Madden 25

Madden 25 takes the refinements of Madden 13 and smooths out the rough edges even further.  The game is notable for a number of reasons, not least the decision to break with convention and calling it “25” rather than Madden 14 to celebrate 25 years of Madden football games.  The history of the series is emphasized throughout the experience, including the logo of every past Madden video game on the menu screen (which brought back memories for me), along with the use of screenshots and fun facts from past iterations of the game during the loading screens. 

Initial impressions of Madden 25 were that it was even slower in loading times than in previous years.  It took me over 30 minutes to manually advance week by week through a regular season before I could finally start my first playoff game.  Before the AFC Divisional game against Baltimore began, I was treated to a pair of team introduction videos to get me sufficiently pumped and fired up.  I thought this was a nice touch to have custom videos for all 32 teams. 

Once in-game, in a snowy Baltimore, I immediately noticed that the graphics had improved over the previous year.  Nantz and Sims were back, along with sideline reporter Danielle Bellini.  In addition to sharper graphics and smoother animations, I also noticed the addition of power meters of some kind underneath each player, showcasing how much “speed burst” and stamina they had left.  A bit gimmicky, but not terrible.  It did not take long for me to notice that the blocking AI had been improved in Madden 25, giving me an opportunity to experiment with a number of running and short passing plays – namely pitches, draws, screens.  This strategy in the snow worked out beautifully – after a pair of Joe Flacco picks, I found myself sitting comfortably with a 14-0 lead at halftime.  This included a monster 16 play, 94 yard drive at the end of the half.  After dominating the clock for the third quarter, I tacked on three more for a 17-0 lead into the fourth.  While the Ravens attempted a frantic comeback, an illegal touching play in which one of their players ran out the back of the endzone before running in and catching a TD wiped out their best chance at points.  The 17-0 Pats win was marked by total domination of the clock (15 minutes to 5), the way I like it. 

The AFC Championship in Denver (which also took a long time to load) was a very different experience.  Peyton Manning was playing out of his mind, changing plays at the line, and surgically pushing the ball down the field.  Less than two minutes into the first quarter, I was down 0-7 after a Manning to Welker TD pass.  I came out swinging though, and despite losing Stevan Ridley to injury managed to tie things up with just under 4 minutes left in the second.  Manning responded once again with a dominating drive before I finally got a stop with them deep inside the redzone.  By holding the powerhouse offense of the Broncos to just three, I went into halftime down just 7-10 despite Denver’s domination of all the stats. 

I opened the third quarter with perhaps my best drive ever in a Madden game.  I used frequent audibles at the line based on defensive packages and was unafraid to take shots deep.  In a grinding drive that lasted nearly five minutes, I finally took the lead 14-10 with just 18 seconds left in the third.  My self-satisfaction did not last long, however.  After the Broncos failed to convert on a third-and-long a questionable roughing the quarterback flipped the field for them and gave them new life.  A few plays later, I was once again behind, this time 14-17 with just 3 minutes left in the game.  Clutch time.

Brady came to play in this one, taking the ball across the 50 to the Denver 41 by the 2 minute warning.  Once I was in field goal range, I tried to strike a balance between milking the clock by not scoring too quickly, but also making sure that I came away with points.  A few plays later, a Gronk TD pass put me up once more – 21-17, with just :34 ticks left on the clock.  It wasn’t over yet though.  Manning and the Broncos once again mounted a furious comeback, slinging the ball all over the field.  After a string of first downs, it all came down to one play with 2 seconds left and the Broncos on my 30 yard line.  Fortunately, Alfonzo Dennard stepped in front of DeMarius Thomas to snag a pick as the clock expired and to cement the 21-17 win in thrilling fashion. 

All this set up the Super Bowl against the Saints in a very snowy New Jersey.  I felt confident going in, based on my success in the snow against the Ravens – perhaps overly so.  After I got called for roughing the passer on the first play, the Saints took advantage of their good field position and scored easily, putting me in the hole 0-7 just two minutes into the game.  In contrast, it took my offense a little while to get going, but I did manage to tack on 3 points early in the second after my drive stalled at the 6 yard line, cutting their lead to four points.  On their subsequent drive, I continued to struggle to get off the field on third down.  After a string of failed attempts, I found myself down 3-14 with less than two minutes in the half.  I had no answers on D and no idea how to stop them. Thankfully, my offense was able to respond thanks to Mr. Rob Gronkowski.  On second down, I hit him streaking down the right sideline.  A broken tackle and 75 yards later, I pulled back to within four points to make the score 10-14 going into halftime. 

My drive to start the second half was the most critical of the game.  It took a few clutch third down conversions, including a deep pass to Josh Boyce that flipped the field, and Gronk trucking a guy near the goal line to convert a first down.  A short Stevan Ridley TD run later, I had finally taken a 17-14 lead with 2 minutes left in the third.  Playing from behind, the Saints suddenly became more desperate in their play-calling, shifting heavily to the passing attack and allowing me to flood the field with corners through nickel and dime packages.  I was able to force back to back punts and effectively milk the clock for the entire fourth quarter to claim a 17-14 win and another Lombardi trophy. 

These three games of Madden 25 were different and memorable, but each seemed fair and made sense to me as a player.  From a run-dominated blowout against the Ravens in the snow, to a back-and-forth shootout with Peyton Manning and the Broncos, to a come-from-behind thriller in the Super Bowl against the Saints, each game was fun for different reasons, mixing strategy and action.  Madden 25, as its name implies, has the feels like the culmination of years of improvement in the long history of this series of video games.  Here’s to another 25 years of Madden to look forward to!