By Olin Coles

Manufacturer: Electronic Arts Inc.
Product Name: Madden NFL 25
UPC: 014633730562 (PS3)
Price As Tested: $34.99 (PS3 Version / XBOX Version from Amazon)

Full Disclosure: The product sample used in this article has been provided by EA Sports.

Chances are good that if you’re reading this article, you enjoy NFL football. You might watch the games religiously every Sunday, or play the game for sport in some form, either digital or physical. In fact, it’s probably not far from the truth that in-between watching games and playing in your Fantasy Football League you might also enjoy the sport by way of video games. You’re most likely a huge fan, and have your favorite team. I was none of these things, until EA SPORTS Madden NFL 25 sucked me in and turned me into a devout follower.

EA SPORTS Madden NFL 25 is more than another annual installment to the Madden franchise, it’s the brand’s 2014 edition to be sure, but it also combines teams and players from the past 25 years: 1989-2014. By collecting some of the greatest players to ever handle the pigskin over the past twenty-five years, Madden NFL 25 assembles the Madden Ultimate Team based on your preferences. Alternatively, you can keep things current and use players with 2013 statistics, or even manage your own team through Connected Franchise. In this article, Benchmark Reviews decides if EA SPORTS Madden NFL 25 receives the two-point conversion or gets sacked.

Available on console for Sony PlayStation3 or Microsoft XBOX360, EA SPORTS Madden NFL 25 can also be pre-ordered for the upcoming PS4 or XBOX ONE consoles. A demo version is available as well, that incorporates all of the latest features into a single-player exhibition game. Built upon Electronic Arts’ Infinity Engine 2 game engine, Madden NFL 25 introduces force-feedback and more realistic player and ball physics. Game modes span from single-player drills to multiplayer games, managing a team to owning the franchise, with plenty of variety in-between. It’s an understatement to say Madden NFL 25 is really a collection of unique game modes bundled into one title.

Madden NFL 25 blurs the line between fantasy football and video games, incorporating fan-suggested features and functionality into the draft and scouting components. This creates the ideal vantage point for every type of fan, from those wanting to be the player, team coach, franchise manager, or scout. If this isn’t enough micro-managing for you, there’s still the opportunity to set ticket prices and the cost of popcorn. Still not enough control? Design your own player with custom physical attributes and appearance, then create your team’s custom uniform.

Run Free – Unlock the power, precision, and creativity of the NFL ball-carrier. Whether you’re a slashing running-back, dual-threat QB, or ball-hawking safety, unleash 30 new moves and string together devastating combos with the all-new precision modifier
Infinity Engine 2 – Brings both a more polished physics simulation and introduces all-new Force Impact System. Power moves including Hit Stick, Truck, dive tackle, and more have been completely redesigned to harness full potential of Infinity Engine 2, giving more control over outcome of a play than ever before
Connected Franchise – Be a player. Be a coach. Be an owner. Cement your legacy as one of the all-time great NFL players or coaches in new and improved Connected Franchise. Become the ultimate sports tycoon as you take the reins of your favorite team to manage personnel, set prices, build the next cutting-edge stadium, and more in all-new Owner Mode
Madden Share – Best content from around the Madden NFL universe right at your fingertips
Madden Ultimate Team – Enjoy new ways to play and build your team in this year’s edition of Ultimate Team
Madden All-25 – Celebrating 25 years of Madden NFL’s best of the best

Madden NFL 25 is many things, but it’s far from being a simple game for knuckle-draggers to button mash. Madden NFL 25 requires an understanding of offensive and defensive formation plays as well as calling audible commands to change the play before the ball is hiked. Madden NFL 25 delivers several throw-control commands to the quarterback, a range of movements for the ball handler, and optional techniques for defenders. In other words, this is a game for people who immerse themselves in the platform and memorize commands.

To get you ready for the game, Madden NFL 25 offers the Skills Trainer interactive tutorial – a new addition to the Madden NFL franchise. Included are four key football drills that help prepare you for a full game, which include: Precision Modified Running, Total Control Passing, The Option, and Ball Hawk. Mastering the Precision Modified Running and Option drills will give players the most control as the ball carrier, and put you at an advantage over opponents who use only the basic functions and responses. There’s a learning curve, but nobody gets to the top by sleeping through class.

Madden NFL 25 Run Free – Unlock the power, precision and creativity of an NFL ball carrier. Utilize the brand-new precision modifier to call up the perfect move for almost any situation.

Precision Modifier – Unleash 30 new moves with the perfect combination of speed, power and elusiveness.
Combos – For the first time ever execute combo moves including truck spins, juke spins and more.

If you’re new to the Madden genre, you might be enticed to jump right in and play some football. It’s possible to do this, but just because it can be done doesn’t mean it should be. Single-player solo challenges and exhibition games are the best way to learn Madden NFL 25, but even then it will take many games before you begin to understand the depth of these new features and controls. Prior to this review I had never played any of the Madden games, so it took me over a dozen hours before I had mastered the basic “Run Free” techniques to activate Precision Modifiers and pull off combo movements.

Madden NFL 25 goes to great lengths to include accurate names, photo portraits, and statistics for all of the players and coaches active in the NFLPA up to the 2013 season. In addition to current-season players, over fifty NFL player and coaching legends join their ranks. Practice the option game with Russell Wilson or Colin Kaepernick, Run Free with the likes of Ray Rice and Randall Cobb, and check out the all-new Force Impact System with Patrick Willis and the feared Seahawks secondary.

Depending on your game mode, experience points (XP) may be earned by completing practices and playing in games. XP is used to upgrade capabilities with the Player Progression tool, found in Connected Franchise. Player Progression allows you to automatically progress your team’s capabilities using each player’s XP to purchase new skills, or you can manually progress star players and individually auto-progress others (or auto-progress the entire remainder of your team). You can build them better, faster, stronger… and worth more when it comes time to trade.

Gameplay is split between an offline single-player environment, and online multiplayer action. There’s easily enough variety and challenge from the CPU, which can be tweaked from the default 50% power to something more formidable within Game Settings, but if you enjoy the pride of victory over human competitors then Online Season play will deliver the opportunity to earn bragging rights (or rage-quitting temper tantrums). Just remember, if you’re on the Internet, anything goes, and most online players have enjoyed the Madden NFL game series for years. Only the experienced players with thick skin need apply.

Madden Infinity Engine 2 – Year 2 of the award-winning Infinity Engine brings more polished physics and the introduction of the Force Impact system.

Physics – Real-time physics and the Force Impact system allows users to feel the big plays on offense and defense; with big hits, stiff-arms and truck moves which provide a more realistic and satisfying feeling than ever before.
Running Game Improvements – Madden NFL 25 offers a suite of improvements to the running game, including hard run cutting for direction changes, improved run blocking and new ball carrier avoidance behavior that allows runners to automatically move around blockers and prevent inadvertent collisions. Furthermore, utilize the new stumble recovery to fight gravity as you scramble for extra yards.
Defense – New tackle pursuit angles and “breakdown” behavior create a more authentic defensive experience. Recover quickly when caught out of position to get back into the play, and utilize heat-seeker tackling and more accurate dive tackles to make the play.

Now that you’ve been introduced to the various features and functions available in Madden NFL 25, it time to grab the controller and get into actual gameplay. Madden NFL 25 can played using simple techniques or mastered with complex player actions, but regardless of skill level the alert player will win every time. When I began this project, I didn’t know what a half back was (it’s a running back’s position), but I knew that when the opposing team’s quarterback was flanked by runners, the play probably wasn’t going to end with a pass and so I adjusted my defenders arrangement at the line. The opposite can be done for pass plays, increasing your chance to prepare and catch the interception.

First and foremost, Madden NFL 25’s Precision Modifier system is a prerequisite for winning against skilled opponents. If you plan to play online or against the CPU at Pro level, it’s expected that you’ve memorized and mastered the moves and combos. Even quarterbacks with high accuracy will need to throw ahead, around, or behind their receiver’s mark when traffic is heavy. Likewise, the ball handler can’t expect to simply jog across the goal line without a stiff-arm, spin, hurdle, juke, or dive to shake the tackle. The Run Free techniques are essential to successful up-field movement in Madden 25, so make good use of Skills Trainer Mode.

In Madden NFL 25 the CPU controls and call penalties against offense and defense teams, but beware: the computer cheats. Be prepared to call the referee out on a bad call, which could earn you that first down or prevent the opposing team’s advance. Unfortunately, even when your eyes clearly see the boundaries of a play, there’s the slim chance that Madden’s code could still see it otherwise. In one game I played, the replay showed from every angle (illustrated below) that the runner’s feet were planted well ahead of the marker line before falling out of bounds, but no amount of challenging would change the system’s call.

Of the many aspects that make up a full football game, there are five primary roles in Madden NFL 25: passing plays, running plays, man defense, blitz rushing, and zone coverage. Learn and master a few key plays from each role, and you’ll be a force to reckon with. Madden 25 assigns a dynamic to each team, created by player chemistry and coaching skills, which focus on specific formations and play styles. There is a myriad of different combinations, so it’s realistically impossible to match up against a team with identical traits as your own. Supposing you manage to face a team with a similar dynamic, your play books would still be considerably different.

Unique player attributes doesn’t mean you can’t have what someone else does, thanks to Madden Share’s online community exchange. Madden Ultimate Team (MUT) players can upload and download rosters, play books, sliders, and draft classes using Madden Share.

In my experiences playing Madden NFL 25 in Owner Mode, I’ve found a disconnect between certain key positions and where drafted super-star players are located. For example, you might have a star among your wide receivers, but unless that receiver is posted to the routes you throw most often, that talent goes to waste. Likewise for defensive tackles, where the person making sacks and tackles might be an up and coming star yet to be recognized by name or paid a decent salary. Unlike MUT, Owner Mode doesn’t allow you to arrange how players set on the line. These are important factors in Owner Mode, where contracts and trades are negotiated.
Combine trading cards with fantasy football, add in a video game, and you’ve Madden Ultimate Team, or MUT. This game mode is a bit layered, with players collecting cards they earn or purchase in premium packs, draft and trade cards/players, organize their roster and players, then play football against the CPU or online players. Madden Ultimate Team is overwhelming to the uninitiated, and EA Sports doesn’t offer much tutorial on the entire process.

First and foremost, DO NOT create a team in Madden Ultimate Team if you’re new to the series or game mode. If you create a team that doesn’t match your play style, or you’ve made a mistake deciding something about the team, it’s already too late. You cannot delete a Madden Ultimate Team you’ve created, or start over new. You’re stuck with the mistake or bad decision, and EA Sports hopes you’ll play (or more likely, buy) your way towards better players (although you’ll still be stuck with the coach’s play style).

Madden Ultimate Team works on a coin system, which can be purchased or earned and used to obtain players or items for your team. While entirely free to play, it’s extremely difficult to get anywhere with a fresh team because all of the players have low stats. EA Sports offers premium packages for sale within the game, which can be used to purchase coins and use them to improve your team. Coins are awarded at much smaller amounts after victories and as post-season rewards.

Connected Franchise, previously known as Connected Career, is a new game mode within Madden NFL 25 that is really its own side act. In Owner Mode you control the franchise in every regard: from contracting stadium renovations to managing prices, as well as operating a public relations team and media network. Alternatively, you can take control from the team management level, and coach players under your own doctrine. In either mode, you can lace up and take to the field and play the game with the team you’ve assembled.

Here are some of the key features available in Madden NFL 25 Connected Franchise:

Completely Refined Experience – Connected Franchise returns with an entirely new user interface that is focused on accessibility with the new Trade Center and Creation Flow, completely re-tuned progression and legacy score system and refined Draft, Trade and Signing logic. Also, earn XP faster and see quicker progression for your player or coach.
Fan-Favorite Features Return – The next evolution of Connected Franchise marks the return of offline 32 team control, transaction log, and the ability to import draft classes from NCAA Football 14.
New Legends and Media Personalities – New legends and media personalities bring Connected Franchise to life in year two. Recreate the careers of Randall Cunningham, Mike Ditka (as a player or coach), running back William “Refrigerator” Perry and many more. Get insights on your career from Matthew Berry, Peter Schrager and other influential members of the media.

The goal of EA Sports Madden NFL 25 Connected Franchise is to become the highest-valued franchise in the NFL. This is the long-term goal, sort of like obtaining the highest level or rank, and you’ll soon recognize that there’s something you should have done differently after you get midway through that first season. The key tools you use to achieve this are:

Hire Personnel – Find the coaches, scouts and trainers who fit your needs and give your team the best chance to win.
Full Team Control – Set prices, upgrade your stadium and control all aspects of day-to-day operations as an NFL tycoon. If things aren’t working out with your current stadium, rebuild or relocate to an exotic locale like Mexico City or London.
Market Players – Acquire popular players and sell their jerseys to increase your yearly profit. Can you find the next NFL superstar?
Fan Happiness – Keep the fans happy and reap the rewards. Not all fans are the same, and what works in Philly may not work in Jacksonville.
Media Relations – Media personalities will put you on the spot and ask you tough questions about team performance and talent. Choose your words carefully, if you make a bold statement, the fans will hold you to it for weeks or even years.

Connected Franchise is really about two things: money and winning games if you’re playing in Owner Mode, and winning games to ensure enough money for contract extensions in Coach Mode. The game includes metrics such as Fan Happiness, which is influenced by several variables (stadium condition, ticket and merchandise pricing, winning record, star players on roster, etc), but money is what makes the NFL go round.

Once you’ve earned enough money through hosting home games with your undoubtedly always-winning team, it will be time to make upgrades to the stadium in order to keep attendance (and earnings) high in Connected Franchise. Don’t go bankrupt before the season ends (not really possible), since you’ll need to pay player contracts and hire staff in the off-season. Players will cost you the most and contracts usually cost about $5M after the first season, while staff salary is apparently minimum wage at a combined $120K for six workers.

One of the greatest features in Madden NFL 25 Connected Franchise is the ability to lure legendary players and coaches onto your team ($$$), but also to earn and burn XP on their skills. XP is earned for every player on the team through weekly practice and games, with attributes priced comparably to the level of that skill. For example, a skill that is rated as 40 might only cost 100 XP to increase by one point, but it could cost you 100,000 XP to add another point if that skill is rated 95.

Speaking of practices, at the start of your first season each practice challenge might seem relatively easy. Keep in mind that your team plays offense versus defense in these games, so it may be very easy or nearly impossible depending on the strengths and weaknesses of your team. Impenetrable team? Expect to lose practice challenges and walk away with 1000 XP per player instead of 2000 XP.

If you’re a stingy franchise mogul, you might consider running your stadium into the ground until it’s time to relocate the team. There are seventeen eligible relocation destinations available in Madden NFL 25 Football Connected Franchise, which include populated American cities as well as foreign lands like England (UK), Mexico, Canada, and Ireland. Be careful, though, since you only make money on home games!

Throughout my testing of Madden NFL 25, I collected a long page of notes. To its credit, Madden 25 took a football non-fan with no prior experience with the game franchise and turned me into a armchair quarterback who yells at his television when the play doesn’t go as expected. Madden 25 got me hooked on the video game and its many facets, but I’m probably not going to run out and buy jerseys for anyone featured on the televised sport. In spite of this, there were occasions where I discovered that EA Sports really could have done things differently, or better. This section is my sounding board for critical feedback.

Beyond anything else I can say about this game, Madden NFL 25 is a gigantic undertaking at every level and mode. Seriously, I haven’t seen this much packed into one title, well, ever. Think of it this way: when you purchase a games like Battlefield, Medal of Honor, or Call of Duty, you get the single-player story missions and online games set to those same maps. With Madden 25, it’s like you get all three of those games, and then they add another that lets you politician and be the government that funds those armies through taxation programs. Madden NFL 25 gets deep, so deep you either need to have twenty-five years of experience playing the franchise’s titles, or tutorials on top of tutorials. You also need to know everything about the plays, players, positions, physical attributes, and commands used in professional football.

After a few weeks with Madden NFL 25, I can tell you that the game has a long list of pros and cons. Because this is a console-only video game, presently available on XBOX 360 and PS3 but soon to be released for XBOX ONE and PS4 (see the graphics quality preview), the graphics appear rough to anyone who plays DirectX-11 PC games. To keep the action moving at a fluid frame rate, football field details as well as the players and ‘people’ on them are displayed at low-detail during the play (seen below). Once the play is complete, flashbacks and instant replay footage are all shown in highest detail with smoothed edges and more defined textures. You get used to the hand-off (ha! puns!), but clearly Madden NFL 25 is designed for the newer hardware inside the latest-generation gaming consoles.

Of all my complaints, the most annoying problem I discovered with Madden NFL 25 was its inconsistent display of “Shift D-line / Point of Attack” and “Shift Defense / Guess Play” menus. You press the button to call up one of these menus, and use the stick to select the direction of your choice. Most times the menu will briefly disappear immediately after calling it up, costing you a second of decision making when only a few seconds are given (if any at all). Other times moving the left stick to select your choice will cause a flag on the play for off-sides movement – very annoying if you play at the line and want to fine-tune your blitz or running defense.

The first thing I did after installing Madden NFL 25 was play Madden Ultimate Team. I figured that it would let me get a taste of football with a team of legends, which I could use to learn how the plays worked in a base-case scenario. This led me to create my own team, without first understanding any of the attributes assigned to players and captains. Before long, I wanted to changes or delete my Madden 25 Ultimate team and start over. No such luck; EA Sports wants you to suffer or survive with your decision, and ignorance is apparently no excuse for redemption. You cannot change, retire, or delete your one and only allowed custom team in Madden NFL 25… which makes the game much less fun for eager beginners like me.

Other details were either cool, or frustrating, depending on your expectations. For example, when I created my team in Owner Mode for Connected Franchise, I elected (in regret) to draft my team instead of keeping the pre-created set of players. Little did I know that the draft schedule process would take the system over thirty minutes to complete, with no opportunity or ability to cancel the draft and choose the pre-created team… even if you power off or disconnect Internet. If you’re a hardcore fantasy sports enthusiast then this feature is for you and you won’t mind sitting around during the long wait, but everyone else is better off saving themselves time with the existing selection.

Another note was the customization of players and their equipment. You can change jersey numbers, college attended, whether they’re right of left handed, and occasionally their position within the team. Most of these items won’t make any difference to the game with exception to quarterbacks and possibly receivers. But then there’s the equipment, where you can choose from a huge list of real-world gear to customize a myriad of different options. But questions remain: will changing shoes make the runner faster, or the safety cover better? Will changing the helmet or visor have any effect on awareness? Do the gloves help with tackles or receptions, and will a hand-warmer or towel help? Will having larger or more padding help or hurt maneuverability? None of this is documented, and may or may not be purely cosmetic.

RATING DISCLAIMER: Although the rating and final score mentioned in this conclusion are made to be as objective as possible, be advised that every author perceives these factors differently. While we each do our best to ensure that all aspects of the product are considered, there are often times unforeseen market conditions and manufacturer revisions that occur after publication which could render our rating obsolete. Please do not base any purchase solely on this conclusion, as it represents our rating specifically for the product tested which may differ from future versions. Benchmark Reviews begins our conclusion with a short summary for each of the areas that we rate.

In terms of performance, Electronic Arts’ Infinity Engine 2 game engine has enabled Madden NFL 25 to introduce force-feedback along with more realistic player and ball physics. Power moves have been completely redesigned to harness the full potential of Infinity Engine 2, and the game looks more realistic as a result. Despite these additions, you’ll occasionally spot a coach, player, or sidelines staff that have an over-sized head, or awkward and unrealistic upper-body shape.

EA Sports has done exactly what it had to do with graphics quality so that frame rates were fluid despite the aging GPU inside XBOX 360 and PS3 game consoles. Most of the images you’ve seen in this article are from the ‘play flashback’ that comes after the real-time action ends, so they’re generated in much deeper quality with softer edges and rendered with better lighting and shadows. The replays are a compromise between the real-time action and the after-play flashback, since the footage still needs to play back at full speed.

If you’ve read my the previous pages, you’ll know that Madden NFL 25 offers exceptional depth with a variety of game modes, but all paths lead back to the football field. Build a team or build a franchise, play a team or make the ultimate team. EA then went a step further by ensuring the entire game frequently synchronized with their servers so that you would never lose progression or achievements, but keep players honest by not rewarding rage-quitting.

There’s no doubting that EA Sports and scored extra points with NFL football fans with all the extra game development they’ve packed into Madden 25. Even after many (many, many) hours of playing the game, there’s plenty of tasks that remain for spending XP to upgrade players, updating the stadium or tweaking prices, or collecting and trading players. Still, with so much variety delivered by the game play modes, there seems to be a limited number of stadium music tracks and an excessively repetitive amount of chatter from the commentators.

As of October 2013, EA Sports Madden NFL 25 was available online for $34.99 (PS3 Version / XBOX Version from Amazon). There are upgrade programs and stand-alone versions for the upcomming PS4 / XBOX ONE, which will undoubtedly offer greater detail and better graphics during each football play. Either way you’ve got virtually three games in one, and they all revolve around NFL football. For ten dollars less than most other games with far less replay value, I consider Madden NFL 25 to offer substantial value.

Overall I was very impressed with Madden 25. It’s certainly got layers I haven’t (and likely won’t) peel down to, but fantasy football enthusiasts are sure to love them… especially at draft time. I suggest that you buy this game because you like the idea of controlling a NFL franchise, coaching a team, or playing football with realistic action – not for any DirecTV or NFL Sunday Ticket promotions that might be offered. Armchair quarterbacks just got their wish!

+ Run Free and Precision Modifier combos change the game!
+ Outstanding variety of play modes and options
+ Connected Franchise Owner Mode is awesome!
+ Earn, trade, or purchase a Madden Ultimate Team
+ Import NCAA Football 14 draft classes
+ Madden Share enables slider and playbook exchange
+ Skills Trainer helps noobs get up to speed

– Cannot delete/change created Madden Ultimate Team
– Repetitive commentary and limited music selection
– No Madden Ultimate Team game mode tutorial
– MUT premium ‘card packs’ required to be competitive

Performance: 9.00
Graphics: 8.50
Development: 9.50
Gameplay: 9.25
Value: 8.75

COMMENT QUESTION: What aspect of virtual football games do you like most?

This article contains many images, supplied by EA Sports, which depict up-close viewpoints of actual game footage. View our entire Madden NFL 25 picture gallery here: