Madden 21 review (1/4 season in): Father Time always wins
By Lance Liebl
Giving Madden 21 one quarter of the NFL season to update and marinade, how does this year’s entry into the storied franchise hold up?
Title: Madden 21
Developer: EA Tiburon
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Platforms: PS4 (version reviewed), Xbox One, PC
Release Date: August 28, 2020
After what felt like the complacency of the franchise, I took a break from Madden games for the past two years. Madden had been a mainstay in my life until then, dating back to Madden 64 on the Nintendo 64, playing the season mode and loving it. That began the yearly tradition of buying Madden and building my team in franchise modes, sometimes with my brother and friends.
The last time I probably loved a Madden game was either Madden 08 or 09. The problem was the series starting feeling like I was less in control on the field as preset animations took over, and features were stripped that were in previous Madden games. Gone were being able to create plays and formations, work out contract structure details, create uniforms, logos and stadiums for franchise relocations and more. Madden has stripped control from the player like Von Miller stripping Cam Newton in Super Bowl 50.
That said, I’m a sports and NFL football fan, and I’ve always had a Madden game to play. That brings me to Madden 21.
I knew going into it that I didn’t want to write a review of Madden 21 right off the bat. It wouldn’t be fair to myself, readers, or the game. You see, I don’t touch Madden Ultimate Team (MUT). I blame that mode, the style of play that comes with it, and the money it brings to EA for the destruction of a once-proud Franchise mode. Nothing excites me about MUT.
Likewise, I find Madden’s Face of the Franchise (and past story modes) interesting for the first hour and then boring. Bugs and quirks take you out of the attempted illusion when a big game you have isn’t recognized by on-rails, linear story notes. So that doesn’t hold me either.
So that leaves The Yard, franchise mode, and the overall gameplay itself. The Yard is actually a really refreshing change of pace from your typical Madden gameplay. Opting for more of an arcade/street style, you use players with different archetypes in 6 on 6 backyard football that mainly consists of trick plays, laterals, and knocking the ball up in the air to other players. They’re quick games filled with highlight-reel plays and fast action. The pessimist in me says The Yard was only put into Madden 21 in response to 2K making an arcade-style NFL game. But the optimist in me loves the idea of The Yard. But there are design choices with the mode that leave me baffled.
The Yard features 6 on 6 games, but players can only team up to go 3 against 3, with each human controlling two players. Why not have a full 6 players vs 6 players? Another thing I wish it had was the ability to play a game in The Yard against someone on the same console. My kids asked me if they could play a game of it with me, and I was at a loss of words when I had to explain why they couldn’t play on the same console.
Those are the negatives of Madden 21‘s The Yard, but the positives are that the controls and gameplay are fun, and the uniforms and accessories you can unlock are really creative. You can customize your players with unlockable home and away uniforms, helmets, visors, gloves and more — with styles ranging from neon-colored palm trees to space/galactic uniforms. I wish those designs crept into the relocation uniforms in Franchise mode.
So now we’ll dive into the Franchise mode. It’s another reason I’ve held off on a review. Hashtags like #FixMaddenFranchise (which was #1 trending on Twitter) and #EndEAMonopoly got so much attention that EA had to address it directly. These hashtags are in response to continued promises over the year that they would give much-needed attention to Franchise mode, only to receive what pretty much amounts to a roster update. The mode is exactly the same as when I played it two years ago.
There’s nothing new to the mode, nothing exciting about relocation (how are we still using the same names, logos, colors and uniforms that are already put together?), and no real new roster/contract control, coaching staff and coaching carousel options, and team morale and scheme system that feels meaningless.
It’s dated. It’s aging. It’s a Peyton Manning in his final season that will win the big game but needs to retire because the defense won it, not his arm.
What Madden used to excel in has now fallen light years behind other games’ Franchise modes. MLB The Show and NBA 2K both do Franchise mode better. The main thing that just broke me recently is watching a Twitch streamer play NHL 20’s (last year’s game) Franchise mode and seeing how much better it is. It looks like a lot of effort and creativity went into that mode. Now, I don’t know if all of it is what NHL fans prefer, but seeing something like scouting other NHL players to see how they would fit into your team is brilliant. To try to put together a roster that works with a coach, while trying to weave together lines that give pluses to your ratings, and playing Tetris with how players fit into each line — it’s all light years ahead of where Madden’s mode is.
Now, EA has promised updates this year, and then they’ll continue into next year’s game. As previously mentioned, it’s why I’ve held off on a review. Most of the big-ticket items wanted in Franchise mode won’t be able to be incorporated until next year. Those are things like new coaching and staff management, a new team chemistry system, and new relocation and branding assets. These proposed additions might not take the mode far enough in the direction that fans want. And the changes for this year are a slow drip of improvements, and nothing that makes the mode a must play.
All of that said, I have an online franchise going with another player, and I have a solo one going where I just play offense and let the sim take over the defense. And it feels good to be playing it. I’ve missed playing Madden Franchise mode for the last two years. There’s enjoyment to be had, but you have to make that enjoyment happen for you. That’s what’s so frustrating. I know what it can be. I know what it should be. It used to be that. Most of the things I want in the mode used to be in it! We see these features in other sports games.
Finally, there’s the gameplay. I’ll say that it’s improved from where it was two years ago. I have fun playing it. Was it as much fun as I had the first week Madden 21 came out? Well, no. I see the same issues popping up in games I play. Issues like a route runner just running straight and ignoring the pass so the ball hits him in the head or back and he just keeps on running straight off the field. Lineman ignoring defenders instead of blocking them.
But there’s a lot I’m still enjoying almost two months into the game. The skill stick, which gives you control over ball carrier moves, has made the running game my favorite part of the game. Running backs are a lot of fun to control, and backs feel different. I drafted an elusive back and a power back and they play entirely different. And being able to string together a couple of moves and broken tackles on an 80-yard touchdown run is very satisfying.
Pass rush moves and offensive/defensive linemen battles have received an upgrade too. You have meters that allow you to pull off pass rush moves, and offensive linemen have colored blocks under them showing how strong or vulnerable they are to a move from each side. It makes it more of a chess game. But these new systems also make star players feel significantly better than normal depth players. Part of that is the continuation of Superstar and X-Factor abilities. These give the best players in the game goals to meet to get these elite players into the zone. Then they’ll really wreak havoc. An example of this is Double Me, a WR X-Factor that makes the receiver a master at jump-balls. To trigger it, you need two receptions of 20+ yards in the air. That’ll get the player in the zone, which makes him win aggressive catches vs single coverage. But, a drop, incompletion or not being targeted on three consecutive plays knocks that player out of the zone.
There are good things in Madden 21. The Yard is a breath of fresh air. New gameplay mechanics for running the ball and playing defensive line work really well. And X-Factor abilities add goals to the game and make elite players separate themselves from normal players. That said, knowing that an entire mode was ignored, called out, and then apologized for, all while being promised to be updated in previous years, is disheartening. There’s fun to be had in Madden 21, and I play it multiple times a week. But if you’re playing it for Franchise mode, just wait and see what they offer in Madden 22.
For that reason, I give Madden 21 a 7/10. It’s a good game (gameplay-wise) but it has enough flaws that it won’t leave a long-lasting impression. It’s skippable in the grand scheme of things. Father Time is here. And Father Time is undefeated.
A copy of this game was provided to App Trigger for the purpose of this review. All scores are ranked out of 10, with .5 increments. Click here to learn more about our Review Policy.