In the age of microtransaction-heavy sports games and tired gameplay loops does Madden NFL 24 manage to stick out from the rest and give players a fun and realistic simulated experience? Well, Madden NFL 24 does nothing to rejuvenate fan interest in the franchise and unfortunately is a step down from the progress made in the previous entry.
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I was initially excited to hop back into the game and get to grips with the updated graphics and gameplay this instalment would offer. To my surprise, however, I was greeted with a glitch about halfway through the first match that led to me having to shut down the application on my PC. Crashes are fine on occasion, what AAA game nowadays isn’t filled with glitches and issues, I can accept that. What I can’t accept however is the laziness in menus and UI design that plague this game.
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Although janky menus could be forgiven in an indie game or early access title, in a $90 game you expect some sort of polish that doesn’t make you have to back out of a mode entirely as there is no option to drop back to the previous menu. I feel that there is a certain polish that should be standard with titles like NFL 24 and it feels to be severely missing in this case.
In terms of Gameplay EA’S FIELDSENSE technology returns in its second iteration. While FIELDSENSE 2.0 does feature new catch and tackle mechanics that offer branching options and new animations it feels pretty similar to Madden 23’s system. Although this is not a bad thing, I just wish that there was more of a clear improvement, which was promised in all the blog posts and gameplay videos before launch.
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On the other hand one of the aspects I was impressed the most by was the SAPIEN Technology. The new skeletal emulation technology is designed to increase the player model and animation realism. After playing the game for a few hours I do feel that EA has nailed the crunch behind each tackle and the swiftness of each duking play.
One of the best features of Madden 24 is that EA Sports have finally included crossplay. The presence of crossplay finally allows you to duke it out against those on multiple platforms in modes like Ultimate Team. I feel that PC benefits the most from cross platform play as there is a larger player pool for PC players of Madden NFL 24 to be matched up against keeping the game alive for longer.
Fans have been demanding cross-play and it’s already been implemented in other EA sports games such as FIFA 23, so its presence in Madden 24 is a welcomed one. However, these decent features just highlight the missteps that EA have also made this year.
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Pre-launch EA Sports hammered home on how the neglected ‘Franchise Mode’ would be receiving the most attention and overall changes in Madden 24. The main update to the mode was the “relocation” feature that allows you to relocate your team at any time instead of after week four like in previous Madden games.
Although there are new cities to set up your global dominating franchise team in, like Tokyo or Paris you are still limited customisation-wise. Overall, with the same stadium designs team fonts and team templates to choose from, this again feels like a lacklustre effort, with the customisation options falling short.
Training camp mini-games are also back this year but, Madden NFL 24 feels severely limited in comparison to its PS2-era Madden 07 counterpart. In the mini-games, there is no option as in previous instalments to up the difficulty of the training to receive more XP if you want an added challenge.
In the past by risking all your points you would get a harder difficulty drill that once completed would reward your team with even more points to help towards their player rating progress. Training camp mini-games this year feel unpolished with a few animation glitches happening during rushing and passing drills that led to a frustrating gameplay experience.
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The aspect I was most excited about this year was the return of Superstar Mode to the series, however despite a fresh lick of paint, this year’s mode feels like less of a triumphant return and more like a careless whisper. While it is great to be able to hop back in as my own custom player, in Madden NFL 24 you only have the option to play as Quarterback, Running back, Linebacker, Receiver, or Cornerback. This is an overall downgrade from years past when your Superstar could play any position on the field.
These initial shortfalls extend well beyond into the mode itself with a fairly generic and lifeless “story” that is missing the charm of previous years. There is no barbershop, no movie roles to act in or other decision-driven gameplay mechanics that were present in the old Superstar mode. Instead we get a hollow and mini-game-filled experience that leaves a lot to be desired.
While I am not expecting Madden NFL 24 to reinvent the sport of football, I feel that noticeable changes are needed in graphics and gameplay to justify the price tag EA charge each year. While the gameplay is at least solid, the new modes and features EA have focused on feel like unpolished afterthoughts that take away from the core Madden experience.
6/10
Madden NFL 24 was played on PC on a Steam code supplied by Fortyseven.
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