Madden NFL 25 review: Is EA's latest game worth upgrading from 2023?

NFL's official game, i.e., Madden, released its latest version, Madden 25, on August 16, 2024. The game comes one month after the successful release of EA Sports' College Football 25, and despite concerns about people buying another football game, players across all platforms purchased Madden.

San Francisco 49ers' star running back Christian McCaffrey is the cover star of the latest edition of the game. Like every year, EA has made some improvements to the game, which has caught the attention of many. As a result, they were once again able to attract the players who have bought the game regularly over the years.

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Madden NFL 25 review

Super Bowl LVIII - San Francisco 49ers v Kansas City Chiefs - Source: Getty

Even after the improvements, many players have issues with Madden 25. The game menu still lags a lot; the ultimate team mode, which brings the most revenue to the developers, continues to remain as the game mode prioritized by EA, and it has irked players who don't like to play online.

The franchise mode is usually the favorite game mode for most players. Although EA has done a great job of improving the draft experience, players generally feel that the game needs more depth.

Content creators and players who have been playing the game for over 10 years consistently emphasize that the pre-game presentations, halftime shows and other aspects related to the franchise mode and other game modes were significantly better in previous versions compared to the latest ones.

Madden 25's soundtrack is certainly better this year, but the players who love the game, are more focused on things surrounding the gameplay on the field. Due to this, the developers should monitor the feedback from the payers and try to improve the offline modes of the game and the presentation like they did in CFB 25.

The Ultimate Team game mode is the biggest cash cow for EA not only in Madden but also in other sports games due to the microtransactions. However, despite its popularity, many players don't want this game mode to be pushed down to their throats.

In recent versions of the game, the ultimate team mode is the first one to appear when you open the game. Accidentally clicking the wrong button puts you in that mode, and it can take a long time to exit from it. That can be frustrating, causing players to abandon the game much quicker than before.

In the video below, you can see the type of crazy things that still happen in the game even after the improvement of the AI system.

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Should you upgrade from Madden 24?

If you are a fan of the ultimate team game mode, you should upgrade to Madden 25. Moreover, if you just want a good viewing experience while playing the game, the improved graphics and the new draft experience in the franchise mode make the game quite good.

The complaints about the gameplay and the depth of some modes are constant across all sports games like EAFC, NBA2K, MLB the Show, NHL, etc. As a result, I don't see any solution to it unless the respective sports leagues allow other developers the rights to make another game.

Since the release of Madden 25, fans have been very active on social media and are urging the NFL to terminate their exclusive licensing agreement with EA. They are advocating for Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (the developer of NBA2K) to have an equal opportunity to create a game for the NFL.

This will intensify competition among developers and will push EA to create a better product than they have put out in recent years. That's largely due to the success of the College Football 25 game, as players have had fun playing it offline, thanks to improved presentations and depth in the dynasty mode.