The Madden franchise has been the annual seller for those looking to jump into the sports-sim genre of American Football for decades now—dating back to the early 90s. While the legacy lives on and continues to present players with a product that most can live with, the lack of serious change from year to year has definitely become an annual disappointment as well.
Refining a lot of the major changes made last year, EA Sports Madden NFL 24 is a sharper product than Madden NFL 23, but several of the biggest changes fans have been requesting either haven’t been implemented yet or have been given half-measures in this iteration. While this is by far the prettiest and best-looking Madden I’ve ever seen, it also fails to improve some of the basic performance issues it’s had for multiple releases.
Starting off with what’s new and exciting about Madden NFL 24, the additions and changes to their game modes—at first glance—seem to be a lot of what fans have been wanting for some time. While leaving Face of the Franchise (Madden’s story mode that would delve into the life story and career of a made-up player entering the NFL Draft) behind is a huge bummer, Superstar mode returns to take its place as you attempt to reach the 99 OVR Club (getting a Madden rating of 99 overall).
While Superstar mode still has the Combine drills and basic structure that you probably remember if you’ve been playing Madden for a long time, its only really new and interesting feature in Madden NFL 24 is that you can take your character into multiplayer matchups online with a ton of customizable gear. Not an ideal replacement when Face of the Franchise was such an interesting option for those getting Madden fatigue, but here we are nonetheless.
Mini-Games have made a return in EA Sports Madden NFL 24 for the first time in about a decade, and the highly-requested feature is just about as much fun as I remember! Several of the modes are good and fun, but those that need a higher skill level (like when operating as a Defensive Back, for example) are less fun for a player of my calibre. Those who loved them and wanted them back will be stoked, but the connection to Franchise and other modes is a bit less exciting for those like me.
To explain that, mini-games are now found in Franchise Mode during Training Camp in EA Sports Madden NFL 24 as a way to increase player skill, rather than using just the old Practice portion of the game (or auto-completing it like I always do). While that’s a helpful way for someone like myself to increase the skill of QBs and RBs, I’m not as good at the other positions and have trouble getting a decent score that actually helps build the team.
While that’s obviously a personal problem and one that can be fixed simply by letting the simulation take over that portion of the game, that just means one of the biggest new features of Madden NFL 24 won’t be very accessible to anyone who plays like I do. The other new features of Franchise Mode are great, like more customization offered to draft settings, additional trade offer slots, and contract restructuring, but that’s not a lot of new stuff for a mode that’s needed revamping for several years.
“Mini-Games have made a return in EA Sports Madden NFL 24 for the first time in about a decade, and the highly-requested feature is just about as much fun as I remember!”
Ultimate Team is back and looks to be the place where the most effort was put into making more content (which probably is because that’s the way the game makes money outside of the initial purchase price). I’m not someone who spends a ton of time in this mode, but seeing more year-round content planned, as well as an introduction to the mode that explains things a bit better for newbies and crossplay between PlayStation and PC users makes for a nice little package offering for those who live for this trading-card-based mode.
Finally, on the tech side of things, there’s a lot of good and some bad in Madden NFL 24. The AI is much-improved in Madden NFL 24 and is pretty noticeable right out of the gate. There’s still the occasional odd adjustment or impossible catch that happens, but all in all, things seem to move much more smoothly in this iteration. The difficulty slider in Madden has always been a bit of a burden, as the AI just gets more insane with interceptions, catches, and fumbles as you make it harder and harder, but outside of those usual issues, the difference is noticeably improved.
The looks of the game have also been brought up a notch, as the lighting and shadows in Madden NFL 24 have gotten to the next level of realism. While the game has always steadily looked better and better, this year, the character models seem even more lifelike and look amazing in 4K, and as I mentioned, the time they’ve put into how things around the game being played look is a huge leap forward that I didn’t even realize was something the game needed to work on so badly.
The only downside to the tech side of things is that the game is still incredibly laggy in menus, especially the longer you play it. As someone who mainlines Franchise Mode, sometimes even opting to simulate and watch the games being played in my own sort of Owner or Coach Mode, I spend a lot of time perusing menus and making changes to this, that, and the other. The fact that we’re still seeing this much lag when moving from screen to screen while I can jump into a match and run at high frame rates with 4K graphics blows my mind, and can’t continue.
All in all, EA Sports Madden NFL 24 gets the job done in a way that’s both disappointing and just acceptable enough to keep me buying the damn thing. While some major revamping of Franchise Mode, the return of Face of the Franchise, and some basic technical improvements would be nice, the graphical improvements and slight adjustments we’re fed annually keep it just new enough to warrant a massive football fan’s purchase. Being able to play cross-platform with your friends anywhere might be the best new feature for those long-time fans, as you won’t have to consider console selection anymore!
