BOOM!

Madden is back, and louder than ever. With it’s new Game Day Atmosphere, Madden 22 aims to fully immerse players into the vibe of the NFL game day experience. The soundtrack is bold, the presentation is colourful – Madden has a swagger that comes with knowing year on year, the launch of a new title is an event for gamers and fans alike. It does a great job of building hype, but does it deliver the goods?

Get in the (red) zone.

Let’s start with the game modes on offer. First up, there’s Face of the Franchise. Here, players can create their own ‘build’ and start an NFL career as a young player vying to be picked number one overall. Whilst the ‘college-to-pros’ narrative has pretty much been used to death at this point, that hasn’t stopped Madden 22 somehow managing to put together a career mode and story that is historically bad. The plot, such as it is, revolves around the player’s avatar and his two friends – ostensibly his brand manager and agent. It starts out with a trip to Niketown for a pre-draft camp, before dipping back in time to drop the player into the college football playoffs, in order to determine how his college career ended. It’s a narrative device often used to build tension around how a particular outcome came to pass – but as the player already knows their avatar is a highly touted prospect about to be drafted with a top pick, it’s fairly pointless in this context. It does nothing to build investment in the player’s journey.

MSRP: $69.99
Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, PC, Stadia

Ultimately the story is boring, cliched, and an exercise in patience to slog through. Whilst it’s not easy to present an inspired version of this mode year on year, it’s hard to imagine this was the best EA could come up with. I didn’t care about the people, I didn’t care about the outcome, and I wouldn’t blame players for skipping through all the cutscenes just to get to the gameplay.

Elsewhere, Ultimate team is back – as always, those that pay to play will reap the biggest rewards. However, it feels like there is even less opportunity for solo progression in Madden 22, which may discourage more casual players. That said, MUT is a huge money-maker for EA so there isn’t really any incentive for them to change the model of this game mode. It’s a grind, but nevertheless a grind that remains pretty addictive.

Franchise mode is probably the most improved element of Madden 22. The introduction of skill trees for the head coach, as well as the offense and defensive coordinators, means weekly strategizing has more significance. Staff development naturally impacts on player development, and each game is more distinct. This, along with the addition of storylines, gives franchise mode a greater sense of depth and rewards investment.

Make some noise.

Madden 22 introduces M Factors as a new feature this year, which gives specific in-game bonuses to players based on swings to momentum throughout a game. These bonuses are tailored to individual teams – for example, the home team at the Patriots’ Foxborough stadium gains bonus momentum on touchdowns and third down stops, whereas the away team at Denver’s Mile High can be penalised with less stamina during plays. The mechanic operates in sync with the flow of the game – M Factors are both earned and taken away, depending on which team capitalises on key in-game moments. It’s a concept that is certainly interesting on paper and is a fresh way to introduce homefield advantage within individual games. That said, its impact isn’t as innovative as might be expected, and M Factors haven’t felt like a key difference maker in-game thus far.

M Factors is part of Madden 22’s Dynamic Game Day, which is available on next generation consoles. Dynamic Game Day also includes Game Day Atmosphere, which is immediately noticeable – Madden 22 features new crowd animations, as well as boasting improved audio sound and variety. Turf and weather have a real impact on gameplay, as Game Day Conditions creates an environment that can impact ball flight or player agility.

Unnecessary roughness.

One of the most disappointing aspects of Madden 22 is the technical performance of the game. This is supposed to be the first next-generation iteration of Madden, but it doesn’t feel like that at all. This review was based on the PS5 version, and I was ready to be impressed by the graphical display and performance. In short, the visuals are fine but not spectacular, which felt a little underwhelming. Players will be hoping for a substantial improvement by the time Madden 23 rolls around.

Unfortunately, Madden 22 is also plagued by bugs. Players will freeze mid-animation in games, there are clipping issues, and crashes. Face of the Franchise also suffers from out-of-sync voiceovers and subtitles during cutscenes, and sometimes the voiceovers just disappear altogether.

There’s also an element of sheer laziness present – players have flagged issues such as being referred to as a rookie after playing several seasons in Face of the Franchise, Franchise mode seemingly forgetting the NFL now runs a 17-game season, and games won turning into retrospective losses. For a franchise that prides itself on high level simulation – which it really delivers with elements like Dynamic Game Day – these problems are disruptive and cheapen the whole experience.

Conclusion

Let’s be realistic. For an annual sports franchise, it’s not necessarily practical to expect huge evolution year on year. It’s also fair to say that at a minimum, players should expect EA to deliver incremental quality of life improvements and make an effort to hone their overall experience of the game for the better. Whilst there is only so far the needle can be pushed year on year, the launch of a new Madden on next-gen systems presented EA with an opportunity to really raise the bar. That’s why it’s particularly disappointing that Madden 22 only offers stagnant content and, sadly, creative disinterest.

Review copy of game provided by publisher.