Almost half a yr later, the NFL is again and American Football discovered all over the world are able to cheer on a few of their favourite groups. After an fascinating preseason, NFL followers might be glued to their seats for the next 4 months. Just two weeks into the 2023-2024 season, some wild and unpredictable issues have already transpired. Although many people wouldn’t predict a few of these occurrences, one recreation continues to foretell among the most outlandish moments with unbelievable accuracy. Yes, we’re speaking concerning the Madden franchise. With a brand new soccer season comes a brand new Madden; so how does Madden 24 maintain up? Let’s talk about EA Sports Madden 24.
Madden 24
Developer: EA Tiburon
Publisher: EA Sports
Platforms: PC (Steam), Epic Game Store, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S
Release Date: August 18th, 2023
Players: 1 to 4 native, a number of on-line
Price: $69.99
Before Diving In
After shedding the F.I.F.A license earlier this yr, EA Sports is trying to maintain on for expensive life and never lose one other franchise title. With the franchise on the road, EA Tiburon appears to kick off the brand new Madden that everybody is aware of up a notch with the introduction of precision passing and the return of the coaching camp mini-games. On the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, Madden 24 supposedly makes use of “Sapien Technology”, however when enjoying this new “know-how” isn’t actually noticeable; that goes in hand with the “Field Sense” enhancements.
Each yr, I need to give Madden an opportunity. I need to have the ability to relive the nail-biting moments of my teenage years the place a single play might make or break the sport and the joys of competitors ran wild. Now, Madden 24 simply looks like a copy-paste rendition of its prior self residing within the shadow of its glory days. Nothing concerning the recreation feels recent or distinctive. Yes, the rosters have been up to date and the stadiums and brand modifications have been applied, however there’s nothing that screams, “This is a recent soccer expertise.” Yes, you may play Madden 24 in opposition to PlayStation and PC customers, however is that basically an enormous promoting level?
Nothing concerning the recreation feels actually noteworthy exterior of the precision passing and the graphics nonetheless really feel the identical because the PS2 and Xbox 360 days. Yes, they’ve been up to date however the change isn’t actually that spectacular. Hell, for this evaluation I booted up my PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 and put in copies of Madden 2006 and Madden 2012 to see how they in contrast. The unhappy actuality is, that the Madden franchise is stagnant and is simply getting by because of folks wanting up to date rosters and other people wanting to have the ability to play with their associates.
Game Modes
Madden 24 affords gamers the choice to decide on between Madden Ultimate Team, Franchise, Superstar, Training Camp, and Quickplay. In Quickplay, gamers can simply bounce proper in and have a match of their selecting; the sport suggests both enjoying weekly matchups or enjoying a match of your individual alternative. If you select to create your individual matchup, the sport will default you to your favourite group, however that’s simply swappable.
MUT
Madden Ultimate Team (MUT)continues to be within the recreation and is Madden‘s Gacha system; in actual fact, it’s their major technique to earn money with gamers capable of commerce real-life foreign money for in-game foreign money to purchase packs and particular person playing cards. At the beginning of the sport, Madden 24 makes an attempt to place you into MUT. Yes, it does offer you a quick rundown of how the sport mode works, however from the very starting, it’s created with the aim of attractive gamers.
With every pack you open, there’s a particular animation to accompany the pack’s theme. The recreation takes some time to render the animation and it’s simpler to scroll to the following card to see what you really unlocked. Thankfully, MUT does help you choose an choice so that you can generate your absolute best group reasonably than shifting via every participant’s card.
Once you’re performed setting your lineup, you may both face different MUT gamers or compete in native challenges; these native challenges provide the likelihood to earn cash and different playing cards/packs. After choosing your problem, you may then select one among six difficulties (Rookie, Pro, Veteran, All-Star, MVP, and Legend); these difficulties don’t align with the gameplay problem and are simply milestone markers that it’s a must to attain primarily based in your efficiency.
Superstar
In Superstar mode, gamers can turn into their very own NFL participant and select between 5 positions. The 5 positions are Quarterback, Running Back, Wide Receiver, Linebackers, and Cornerback. These are the identical 5 positions which have been within the recreation for the reason that early 2000s and the idea of it has not modified. After choosing your place, you may design your character. Most of the choices really feel reasonably restricted at first however as soon as you choose one you may modify it to get your character nearer to the way you need to look.
Superstar Mode is the sport mode for many who desire a story in Madden and need to reside out their dream of being an NFL star. The solely draw back to this recreation mode is its mediocre drills, bizarre digicam angles, and typically the mercy of the sport itself. While enjoying Quarterback, you’re locked into this bizarre digicam angle that limits your field of regard. Yes, it does present a extra reasonable expertise however if in case you have performed the common recreation, it’s a drastic change. What makes issues worse is which you could’t change the sphere of view.
Bugs & Annoying Features
Like every other recreation, Madden 24 just isn’t exempt from bugs. While you’re finishing some challenges, the sport is not going to at all times acknowledge that you’ve accomplished the problem and you can be pressured to restart it. Characters will stroll via each other; this primarily occurs throughout the in-between reset however there have been a number of events the place a participant has actually run via one other and the sport hasn’t registered it. On prime of that, the AI will typically simply stand round like they’re misplaced in a daze regardless of the ball provider actually operating proper at them. What makes issues worse, the sport makes it more durable to modify characters in Madden 24 and if you do, there’s a slight delay on when you may transfer them from their place.
The recreation has another annoying options that make it an terrible expertise. The momentum meter continues to be a predominant a part of the sport and might trigger points with its movement blur and swaying when an opponent is forward. While enjoying, there are means too many instances the place the sport will randomly strobe for no cause prefer it forgot to render one thing and is shortly loading it in. Additionally, if you wish to stream the sport, you will want to show off the sport’s soundtrack. Finding the soundtrack just isn’t a straightforward job. Honestly, I used to be so completely happy to discover a technique to flip off the songs since a majority of the sport’s songs are rap; there isn’t any actual selection.
Verdict
Each yr, I need to give Madden an opportunity and the advantage of the doubt. Each yr since 2014 it has continued to disappoint me and looks like it’s only getting worse. The recreation has turn into stagnant and out of doors of up to date rosters and minor enhancements to the graphics, Madden has performed the naked minimal to remain related. Madden 24 tries to revitalize the franchise with a brand new precision throwing system, new celebrations, cross-platform gameplay, and the return of the coaching camp minigames, however on the finish of the day, it’s EA Sports placing a recent coat of paint on one thing and calling it new.
If you want Madden, you’ll in the end purchase Madden 24 and there’s nothing we will do to sway your opinion. If you’re on the lookout for a recreation that can present a sensible fantasy expertise, then decide up Starfield, Baulder’s Gate 3, and even the upcoming Cyberpunk DLC. The solely time this recreation is even remotely price is when it’s on sale throughout Black Friday for $30 and even then it’s a questionable alternative.
Madden 24 was reviewed on an Xbox Series X utilizing a replica supplied by EA Sports. You can discover extra details about Niche Gamer’s evaluation/ethics coverage right here. Madden 24 was launched on August 18th, 2023 on PC (Steam), Epic Games Store, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S
