Madden 25 Review (PS5)

Per usual, I begin this annual review of Madden with the obvious question: is Madden 25 a worthy upgrade from Madden 24? What about those who picked up College Football 25?

Yes and maybe.

Authenticity-wise, Madden 25 is truly spot-on. Custom player animations – so prevalent in NBA 2K and EA Sports FC…and a lesser extent NHL 24…make a welcome proper appearance here. Pre- and post-snap rituals, celebrations, and player representation are – by far – the best in the Madden series to date. Note these are purely cosmetic in most instances, but it does yield a nice immersion feel the series often lacked.

Along these visual lines, there is a noticeable upgrade to jersey and field characteristics, as the occasional blockiness of both seem better meshed with the Frostbite engine. Uniforms and helmets literally shine with proper textures, with Madden 25 a graphical masterpiece. This is a next gen title and then some.

The strongest addition to Madden 25 over 24 is borrowed from College Football 25, that being advanced physics termed ‘Boom Tech.’ Boom Tech considers collision dynamics beyond ragdoll norms, creating more realistic tackles, misses, and overall line play plus jostling.

Still, Boom Tech seems to execute better in College Football versus Madden 25, as the former a slower paced game where non-perfect, deliberate play is a staple of the college football experience. Perhaps to consider advanced speed and athletics of the pro game, Madden attempted to hurry up Boom Tech which yields a sometimes-awkward marriage in canned animations and physics driven outcomes. To explain, while physics will determine many a play result in Madden 25, they are simultaneously chained to an animation sequence that must complete for these to happen.

Similarly, the addition of more advanced running deke moves are nice…but suffer from the same identity crisis. The more advanced cut fakes can be brilliantly executed at times (think FIFA and with modifiers), with corresponding player physics phenomenal. Still, these same fakes are again chained to an animation sequence that must execute and finish, resulting in missed running holes and tackles that don’t match what is being performed on a controller.

Easy to love is the better route running, less overpowered defensive backs and corners in coverage, and more balanced line play not so reliant on selecting the perfect item from a playbook. What I remain critical of, in tandem, are recommended playbook selections that don’t fit personnel or game situations, even if these same playbooks are supposed to be more indicative of their real-life counterparts. The new one-handed catch option is more for show than anything; expect success only with high talent players.

Madden surprisingly doubled down in complexity from Madden 24, with even more options to confuse opponents via complex offensive and defensive pre-snap adjustments. If you’re top level astute in both NFL strategy and Madden control schemes, these can be both easy to select and adjust on the fly. Anyone falling short in these areas, however, will be disappointed in the absence of a happy medium. Sports games continue to arguably fail in this area, with no middle ground for computer assisted strategic adjustment slightly assisted by human selection. As most players want a simulation style game but with play flexibility, this remains a massive wart for this genre. On the flipside, big fan of the returning old school kick meter…which never should’ve disappeared.

The biggest upgrades to Madden are in Franchise, Superstar and Ultimate Team modes, respectively, with improved user interface and team selection ease, exponentially more player story branching, and an option to import players from College Football 25. If you’re a fan of Franchise in particular, Madden 25 is literally for you. Revamped player progression and regression models extend the life of a managed team, with more realistic peaks and valleys as players age. Conversely, there’s nothing exceptionally new in Ultimate Team, outside of it being easier to navigate.

Madden 25 remains a treat for the ears, with excellent capture of individual stadium chants, on the field sound, and overall menu and in-game music. Personally, I could never stand the Madden soundtrack, and this one is no different. But I also fully respect that I’m the minority in this area most years.

Harkening back to the opening paragraph, Madden 24 owners will find Madden 25 a cleaner, tighter experience in presentation, playbooks, player progression and physics. They will also see nothing substantially different in advanced strategy, high barrier of entry, and a continued heavy emphasis on microtransactions in Ultimate Team. Franchise mode peeps will enjoy this one most, casual players may want to wait for the inevitable price drop.

Along these lines – and if you’re targeting but one football title this year – College Football 25 is the better choice. There’s so much more to enjoy there, Boom Tech executes cleaner, and offers oodles more replayability.

Final Thoughts

Madden 25 is slightly better than Madden 24 in every way, but with only Franchise Mode and presentation truly noticeable upgrades. If you own College Football 25, feel will be familiar, and its rosters capable of import.