 3 – Why is there no halftime show?
There is no reason EA Sports did not put a halftime show in “Madden NFL 25”. I commend the “Madden NFL” team on the realistic pre-game discussion between Jim Nance and Phil Simms. But why does it stop there? Obviously the team has the technology to make it happen. They may not be able to get ridiculously specific, but anything would be better than just throwing together some highlights like they do now.
“Madden NFL 25” is not in any way an EA Sports failure like the previous “NBA Live” products. They have made good strides with the technology available. That being said, it would be nice to see them take that same technology and make improvements in the areas that many gamers want to see fixed.
