EA Sports finally hit its stride on this generation of consoles with Madden NFL 17, the latest release in the Madden franchise.
The controls are familiar, but the game feels more refined than ever before. The improved running game with more refined spin and break tackle mechanics, along with added zone and gap coverages that make defense as a whole a better experience.
The best new gameplay feature really isn’t a feature at all. It’s the fact that your defensive teammates are no longer stupid. Defenders actually play their coverages relative to where players are. No longer will quarterbacks be able to just dump off every little pass, leading to absurdly high completion percentages. It is now necessary to be able to read defenses. Thankfully, there is a multitude of tutorial options available to help players learn how to read coverages. It legitimately improves your knowledge of the game of football, not just the game of Madden.
One addition that is worth noting includes “play the moments” mode. “Play the moments” allows one to sim throughout the game, only playing “key plays,” such as a major third-down stop or a red zone opportunity. This allows games to go much faster, and if one enjoys playing franchise mode, allows players to advance through a season much quicker.
Speaking of franchise mode, there are little additions that make the mode so much better. Formation subs allow the player to use specialists more effectively because it gives one the ability to use players that may see the field rarely in specific sets. For instance, if one plays as the Bengals, he can use formation subs to have bruiser Jeremy Hill in at running back for “power” sets and speedster Giovani Bernard at running back for “shotgun” sets. This allows for a greater diversity of play-calling, as well as the ability to use a roster at maximum effectiveness.
Another franchise addition is “Practice squad.” This allows the user to sign players that don’t suit up for gameday, but can be practiced with, to get a feel of their talents. This is a function on real NFL rosters and will satisfy the most hardcore of football fans.
Far more players this year possess the “clutch trait.” The clutch trait increases certain ratings within the final two minutes of a half, and more than 70 players now have the trait, up from 28 last year. However, despite the massive increase, not every player kept his clutch trait from the previous season. Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco no longer has the clutch trait, all but confirming he is not elite.
Madden Ultimate Team is still around if the prospect of dropping hundreds of dollars more on a game you already spent $60 on is appealing to you.
There are also new announcers, with Brandon Gaudin and Charles Davis replacing the combo of Jim Nantz and the dreadful Phil Simms. The limited time to record new lines is apparent with the lack of real banter between new announcers, but EA is rectifying the situation by adding new lines weekly related to what happened in the NFL the previous week. Hopefully this makes the announcing less stale, but only time will tell. Anything is better than Phil Simms, though.
In the end, it’s the little things that make a big difference in making this year’s Madden a winner. If you haven’t bought a copy in a few years, now is the time to purchase. Otherwise, like most sports titles, it’s only a “must-buy” if you are a hardcore NFL fan.
Author’s note: This review is from the PS4 version of the game
