2024 has been a particularly refreshing year for EA’s range of sports titles. We’ve had the first NCAA college football game in 10 years with EA College Football 25, and Madden 25 is sharing many of that game’s innovations. Today, let’s take a look at the updated physics package, new presentation improvements, and live service elements that make up this year’s Madden title. Without further ado, here are 15 things you need to know before you buy Madden NFL 25.
New Broadcast Announcers for the First Time in Eight Years
Fans have been begging for new commentators for years now. Since Madden NFL 17, the Brandon Gaudin and Charles Davis duo have been the sole commentating team for the series, but thankfully Madden NFL 25 switches that up a bit. Gaudin and Davis are staying, but are joined by two new commentary teams consisting of Mike Turico and Greg Olsen, alongside Kate Scott and former quarterback Brock Huard. Along with the additional commentator teams are 42,000 new recordings, with more being added across the live service seasons. This’ll be the first time in eight whole years we’ve had some commentators other than the same Gaudin/Davis duo, so it’s been a long time coming.
Can Transfer Your Road to Glory Character From EA College Football 25 to Madden 25’s Superstar Mode
My favorite thing to do in a football game is role-playing as a fresh college athlete through a professional career. This can be done in Madden NFL 25 thanks to the return of EA’s college football series. Players can follow their created character’s entire journey from EA College Football 25’s Road to Glory mode all the way through Madden NFL 25‘s Superstar mode. You can only transfer Road to Glory characters to Superstar mode, and only one character can be exported at a time.
Same Virtual Currency and Live Service Elements as Last Year
Some of Madden NFL 25‘s live service elements such as commentator recordings and updated playbooks are free of charge and generally good for the end user, but others not so much. Madden NFL 25 features the same live service system as last year, with MUT Coins being the primary virtual currency used to purchase player cards, contracts, and general progression within Ultimate Team. Madden Points are another currency used for other items within MUT such as alternate jerseys, XP boosters, and various live service bundles. While it is possible to earn Madden Coins through in-game challenges, you assemble teams much faster by paying outright. And to make matters worse, Madden Points require you to pay real money, with no way to earn them outside of rewards that come with special editions of the game. Thankfully for some of us, Ultimate Team isn’t the only mode within Madden NFL 25.
A More Dynamic NFL Draft Night Featuring Roger Goodell
Franchise Mode has long been the core attraction of the Madden NFL series, so it’s good to see it being iterated every year with new additions. What sticks out this year is the updated NFL Draft Night. There’s a completely new stage with perspectives looking into war rooms and green rooms throughout the night. It may not be a huge deal, but it was also mentioned that a virtual Roger Goodell will greet players on stage, which would be a first for the Madden NFL series. These little added details are welcome, injecting much-needed atmosphere and presentation into what could otherwise be a sterile presentation.
15 New Minigames
Joining the roster of Superstar mode minigames from last year are 15 all-new minigames. Pocket Presence makes its return after a decade, tasking quarterbacks to avoid getting pressured and sacked as they perform accurate throws. Pitch Party has you running to the endzone while confusing defenders, and Bucket Drop hoists actual targets for your QB to hit in a time trial. There’s even a Gauntlet mode that includes minigame challenges, difficulty levels, and boss battles.
Emphasis on Player ‘Storylines’ in Franchise and Superstar Modes
Last year’s Madden NFL 24 re-introduced Superstar mode for the first time in 10 years, but it still had a ways to go to match the personality of previous titles. Thankfully, Madden NFL 25 is adding little sprinkles of personality here and there through what they are calling ‘storyline’ details, which take the form of quick scenes and moments highlighting a player’s personality. Press conferences, coach rooms, and practices will show these ‘storyline’ moments within the Superstar and Franchise modes. Additionally, pre-game montages will feature some of these ‘storyline’ moments as players react to the crowd and media in different ways.
Reengineered Hit Stick Through BOOM Tech
BOOM Tech is the Madden team’s physics and animation package, which they say they’ve been cooking up for two years now. The 20-year-old Hit Stick mechanic is one such area they’ve innovated upon with BOOM Tech. Hit Stick has always been about timing a tackle just right so the opponent fumbles the ball. This year, the Tackle and Hit Power ratings influence the effect of a particular Hit Stick, meaning individual players will utilize it better or worse than others. The new physics engine improvements across the BOOM Tech package also feed into the angles and timing required for perfect Hit Stick execution. Finally, perfect Hit Sticks are now accompanied by graphical feedback indicators, crowd response, and enhanced rumble to make the moment of impact that much more visceral.
More Realistic Tackle Physics and Collisions
Strap yourselves in because we’re about to get technical. Defensive players now brace for impact before tackles, resulting in a host of new animations as the game scans for potential collisions. At the moment of impact, a variety of new parameters are calculated to determine the particular tackle animations; these include ratings like muscle strength tuning, force, velocity, and momentum. Player abilities also contribute to the enhanced physics behind each tackle. The tackle animation is then combined with the branched physics pieces, making for a far more dynamic tackle than the more predetermined set of tackle animations featured in previous games.
All-New Ball Carrier Balance System
Ball carriers on the receiving end of a tackle get the same physics treatment that defensive tacklers do. There’s a host of new angles and torque calculations that influence whether the ball carrier withstands the hit or not, and there are further gradients in between. The player’s footing and center of mass, as well as rotation angle also play a much bigger role in their balance and stability than past Madden games. Of course, like the defense, a ball carrier’s balance is determined by player ratings just as much as the physics.
Revamped Playbook Tools
Another gameplay mechanic the team has been investing years into is advanced Playbook tools. All 32 teams will feature unique personal playbooks that have been utilized in real-world situations such as the Corn Dog Play the Chiefs deployed in their recent Super Bowl victory. New plays will be added throughout the season as a live service continuation to keep up with current NFL trends.
Expanded Pregame Montages and New Super Bowl Celebrations
Alongside the new lines of broadcast commentary are over 500 new on-field sound samples intended to make gameday more immersive. What’s especially cool is how they’re importing crowd noise from Monday Night Football games throughout the 2023 NFL season into the game. The pageantry before the game gets a revamped update with new montages including player-specific ‘storyline’ moments as well. Finally, there’s a host of additional Super Bowl celebrations with new cutscenes featured in this year’s Madden.
Create Your Own Team Through Team Builder
Like EA College Football 25, Madden NFL 25 features a mode where you can create your own team from the ground up. The catch is this mode is only accessible on a separate external webpage called Team Builder. Players can make custom logos and jerseys as well as import a range of NFL and NCAA draft players onto their team to share with other players online. The created team from Team Builder can only be imported into Franchise mode.
New Online Head-to-Head Ranked Structure
Madden NFL 25 carries over its robust PvP offering from previous years with Ultimate Team and Head-to-Head modes, which are getting some improvements. Head-to-head in particular, receives a newly designed ranked structure based on different divisions. If you manage to overcome your opponents again and again, you’ll qualify to enter the Top 100 Division, which is basically Head-to-Head’s new endgame goal. Besides the new ranked structure, leaderboards are getting a redesign as well, though we don’t have any definitive details regarding what they entail yet.
A Host of Features and Modes Are Not Available in the PS4/Xbox One Versions
Unfortunately, a lot of the really cool additions are not available on last-gen versions of Madden NFL 25. Below is the full list of features and modes not available on last-gen (PS4/Xbox One) systems:
- Superstar Mode
- BOOM Tech physics package
- New commentary teams and recordings (yes, last-gen is stuck with the 8-year-old duo)
- 3D Turf
- Various updates to Franchise mode
- Ranked online Head-To-Head
Dual Entitlement Allows You To Upgrade Your PS4/Xbox One Copy to PS5/Series X for Free
Thankfully, players can receive the upgraded PS5 or Xbox Series X/S versions for free with PS4 or Xbox One copies of the game. Oddly enough, physical PS5 copies of Madden NFL 25 do not include the PS4 version, yet physical Xbox Series X/S copies do include Xbox One versions through Xbox Smart Delivery. This dual entitlement applies to both digital and physical copies of the game. It’s also worth noting that progress from the PS4/Xbox One versions of the game does not cross over into the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions.
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