madden nfl 22 marks the first time ea,has built a new game with the new,generation of consoles in mind but while,it makes plenty of the typical kind of,minor improvements with new home field,advantage mechanics and enhancements to,franchise mode maddens familiar,problems continue to be very much in,play,madden nfl 22 once again takes the same,slow and steady approach that has,characterized the progress of this,franchise for much of the past decade,visually it does not appear to be a,large step up from the ps4 and xbox one,version of madden 21 though it is,noticeably smoother in performance mode,which can go up to 120 hertz on xbox,series x and after the first few hours,the immediate reaction was to say yep,its definitely madden this is to say,that the odd glitches clunky interface,and slightly robotic animation remain,very apparent,this has been the madden experience in a,nutshell for many years now it continues,to be a grab bag of experiences and,ideas some of them decent many of them,undermined by poor execution and a lack,of polish its hard to pick any one area,where this years version truly excels,almost every one of its best features is,done better by other sports games like,nba 2k or mlb the show,madden nfl 22s home field advantage,mechanics are its most notable new,feature impacting virtually every one of,its modes in one way or another it seeks,to shake up maddens in-game atmosphere,which has been lackluster for years its,all fine in theory but the momentum,doesnt quite ring true its clear that,theres still some tinkering to be done,with the balance of the m factors and,the development team seems to know it,too since only a handful of them are,available in madden ultimate team,because of balance issues and none of,them are available on xbox one,playstation 4 or pc which still dont,have last years animation system update,the new presentation is also frankly not,good putting aside that it looks nothing,like an actual tv broadcast it tinges,most of the graphics in a sickly shade,of green which proves very off-putting,madden had the right idea in updating,last years stale look but this years,improvements largely missed the mark but,hey at least it has the proper version,of the skull vikings song now,face of the franchise returns for its,third year and its inarguably the,symbol of everything that ails the,series ostensibly maddens flagship,story mode face of the franchise is,short pointless and ugly it takes a good,idea which is to let us live out our,dream of getting drafted into the nfl,and playing on a career and utterly,fails to execute on it,once again our custom character is cast,as a young star on the rise with a story,built around a series of challenges and,route to the nfl draft college football,games return and a neat bit of set,dressing but are hardly integrated into,the overall story and are quickly,forgotten the handful of choices you,make whether to attend a nike event or,take the team out to dinner for example,are almost all strictly mechanical means,of boosting your stats or earning more,currency for purchasing in-game items,the impact of the story choices you do,get to make such as when you talk to,scouts before the draft are hazy at best,and when the second season of your nfl,career eventually rolls around your,character is still referred to as a,rookie as if roger goodell hit some,cosmic reset button,this is face of the franchises third,year and its hard to get a read on eas,intentions for the mode,is it a story driven wish fulfillment a,glorified tutorial all of the above its,probably the last option which is why it,feels so messy and unfocused,as with everything else in madden an,extra layer of polish would do face of,the franchise a world of good it could,use a character progression system that,isnt needlessly obscured a better sense,of how rewards can be spent across the,various modes and a finale that doesnt,consist of a handful of nfl players,offering congratulations and hastily,recorded cell phone videos,to everybody that comes in your work,salute to you man see you soon,most madden fans will tell you that,franchise mode has been disappointing,over the past decade or so with ea only,relenting and committing to substantial,updates to the modes after heavy,backlash on social media,this is the first year we get to see the,fruits of eas labor and the results are,decent if a bit mixed,playing as the buffalo bills i was,pleased to see a cut scene of the media,questioning my coach about josh allens,performance such story moments have been,sorely lacking for maddens franchise,mode over the years and they go a long,way towards imbuing each season with a,sense of narrative,still maddens franchise mode has a long,way to go before it catches up with the,competition its version of the salary,cap bears little resemblance to the real,life nfl with no ability to restructure,contracts or convert money into bonuses,special teams are an afterthought which,is a shame given that undrafted players,who eventually develop into stars such,as vikings receiver adam thielen,frequently come from the ranks of,special teamers,and even the meaningful additions like,the ability to hire and fire,coordinators who confer buffs to,different parts of your team have a,brutalist feel to them thanks to the,ramshackle nature of the interface,madden nfl 22 is a grab bag of decent if,frequently underwhelming ideas hurt by,poor execution face of the franchise is,a mess home field advantage is a solid,addition but it doesnt quite capture,true momentum swings its smoother and,marginally more refined than last years,game but in so many ways its the same,old madden in short if youre hoping for,a massive leap forward for the series on,a new generation of consoles youre apt,to be disappointed,for more sports games check out our,reviews of f1 2021 and mlb the show 21,and for everything else stick with ign,locked down,thats when you know youre playing well,now this one complete downfield on the,left side,touchdown,detroit,james washington his second touchdown on,the season and the lions on just two,plays have taken the lead
Madden NFL 22 Review – The Final Verdict
[Music],its getting towards uncharted territory,because youve got joe flacco mark,sanchez the only two rookies to win two,playoff games in one year hes trying to,touch down bears,[Applause],[Music],[Applause],madden games have drawn some heat over,the past half decade or so for making,only marginal year-over-year,improvements that feel more like roster,and graphics updates rather than fully,new experiences worth full price,in recent years new modes like the yard,and new gameplay elements like,superstars made valiant attempts to add,some new flavor but never quite hit the,mark especially with the stagnation of,the ever popular franchise mode,before we begin please consider,subscribing and enabling all the,notifications by clicking that bell icon,with that out of the way lets get,started,responding to the increased heat from,last years entry madden 22 is as close,as the series has come in recent years,to feeling like an entirely new,experience,franchise mode has finally gotten a,meaty upgrade and the new momentum,factors complementing the superstars,make gameplay feel tangibly different,it doesnt fully answer all the,criticism recent maddens have received,and does introduce a few new issues of,its own but at least its finally past,the point of apathy,much of what made recent madden games so,heavily criticized in recent years is,their general lack of innovation on both,gameplay and structural fronts and both,are addressed this year to a certain,degree,starting on the gameplay side there are,a few front and center additions that,reinvigorate the minute to minute,experience,namely the new momentum system,depending on the flow of the game either,team will be impacted in a tangible way,either positively or negatively,the more one-sided the flow of the game,the more severe the benefits or,punishments i appreciate this addition,to gameplay because it has more of a fan,centric way of playing the game that,gives it a bit more arcadineness to the,experience building a way to manifest,how fans feel when their favorite team,is losing a lead or mounting a comeback,i only wish the effects themselves were,a little more balanced they range from,things you have to take the games word,for like receivers being better at,catching to highly noticeable changes,like your play art being incorrect,while with dozens of these effects its,inevitable that some are going to be,less useful than others it seems like,there are a select few that arent,always even the most severe on the meter,that made a bit more of a difference,than they were probably intended to,there arent many major updates to the,gameplay outside of the momentum effects,there are the usual updates to things,like movement and animation and it,certainly feels better than any recent,madden especially combined with the,upgraded audio and the beautiful visuals,on the new consoles its been true in,the past and it continues today that if,youve played a madden game before you,know what youre getting into,i wish there were more noticeable,improvements especially to things like,the ai which continues to be,questionable in situations on and off,the field from clock management to cpu,controlled players running straight out,of bounds for no reason,with that said it still has refined a,football experience as the series has,ever provided and i found myself,enjoying it surprisingly more than,normal right off the bat,what madden 22 has clearly put more,effort into changing for this years,entry is its presentation particularly,modes like franchise and face of the,franchise,franchise mode has long been problematic,for both how little it has evolved and,how much it was falling behind,comparable modes in games like nba 2k or,mlb the show,luckily franchise has taken a hefty jump,this year thanks to a handful of new,features that give you a lot more,control,major additions are things like more,detailed control over staff and the,ability to control your weekly strategy,your weekly strategy options arent as,complex as it might want you to think,since theyre almost always the same,weak tweak options of prioritizing or,defending the outside run inside run or,different levels of passing attacks with,a blitz or two thrown in there but its,definitely a start,even mid-week conversations with the,media and in the locker room feel a bit,more engaging even if youre still,answering many of the same questions,they feel more long-term now the,objectives like throwing a certain,number of touchdowns or holding an,opponent to a certain number of,scrimmage yards in a game are still,there,but i was faced once with the threat of,retirement from my star edge rusher if,we didnt win enough games,the face of the franchise mode is,updated too with a brand new path to,stardom story,like last year you choose a college and,can play in the college football playoff,for the national title all as part of a,training camp you as the presumed number,one overall pick go through with other,stars,from here on out you begin your career,as a rising nfl star all with your agent,team mentor and some major online,personalities by your side in a story,that i generally didnt care about as,much as in previous years,its a little jarring to see how the,game deals with you being the number one,overall pick in the 2021 draft compared,with reality or more accurately how it,doesnt deal with it as trevor lawrence,is still on the jaguars roster and the,game baffinly calls you out that the,jaguars had two number one overall picks,this year,regardless once you make your way to the,nfl you settle into a weekly routine,where you have a cut scene or two and,make a decision for how to spend your,week whether its watching film repping,your brand or putting in work at the gym,whats more is that the choices commonly,give you short-term benefits as do game,day effects so you might have an,increased throw power because you went,to the gym but decreased agility because,theres a blizzard on its way its a,really interesting way to keep you on,your toes for what to expect from the,coming week,the issue that i have with these two,modes comes less from their individual,characteristics and more from their,inner play,because on a purely gameplay front,franchise and face of the franchise are,converging to the same mode,from the gameplay itself to the midweek,decisions and conversations much of what,i experienced in either was almost,indistinguishable and the fact that i,played my franchise mode team with a,highly touted rookie quarterback at the,helm didnt help matters,the momentum system short-term stat,changes and weather effects are always,present regardless of the mode,and even the menus though they have been,nicely refreshed from the past years and,offer a modern new style look identical,to the uninitiated,both modes are great on their own but,without much of a difference in,structure or even menus they begin to,feel a little bit samey over time the,gameplay differentiation comes from the,rest of the modes madden 22 has to offer,the yard the backyard football,equivalent that was introduced last year,has had some major upgrades including a,new surprisingly meaty faux campaign it,has 5 full chapters in different,backyard stadiums including boss battles,from superstars like patrick mahomes,the core gameplay is the same as it was,before and the shaky ai sticks out like,a sore thumb here but i still find this,mode to be as refreshing to madden as,the xfl wanted to beat a real-life,football,otherwise ultimate team is almost,unchanged and smaller options like,superstar knockout and championship,series are still there but have little,staying power compared to the rest,its worth noting that i encountered a,good number of small bugs and mishaps,that range from funny to frustrating,in-game animations frequently,synchronize character models when not in,a fully voiced cut scene arent always,in the right place or correctly timed,and i noticed a handful of typos and,misplaced descriptors lying around,its more frustrat
its madden nfl 22 and the wait is over,this is dave klein reading for richard,wakeling,after criticism that last years game,was light on new content particularly as,it relates to franchise mode developer,e.a tiburon has introduced a number of,sweeping changes this time around for,madden 22 with the crowd being the most,prominent right out of the gate,heres the australian-born punter,to get things going and off we go from,seattle the new game day atmosphere,feature brings crowds to life with new,animations and remastered fan recordings,that more accurately replicate what,youre likely to see and hear on any,given sunday it also extends beyond the,cosmetic side too as the ball will fly,further in denvers high altitude while,the wind will play havoc with your field,goal team in chicago on top of this the,intensity of the home fans will have an,impact on the way games can play out,this feature is called game day momentum,and it introduces a momentum meter to,the top of the screen that will shift,back and forth like a tug of war,depending on the performance of each,team if momentum is on your side youll,gain access to various bonuses called m,factors that give your team an edge in,certain situations,this works in tandem with game day,atmosphere to ratchet up the,significance of home field advantage,especially when playing in front of,crowds known for their vociferousness,[Applause],to throw is garoppolo,man open thats debo samuel,it looks and sounds a tad gamified on,the surface but game day momentum and,atmosphere are crucial additions that,capture the unique fandom of each team,and accurately reflect the wild swings,and momentum that can occur during the,course of a heated football game it,gives rivalries that big game feel and,intensifies those drives where the home,fans are fervently working against you,the impact of home field advantage in,the nfl is tangible and can often be the,difference between winning and losing,yet madden 22 marks the first time the,series has truly emulated such an,integral part of the sport,next gen stats also contribute to the,game they experience by snazzing up the,broadcast package replays will show how,many seconds it took a blister to,collide with the quarterback or count up,how many yards a receiver racked up,after the catch on a big play aside from,adding to the presentation however,next-gen stats have a much more,significant impact on gameplay in,comparison madden 22 utilizes the nfls,next-gen stats data to drive his ai,behavior resulting in more dynamic games,against the cpu,quarterbacks will react differently from,each other when under pressure some are,more likely to attempt throws into tight,windows and ball carriers will differ,when it comes to attempting to evade,tackles or break through them youll,also see superstar wide receivers use,signature cuts and releases off the line,to try and get open when the defense,presses while a suite of new animations,make everything feel more fluid and,responsive whether youre throwing the,ball downfield or bursting through a,hole at the line of scrimmage,tackling in particular looks more,natural and varied and is more,satisfying as a result,if they have any thoughts of coming in,here and getting this road victory,thats not the way to start it out on,the first play of the game in franchise,mode these improvements to ai help,diversify each week of the grueling nfl,season each team has its own personality,and play calling style so no one game is,similar to the last to counteract each,teams strengths and exploit their,weaknesses franchise has been overhauled,with new weekly strategies now next gen,stats will give you a breakdown of how,good a team is in a number of specific,areas on both sides of the ball from,executing outside runs and medium passes,to blitzing the quarterback and,defending short passes with this,information on hand you can choose a,game plan that gives you the best chance,to win against the steelers for instance,you might opt to counter their,aggressive blitz then in the next game,you might focus on containing the,quarterback in an attempt to stop the,cardinals kyler murray from scrambling,for yards on the ground while you spend,the week leading up to a game working on,strategy the halftime break gives you a,chance to alter the plan if things,arent working or you want to adopt a,different approach because youre say up,big or trailing behind managing your,players fatigue and injuries is another,part of the weekly strategy too you,might want to go all out and practice,before facing a rival team to boost your,players xp but you need to weigh up the,risks with the rewards in case one of,your key players ends up injured on the,eve of the contest one of the,franchises other new features can at,least mitigate injuries to some extent,your head coach offensive coordinator,defensive coordinator and player,personnel all have their own rpg style,skill trees by meeting game day and,longer term goals youll unlock staff,points that can be spent on improving,your staff in multiple areas such as,decreasing injury recovery time,improving your staff results in better,development of your players giving,franchise a rewarding loop as better,players means youre more likely to,complete goals to in turn improve your,coaches again each of these new and,revised systems gives madden 22 greater,strategic depth beyond simple roster,construction,if youre playing as a head coach,franchise also introduces story lines,over the course of each season to,reflect the ups and downs the team must,endure,these scenarios add faint narrative,elements to the game but mostly its,another way to improve players by,setting them dynamic goals if a player,performs well during pre-season you,might talk to them about having a big,game to start the regular season this,will give you a game day goal to,continue their breakout earning more,staff points if youre successful,scouting on the other hand is unchanged,at the moment but developer tiburon,expects to launch a new scouting system,for free in september,ultimate team and the yard also return,but are mostly untouched from last year,the latter a unique 6-6 backyard,football experience as new fields,including hawaii and a new ranked mode,so you can test your skills against,other players progression in the yard is,also unified across face of the,franchise united we rise so all players,progress rewards and gear are shared,between the two modes face of the,franchise is also similar to last year,only now youre able to play as either a,quarterback running back wide receiver,or linebacker the story here is cliched,and stale with stilted cutscenes and a,lack of chemistry amongst the small cast,watching a young player go through,college before entering the draft is an,overused plot at this point even if,madden 22s version focuses on the,relationship between a player and his,agent as opposed to something like a,teammate rivalry there isnt enough here,to warrant playing face of the franchise,over the regular franchise mode the,addition of a new class based system,that defines your playstyle is a nice,touch giving you specific x-factor,abilities to work towards unlocking but,unless you like taking a created,character through an nfl season there,isnt enough depth nor incentive to,devote time to face of the franchise,its not without its fair share of,glitches either the subtitles during,cutscenes often disappear music will,sometimes overpower dialogue and your,created characters face has a tendency,to completely change at random,madden 22 also has a habit of crashing,throughout all modes giving the,impression that its not quite ready to,launch yet you can pick back up where,you left off after most of these crashes,but occasionally it will freeze at the,end of a game and wipe all of your,progress leaving a game in progress and,returning to it later will also reset,your game day goals even if youve,completed them and sometimes a win will,count as an awesome franchise these,techni
[Music],oh,well its time to review madden nfl 22.,this game is an improvement for madden,21 just as madden 21 was an improvement,over madden 20. the bar that ea sets for,itself each year is low enough that they,usually cross it that being said being,better than a bad game doesnt make a,game good franchise mode got some,improvements for the first time in a,long time its still very bare bones,its still basically the exact same game,mode however,if you enjoyed the franchise modes of,the older ps2 maddens or nfl 2k games,this will still feel worse a lot is,still missing in 2021,gameplay is what you would expect from a,madden game,animation based artificial scripted and,cheesy this does not play or feel like a,simulation style nfl game remember ea,has the exclusive rights to making,simulation nfl games until 2026,meaning if you actually wanted to play a,simulation style nfl game youre out of,luck only ea is allowed to make such a,game and yet they dont blame the nfl as,much as you might want to blame ea for,this both are at fault madden 22 really,has nothing going for it besides simply,being slightly better than a terrible,game let me show you some examples of,good football games so you can further,understand my review process all pro,football 2k8 was 2ks last football game,despite being released in 2007 the game,still features the greatest gameplay,ever seen in a football game today at,least in my opinion just by looking at,this footage you can already tell that,it looks more realistic and smoother,than a modern madden title this game had,no franchise mode however it was,basically all gameplay but no depth it,was still a very good game,madden 07 on the ps2 was the greatest,madding game ever in my opinion this,game had incredible depth the franchise,mode in this game still blows modern,madden games away there are over 80,features present in this game that are,not in madden 22. if you need proof of,that i have an entire video on it the,gameplay imagino 7 wasnt anything,special it sure was in simulation it was,arcady but it still was fun and it felt,kinda fair,overall it was good enough to make the,game worth playing and the sheer depth,of the game kept you coming back it was,a great game my point here is that a,football game needs to have at least one,of two categories met in order to be a,good game gameplay or depth some games,like 2k8 only have one category met,gameplay still a great game older madden,succeeded much more in the depth,department than in the gameplay,department they were good games,what makes madden 22 so bad is that it,succeeds at neither category gameplay is,terrible and depth is terrible,especially for a triple a starting at 60,dollars sports game released in 2021 on,next gen consoles simply being better,than madden 21 isnt enough this game,needs to either have good gameplay or,good depth to be a good game having both,would be incredible,gameplay in depth arent the only,categories for a football game however,but they are at least in my opinion the,most important there are more such as,presentation polish and graphics madden,22 unfortunately,doesnt fare any better in those,categories either,ea has set the bar so low for themselves,that they made it really easy to get,people to buy their products or for,influencers to fall for it themselves,think of a child failing every class,every year but one year he gets a c in,math but fs and everything else holy cow,he did better this year you can be proud,of the kid you can encourage the kid to,continue improving but at the end of the,day the kid still sucks at school if you,were hoping that this was the year ea,was going to turn it around and drop an,amazing game i feel sorry for you i,dont think that would be possible for,at least five years this game is so,dreadful that only by rebuilding it from,the ground up could it ever become half,decent but ea refuses to do that instead,they reuse old assets over and over and,keep building upon the broken foundation,of madden 13.,at this point i would hope you wouldnt,be disappointed this should be expected,lets take a deeper look,when booting into the game youll notice,the exact same game modes as always,however theres now a new mode called,championship series,unfortunately this isnt really a new,mode and its just part of ultimate team,i tried playing it and it took me,straight to that garbage game mode,asking me to start grinding against the,cpu for pax or something pay to win game,modes arent my cup of tea especially in,a fully priced game,besides that its the same old,everything outside of a new face of the,franchise story and some franchise mode,improvements theres nothing new here,face of the franchise is lame you can,now play as a linebacker but real ones,know that in the ps2 maddens you could,play as any position even kicker in,career mode you also cant change your,jersey number in college which is pretty,annoying the cut scenes are beyond,atrocious looks like ps3 graphics are,worse look at the phone in the girls,hand shaking or the way your character,walks the script is so cheesy i just,started skipping it and eventually i,just stopped playing it all together,its as awful as last year think of it,as a great value version of 2ks my,career except the game costs the same,and isnt a great value in this mode,however when browsing menus at least at,the start ea added the rich eisen show,just like the old tony bruno show its a,radio show playing in the background why,didnt they put this in franchise mode,because ea hates us the game simply,makes you play a bunch of tutorial,drills over and over for this game mode,theres no way to change the college,difficulty just like last year expect to,score 80 points a game once you get to,the nfl its basically franchise mode as,it always has been with a few random,scenarios popping up where you can get,traded to another team,its just so,boring it might be fun for someone new,to madden games but for anyone else it,isnt worth your time its incredibly,bare bones and poorly made franchise,mode was the main selling point this,year i think ea really hyped up the,ability to hire assistant coaches a,feature found in matan004 that got,removed from the game after madden 12.,while im glad they added it back,i dont think such a basic feature,deserves praise especially when it,appears to be ripped straight out of,eas nhl games i dont think ea actually,created anything new for this game but,instead they move stuff around from,other ea games,it works assistant coaches are generic,and unlicensed but it works you build up,your staff with points similar to how,you would in ncaa 14. the other,franchise mode upgrade comes with weekly,game planning its also a nice change,scouting is coming in a future update,and it also looks to be ripped straight,out of nhl 21 but hey its better than,the current scouting system as of right,now its not in the game however besides,that the mode is identical sure it looks,different ea really tried hard to make,it look fresh by moving everything,around but its the same,same exact relocation teams weve had,for years you cant sign free agents,mid-season to a custom length deal,theres no change to trades theres no,change to anything when i say the rest,is the same its the same positions are,the same too i usually forget to mention,this in my reviews but madden uses super,outdated positions instead of having an,edge position they just have outside,linebackers or ends meaning youll have,a pure pass rusher like lorenzo carter,in a 3-4 defense signed to a team,running a 4-3 defense as a linebacker,and that player will play most snaps in,coverage its dumb long snappers also,still dont have a position and are,still low-rated tight ends you have to,cut that dont even long-snap the ball,you cant sign a player to longer than a,seven year deal mahomes contract is not,only not in the game but also not,possible to replicate,generated or created players in the,draft classes will have the exact same,faces weve had for ye
An Honest Review Of Madden 22 Franchise Mode | New Features, The Good, The Bad, & Should You Buy It?
[Music],welcome in everyone to my honest review,of madden 22 franchise mode and this is,actually going to be a pretty fun video,to make as over the last four or five,years of madden reviews on this channel,well myself and most of you have spent,quite a lot of time yelling at ea and,begging for some much needed upgrades,but now in large part thanks to this,community and what weve accomplished,during the fix madden franchise movement,on twitter,we actually have a lot of new features,here to discuss which is really exciting,in this video ill be going over the,newly added features for madden 22,franchise mode as well as pointing out,some of the major things still missing,from the game mode my goal here is to,present you my honest opinions of this,years game and ultimately provide you,with what you need to determine if you,should buy the game this year or not,before we get started though please do,consider dropping a like down below if,you enjoy the video or find it,informative also as many of you know the,majority of my madden content now gets,uploaded on my second channel tfg plays,so if you want to see more madden videos,from me including my realistic rebuilds,head over and drop a subscribe to tfg,plays and ill see you there but now,without further ado lets take a dive,into madden 22 franchise mode and i want,to start with the major features being,added this year and then ill get into,some of the more small stuff,but one of the biggest and first things,youll notice when you load up your,first new franchise is that for the,first time since barack obama was,president franchise mode has an entirely,new interface i like the aesthetics of,this interface and it does a really nice,job of tying the different menus,together in a way that makes sense,another thing it does really well is it,pushes more information from around the,league to the forefront of your,experience which is a nice touch to,increase immersion and take yourself,outside of that bubble that weve all,really experienced in our previous,franchise modes,you know now instead of it feels like,the rest of the league was living in,your world now it feels much more like,you are living inside the league as it,pushes news and stats like i said much,more to the forefront there,ultimately the actual content of the,menus its mostly the same same stuff,were used to there,but this was a much needed addition to,at least help the mode feel like it was,actually upgraded because it just simply,looks different but as well as,increasing league immersion just by the,way that things were ordered around,there,but new menus surely isnt the most,exciting addition here thatd be really,underwhelming its simply the first,thing youll notice but now were going,to take a look at the new weekly game,planning feature,and this feature actually goes much,deeper than you might think so every,week now this feature has you take a,more in-depth look at your upcoming,opponent the game will present you with,your opponents top player who you may,consider trying to focus your game plan,on trying to stop as well as several,statistics that help you better,understand what is working or not,working for your opponent that week on,each side of the ball you will select a,focus these range from stopping outside,run to containing the quarterback and on,offense from passing deep to pounding,the rock inside,all of your players will then get,attribute bonuses designed to help you,accomplish this goal that youve now set,but as i understand only on pre-selected,play calls that are pre-designed to,accomplish whatever game plan you have,selected that week so for example if you,want to stop inside run formations with,bigger personnel for example may receive,boost to things like block shedding or,tackling and if you look at the,attributes that go up from these game,plans these boosts may at first sight,seem a little overpowered,but in my experience it was actually,necessary for them to be as big as they,seem for you to truly feel like you,chose the right game plan,for it to actually start to really show,up inside the game if they made it too,small you really wouldnt notice much of,a difference,i think they got the the size of these,boosts correct and ultimately i ended up,really enjoying that aspect of it and,then at half time you can actually,adjust your game plan now i will say i,do wish that for immersive purposes that,they reduced the boost that you receive,from these adjustments because it really,doesnt make sense that after 20 minutes,adjusting your game plan youd get the,same boost from a full week of practice,other than that i will say having,something to think about at half time is,something weve never really had and,its still a great addition kind of,having something to think about at,halftime and having a tangible,adjustment at half and i could really,just picture my coach screaming at the,players in the locker room after just,getting steamrolled in the first half,and having to adjust his game plan but,whats really awesome here is that this,is only a portion of what weekly game,planning accomplishes here as it also,acts as an overhaul to the training,system and the way the players gain xp,as well as an introduction to a more,in-depth injury system gone now are the,days of selecting the same old boring,drills and having to get gold medals,that forced you to choose just a,fraction of your position groups now,players will receive xp as you do your,weekly game plan and every player will,earn xp this effectively serves as your,practice for the week and just as real,coaches do you will be able to cater,your practice that week to your teams,needs you can adjust the tempo of,practice choose how to distribute reps,between starters and backups and the,harder you practice the more xp you will,gain but now with a newly added fatigue,setting the harder you practice the more,your players will risk fatigue and,injury yes even during practice injuries,but not to worry there for the more,casual players you can disable practice,injuries and theyre never really all,that severe to begin with i actually,really liked having them on it felt,really immersive but that option is,there to turn it off you can also,monitor individual player health now,this is something that the community has,been asking for a long long time,but as this is an honest review the,actual player health system that has,been introduced this year,its much more of a tease right now of,what could potentially be coming,as right now its just pretty shallow,its good to see it there and you can,get some cool information and surely the,fatigue stuff is tangible,and impacts the game and how often guys,get hurt in certain lights but theres,plenty more room to develop this injury,system so i would just say i would lower,your expectations a little bit if player,health and a new injury system was at,the top of your wish list but this is,definitely,the first time that weve gotten really,anything to do with fatigue and injuries,in a long time so its good to see it so,to say that this weekly game planning,feature and everything that it,accomplishes is well overdue would be an,absolute understatement but i honestly,think ea knocked it out of the park with,this one and i think people are really,gonna enjoy the feeling of having to,think about who youre going up against,that week as well as you know the,different ways it spices up one of the,most outdated systems in madden,franchise mode being that player,training system that is now much much,different and whats crazy is everything,ive mentioned so far is already kind of,more than ea has put into franchise mode,over at least the last three years or so,but we arent even all that close to,being done talking about the new,additions to franchise mode this year,the next major edition has been,the number one request from my own wish,list videos for years now and i am so,thrilled to say that we are now getting,a unique coaching staff system with rpg,style skill trees sim
SportsGamerShow – Madden 22 Review (PS5/Xbox Series X)
[Music],with a longer more traditional game,development cycle to work on the ps5 and,xbox series x versions of madden 22 i,was expecting a huge leap in updates,features and changes with the game ea,sports promised a completely revamp,franchise mode dynamic gameplay via a,new momentum system called m-factors a,more customizable face of the franchise,mode half-time strategy adjustments and,the use of next-gen stats to create more,realistic gameplay,hearing these new features would have,gamers believing madden 22 is a whole,new game but the sad reality is that,most of these updates are minimal and in,some cases broken or non-existent as of,this review and the result is a game,that is essentially a carbon copy of,last years title,[Music],if you played madden over the past,couple of years youll know exactly what,youre getting into with madden 22,gameplay is exactly the same as last,years title for better or worse the,only real update from a gameplay,perspective comes from a new momentum,system ea sports has dubbed m factors,similar to the home field advantage,mechanic in the ncaa series m factors,are essentially momentum swings that,occur during a course of a game,resulting in various buffs or nerfs to,their respective teams,by default the home team gets a slight,momentum advantage to start but big,plays will swing the meter to one team,now how big of a swing is determined on,how impactful a play actually is,every team has their own unique buffs,and nerfs with each having a significant,impact on the game,there are some balance issues with some,of the momentum buffs but overall m,factors is a great addition to the game,now other than m factors dont expect,many other changes from a gameplay,perspective next-gen stats is more of a,marketing gimmick in my opinion than,anything else i mean players should play,like their real-life counterparts by,default with or without quote-unquote,next-gen stats,superstar x-factors return with some new,abilities canned animations make their,triumphant return controls are,essentially a port from madden 21. the,ai has the occasional brain fart as,usual specifically when it comes to,defensive zones and glitches are,littered throughout the game just like,last year,[Music],copy and paste that is presentation in a,nutshell in madden 22. youll see many,of the same cutscenes used in previous,maddens during all parts of every single,game from pre-game transition cutscenes,between plays half time and post game,sure as they do every year theres a new,score bug and new interface but,everything else is exactly the same as,madden 21. brad and gannon and charles,davis return as announcers jonathan,coachman is back to give the same old,boring halftime show with no breakdown,of game highlights and post game,includes the same old stats and cut,scenes,again a lazy copy and paste job from ea,sports yet again,[Music],baton 22 isnt a bad looking game at the,surface jerseys helmets and gear look,good for the most part and so do the,stadiums but you dont see that next-gen,graphical leap that you see in games,like nba 2k and the attention to detail,when it comes to certain things are,lacking,player faces for example are hit or miss,the number three overall pick in trey,lance should have a proper face scan at,launch right well not in madden 22.,issues like this pop up throughout the,game whether its another year without,referees on the field lack of detail,when it comes to people on the sidelines,glitches where the center isnt,positioned correctly or players,literally disappearing in certain modes,like face of the franchise nfl gamers,deserve a more polished better looking,game on the ps5 and xbox series x,unfortunately you wont see that visual,leap in madden 22.,[Music],as someone who spends most of my time in,franchise mode i was super excited to,try all the new changes ea sports touted,for madden 22. after doing so i was,extremely disappointed ea essentially,put lipstick on a pig here for yet,another year as franchise mode is mostly,the same once you look past the,refreshed ui,offensive and defensive coordinators,have been added to the game but they are,fictional coaches your coaching staff is,used to upgrade your players via staff,trees in which gamers can earn staff,points through achieving game day goals,and using those points to buff,attributes through each coachs staff,trees,team practice is more customizable this,time around as you can set practice,intensity week to week and customize,which players to focus on and you can,also set your weekly game plan on both,sides of the ball,these are nice additions to franchise,dont get me wrong but its not enough,everything else is exactly the same as,previous years including the player,attribute and upgrade system,scouting is supposed to get a huge,upgrade but this wasnt available at,launch,other modes like the yard madden,ultimate team and superstar ko make a,return with some slight changes to each,mode but all are essentially the same,familiar modes that youve played in,madden 21 face of the franchise is back,with a new uninspiring story but one,good change is that you can now play the,mode as a quarterback running back wide,receiver or linebacker however one bad,change is that the first two chapters,are a glitch fest as youll play,alongside invisible teammates,essentially making those chapters,unplayable im hoping that this gets,fixed but to have such a big mode broken,at launch is a joke,ea sports has taken advantage of having,exclusive rights to nfl simulation video,game football gamers buy madden every,year simply because its the only nfl,sim game on the market today regardless,of how bad the game is year over year,and lets be real for the past several,years its been the same old madden,madden 22 being the latest example of,that the company needs to be held,accountable for the lack of innovation,when it comes to the madden series and,the lack of competition has killed the,experience for us gamers ea sports,promised huge changes to franchise mode,this year and all we got was an updated,ui the addition of fictional,coordinators with staff trees and a new,scouting system that isnt even,available right now again same old,madden my wish is that ea would blow,this game up and start from scratch but,you know and i know that that isnt,happening anytime soon,[Music],you
Madden NFL 23 Review
madden nfl 23 is in many ways a return,to the earliest days of the series as,the first entry in more than 20 years to,feature the late john madden on its,cover it goes back to the sports,simulation fundamentals that the iconic,coach valued so much,its not quite the equivalent of the,bengals going from the basement to the,super bowl but its definitely a step up,from last years disappointing version,and a respectable rebuilding effort for,a series that has consistently lagged,behind its competitors,[Applause],first a quick note about the different,versions of madden 23. this review is,based on the xbox series x version which,is the same as the ps5 version but the,ps4 xbox one and pc versions are behind,the times and dont include a lot of the,new features so bear that in mind when,choosing which platform to play on on,current gen consoles madden 23 is a,consciously stripped down experience,that comes off of two disappointing,years in a row by focusing the bulk of,its resources on refining the action on,the field leaving things like commentary,and graphical quality largely unchanged,the result feels immediately more,nuanced more polished and more enjoyable,than madden 22s often ramshackle,gameplay these improvements are intended,to offer a far greater degree of control,over your players which is evident in,how much more smoothly they move in this,years version,when you first start playing youre,treated to a madden legacy game an,exhibition game between historic nfl,stars that doubles as an nfl history,lesson thats a sweet note to open on,and it goes so far as to recreate the,original oakland coliseum from the 1970s,and in its own way the rest of the,package is a tribute to john madden as,well focusing on the less flashy,simulation aspects that he valued so,highly,along those lines madden 23 is filled,with the sort of updates that are felt,rather than seen including balance,refinements smarter ai and other,improvements that are rarely obvious on,the screen but nevertheless make a,difference to how it plays the most,conspicuous of these additions is the,refined passing controls which combine,with an accuracy meter to offer more,control when putting the ball in tight,windows,it especially makes a difference along,the sidelines and in the end zone where,space is at a premium,on top of that the defense is far,smarter than before making this one of,the most challenging maddens in recent,memory it all adds up to an experience,thats noticeably more refined sure,were already seeing random bugs posted,to social media that prove ea still has,plenty of work to do in fact heres one,of our own from the glitch-filled,opening of face of the franchise hey,sorry to keep you waiting man,im trying to take care of my people,but the action on the field is still a,fair sight better than last year is that,damning with faint praise given the,state that madden 22 launched in,maybe but you have to start somewhere,one of the other biggest changes this,year is in face of the franchise which,has come to symbolize many of maddens,struggles,hyped as a kind of story mode in which,you live out the fantasy of being,drafted into the nfl its previous,iterations have been undercut by bugs,poor design decisions and other issues,in last years review we had to wonder,what exactly the point of the mode was,given that it didnt offer much in the,way of wish fulfillment while barely,having any connection to core modes like,franchise and ultimate team in essence,it was a dead end apparently recognizing,this ea has effectively rebooted face to,the franchise heavily scaling back the,cut scenes in favor of a simple but,satisfying week to week routine of,picking your schedule upgrading your,character and playing out your games,its still the most fun to be a,quarterback but you can play as a,receiver running back or defender as,well,the story such as it is follows your,avatar as they try to get a fresh start,with a new nfl team but the real goal is,to grind your way into the so-called 99,club while its certainly an improvement,though it continues to lag far behind,equivalent modes in mlb the show and nba,2k for example there just isnt anything,resembling realistic feedback throw five,interceptions in face of the franchise,and youre still a burgeoning star throw,five picks in the actual nfl and youre,probably getting traded to the jets on,tuesday,still like so much of the rest of madden,23 it establishes a decent baseline for,future iterations,even on its best days madden 23 is still,madden witness the new free agency,mechanics in franchise mode which,introduce motivations for signing with a,team like warm weather and super bowl,contender theyre a smart addition on,the face of it adding a layer of depth,without unnecessary complexity or so it,seems,the problem is that the cpu isnt,equipped to handle these new systems,resulting in an unbelievable number of,top players hitting the market these,sorts of unintended problems tend to,happen a lot in madden and they often,take months to fix,that said franchise mode has definitely,been better since the community,basically shamed ea into devoting,resources to it but at the same time,its unsteady jenga tower of systems,always feels on the verge of falling,apart at any moment its main strength is,its consistent support of full 32 player,leagues going back to 2009 and more,recently its little story events and,dynamic player growth,meanwhile ultimate team mainly takes a,back seat to maddens career modes this,year with most of its updates being,focused around balance changes to,existing elements like strategy items,power-ups and rewards as always ultimate,teams off-putting reliance on loot box,mechanics will make sure its,controversial no matter how balanced it,might be but its overwhelming popularity,also makes it an unavoidable part of,maddens culture,as for the yard and superstar ko theyve,basically been shoved into the back of a,closet both modes are still present in,madden 23 but their lack of attention,makes them feel forgotten,this is nothing new for madden which has,seen many once hyped ideas come and go,over the years if theres a positive,spin to put on this its that ea seems,to be taking a more focused approach,with this years version rather than,trying to spread itself too thin across,too many modes this is hardly the first,time that ea has gone back to basics,with madden but rarely has it felt so,needed as it does now after all maddens,core issues over the years hasnt been,its franchise mode nor has it been its,weird bugs and lack of polish,when fans pined for the days of madden,nfl 2005 and nfl blitz or complained,about franchise mode what they were,really saying was that madden just,wasnt that fun to play,[Applause],but playing madden 23 its impressive,how some targeted improvements can,uplift the entire experience and its,reassuring that ea has been able to zero,in on small things that can improve the,gameplay instead of continuing to swing,and miss by bolting on big new modes,that are all undermined by the same,issues,john madden definitely wasnt wrong when,he insisted that the series focus on,getting the simulation right first,maddened fans will tell you that it,hasnt been a great decade for eas,football sim like the nfl itself the,profits have continued to grow but the,product has suffered madden nfl 23,though provides a glimpse of a light at,the end of the tunnel with a handful of,smart enhancements to animations ai and,passing mechanics that make subtle but,meaningful improvements to the,moment-to-moment football on the field,to be clear madden still has a long way,to go to catch up with other sports sims,the majority of which are more refined,less buggy and have a clearer identity,than eas flagship football sim,but after playing madden nfl 23 theres,finally reason to have a little optimism,that its on the right path,maybe not an emphatic boom but clear,forward progress for a series that so,desperately needs it for more sports,games check out our