Madden NFL 23: A Slight Improvement

With last week’s start of Hard Knocks on HBO and this week’s arrival of Madden NFL 23, it is now the unofficial start of the football season. Since the passing of John Madden, Electronic Arts wanted to make it clear that with this newest entry was going to be a return for the franchise to the original mission statement that Madden gave to them when he agreed to have his name and likeness be the face of the franchise: create a game that realistically creates the game of football in a virtual environment. Before John Madden Football in 1988 for Apple II, Commodore 64, and MS-DOS, even basic things like a full 11-on-11 game of football were not the standard. This latest entry does not nearly live up to what EA claimed to be the mission of this game.

***This review is based on the PlayStation 5 version of the game. Gameplay experience on the Xbox Series X is likely to be similar but a lot of the new features advertised are not available in the PlayStation 4, PC (via Steam, Origin, Digital Download from major retailers, or Epic Games), and Xbox One versions of the game***

One of the first things that players will be introduced to in this game is the new passing system called “FieldSENSE,” which claims to be a new hyper-realistic system that revamps the gameplay experience, on offense and defense. The most obvious example of its implementation is the new skill-based passing which implements a reticle over the receiver that, depending on when the player releases the button, dictates what type of pass is thrown. There is also additional control given to the player about where the ball is placed in the route in an effort to prevent an interception. It is an interesting idea; however, the difference is so vast between the old system and the new system that it can be jarring for more casual players. When playing in single player, the game does slow down to give the player a better chance of using this system properly, however when playing against someone, it is at full speed and a little cumbersome to control. Fortunately, there is the option to not use this system and revert to the old system and, at risk of sounding like a scrub, that’s how I personally found the most enjoyment in the game.

The AI also seems to have been improved to the point that player statistics have a greater impact on performance in game regardless of difficulty settings. While playing a franchise as the Giants on standard difficulty, I noticed that Daniel Jones was throwing an inordinate number of interceptions, more than in past games by a long shot. To test the theory more accurately, I lowered the difficulty to “Rookie” and set all the sliders regarding interceptions, receiver ability, and Quarterback abilities to their minimum. In the “control game” for the PlayStation 4, he threw no interceptions while in Madden NFL 23, he threw 4 before switching out with Tyrod Taylor who finished out second half of the game with none.

There is a visible momentum system in game that makes for interesting changes. As the player succeeds or fails, a bar at the top of the screen will light up. The better the player performs, the worse the opponent does and vice-versa. The changes could be things like making some of the receiver targets not appear during the play, increasing or decreasing fatigue rate of players, or making players run the wrong routes as they react to the momentum or lack thereof. There is also a “dynamic gameday” feature that gives bonuses or hindrances to the player like longer rest time making players fatigue slower or weather events that make the targeting arc vanish for kicking.

There are only three major game modes beyond the basic “Play Now” where the player or players can pick teams and play against each other. Franchise makes a return, with deeper contract negotiations and scouting abilities that make for a more authentic owner/general manager experience. As an owner, teams can be relocated and renamed while just about every facet of the franchise can be customized. While the simulation does not go quite as deep as say Out of the Park Baseball or Franchise Hockey Manager, both of which are strictly GM simulator games, this is still the deepest that Madden has gone so far.

Also making a return is “Face of the Franchise,” which sees the player create a character and play through the fifth season of their contract as they try to set up a legendary career. This is very much the middle ground between “let players make their own character and throw it into franchise” and “do another full-fledged story mode like Long Shot a few years back” and it is perfectly fine for anyone who is looking for a long-term reason to play the game that does not want the time commitment of the full Franchise experience. Face of the Franchise is also set up so the player only ever takes control on plays where their character is active, thereby making the Quarterback the most interesting and fun character type to create.

Finally, “Madden Ultimate Team” comes in as a way for EA to pull money from player’s pockets in the long term. The game uses a trading card booster pack system to allow players to build a team of their favorite athletes from the past and present in an effort to be the best in the world. This is a multiplayer only mode that requires either Xbox Live Gold or PlayStation Plus to access since it must be played online. At this point, if one is reading this article to decide if they should pick up this game, Madden Ultimate Team is not for them. Considering how players who pre-ordered the game got a bunch of credit for this mode as well as a two-day head start, players who jump in on release day or later are inherently at a disadvantage.

The biggest issue that the game has had consistently since it arrived on the most recent console generation is that any human on the character does not feel quite right or look quite right. It may be a nit-picky thing, but the game has still yet to fix these issues and they have been around for a while now, so it is worth noting yet again. Players gesticulating on the field will often have their hands pass through the torsos and chests of other players and there is still the issue where players on the field will walk in place while waiting for someone else who is in the way to move. Beyond this, the coaches and spectators in the stands still don’t quite feel real and all look noticeably fake with a weird plastic sheen to them. In a world where games like Elden Ring and even Death Stranding are creating hyper-realistic characters, this should be something that can be fixed. Small things like this are consistent enough through the gameplay experience that they should be noted.

The system with challenges also needs to be revamped desperately, considering rule changes within the NFL itself that do not translate well to the video game. Booth reviews on turnovers and disputable scoring plays in real life is a great idea to make sure that the correct outcome is happening, however there is nothing more frustrating than a play happening, the replay being shown, and then attempting to challenge and being unable to because “challenges for these types of plays are controlled by the booth” which does not properly get triggered on every play. While it may go against the mission statement of the game, maybe the ability to revert the rules on challenges so the player gets to control that would be a better way to improve this system in the future.

It is also worth noting that if the intent of this game is to teach younger players about the game and the rules of the game, the game should also have been released on Nintendo Switch considering that the Switch does have a larger console market share than Microsoft as a whole. There is the argument to be made that the Switch does not have the processing power that the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, however they were releasing PlayStation 3 versions of Madden until 2016 and a Switch edition could be released using that build. It is worth noting that Madden NFL Football was a Nintendo 3DS launch title which included new features from Madden 11, so this is not an outlandish desire.

On PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, this game clocks in at $59.99, while a copy for next-gen consoles like the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X will cost $69.99. At either of these price points, there is no reason to buy this game because the improvements are not enough to warrant another $60 at least to buy what is basically the same game, especially if purchased on a PlayStation 4 or Xbox One which do not have FieldSENSE. Just wait for Black Friday when the game will be marked down somewhere around $29.99 based on last year’s sales.

Madden NFL 23 accomplishes what past entries have done while incrementally improving certain aspects. That said, much of the game, especially if played on previous generation consoles, feels exactly like previous entries so for the casual player who is not into the competitive gaming scene, this game is not different enough between last year and this year. Because the game simply maintains the status quo without improving the parts of the game that have needed improvements for years now, it simply cannot be better than an average rating. It is disappointing as well because with games like Spider-Man: Miles Morales and the PlayStation 5 port of Ghosts of Tsushima, it is obvious that studios can take what already works and scale it up to take full advantage of the power behind next-generation consoles and EA seems unwilling to do so.

Final Rating: 7.5/10