Madden 25 is getting closer and closer, and even the date of the game's reveal trailer has already been announced.
Together with that announcement, EA Sports revealed a lot of information regarding the new features and changes Madden 25 will introduce.
Unfortunately, it sounds like the gameplay improvements will be subpar, and that the huge changes Madden fans wanted to see won't happen, at least not this year.
It's Just Smoke and Mirrors, Again!
More control when it comes to passing, blocking, catching, coverages, an improved ball-carrier system, more playbooks, and the brand-new BOOM Tech feature.
All of this sounds great on the surface, but once you dig a little further, you realize it's just another year of minimal changes that most likely won't have a significant impact on the gameplay.
The introduction of the BOOM Tech feature seems like the only real change. This feature is a new physics system that delivers more realistic impacts in 1-on-1 situations, tackles, and stiff arms, among others, by calculating the player's ratings to deliver "authentic physical outcomes".
It sounds great on paper, especially because it should make the game more realistic and immersive. However, it's a feature most players won't notice, and I would be very surprised if the BOOM Tech feature made the gameplay feel much better than in Madden 24.
The remaining gameplay "improvements" are just slight changes. It's like when you paint a wall that has a crack in it, it doesn't really fix the issue, but hey it looks slightly better.
It feels like Madden has been doing this for years now, especially when it comes to its gameplay: not addressing the huge problems in the game and just putting a band-aid on something that can only be fixed via surgery, and a huge one at that.
In a way, the last few Madden games seem like Mona Lisa. Not because they are masterpieces, far from it, but because they aren't finished.
Each year Madden adds a new layer to the painting, but we can't really see the differences, and it feels like we are playing the same game, just with a different name, and a new feature with a cool name.
We need EA Sports to put more effort into Madden, at least when it comes to gameplay. The thing is, they don't really have to do it, since there is no real competition.
However, EA Sports College Football 25 is coming, and technically, that is competition, if you leave out the part where the EA Orlando studio is developing both games.
So it seems we are destined for Mona Lisa-esque changes in Madden for the foreseeable future until a competitor arrives in the field and actually forces EA Sports to make a great game.