Review: Madden NFL 25

Over the years, the Madden series has seen a number of features debut, disappear, and even return again. 

 Last year's overly-effective man coverage has been tuned down, and the ease of leading both streak and wheel routes to the far inside of the field, perpetually out of the reach of defenders is a thing of the past. EA Tiburon also introduced a better read option system in Madden 25 this year, in that the game identifies which defenders to watch out for when calling the tricky plays where both the quarterback and running back are a threat to run with the ball in their hands. Madden 25 also includes the new version of the physics engine first introduced in Madden 13, the Infinity Engine.

In Madden 13, players could not reliably run between the tackles on either side of the offensive line, thanks to the sensitivity of collisions in the Infinity Engine. Madden 25 has swung things in an entirely different direction, as every running back in the game seems like a viable threat to move the chains. After swapping out the Jets' offensive line and tuning run blocking down to zero in the game's slider settings, I found myself pulling off five-yard gains with the team's 74 speed-rated fullback. On my first read option attempt with QB Greg McElroy under center, I ran for a touchdown with the 64 speed-rated player. In Madden terms, these are quite slow, trudging players performing in exceptional ways that you just don't see on Sundays. Madden 25 is in dire need of some tuning to help balance the running game.

Madden 13 marked the introduction of Connected Careers, a mode that combined three career modes into one umbrella section of the game. This year, that mode was taken to the next level in Connected Franchise, which brings elements from past games like NFL Head Coach to the forefront in its new owner mode. By becoming the owner of an NFL franchise in Connected Franchise, players can still control their team on the field, but are also tasked with front office decisions that affect the profitability of the team. Wrapped in a beautiful new menu system (an excellent and easy-to-understand user interface that's pervasive throughout the whole game), owner mode features sections for setting concessions and merchandise prices, hiring and firing your staff, speaking to the media, issue stadium upgrades and more. 

Among the options in owner mode, players can also relocate teams to one of 17 cities. It seems like an unreasonable restriction at first, but EA Tiburon opted to make each city and its also-limited team name options stand out as being more realistic. Turning the Dallas Cowboys into the Oklahoma City Bisons resulted in a team with a logo and colors that actually looked like something that could debut in the NFL, and they were greeted with appropriate banter from the game's returning commentary team, Jim Nantz and Phil Sims. After discovering that the mode's quick-save option would create a new career mode file instead of overwriting it, I opted to jump back into an earlier version of one connected franchise and make different decisions for my Bisons, only to pleasantly find my team moving in a different direction the second time around with my new decisions. Players can also import their NCAA Football 14 draft classes to Connected Franchise this year and control all 32 teams if they so choose, two options woefully missing from Madden 13.

The game that marks the series' silver anniversary offers a good mix of features introduced in the games that came before it. Connected Franchise, with the introduction of owner mode, is a great realization of digital NFL ownership offerings seen in the past, while the new ball-carrier moves push the game forward. Of course, Madden 25 could use an update or two to iron out the Infinity Engine and blocking system's tendency to let nearly any running back plow through the defense.