It is August, which means school is starting soon, summer activities are winding down, and another version of Madden is hitting shelves in stores all across america. During this time of the year football fans are excited for the start of the upcoming season, but they are also excited to play as their favorite teams in the only major football video game on consoles. Madden NFL 19 released on August 10th which is about one whole month before the first weekend of professional football, giving fans something to do as they wait patiently for the season to start. Developer and publisher for the franchise, EA, is usually criticized for the coming out with a new version of the game every year that is so similar to the last one that it comes into question how they can still sell the title for $60 a piece. So does Madden 19 feel like a reskinned version of last year’s game, or is it truly something special?
After two years in a row with a New England Patriots player gracing the cover, Pittsburgh Steelers’ wide receiver Antonio Brown will be the featured athlete and is well deserving after being arguably the league’s best receiver over the past five seasons. While a wide receiver may be on the cover, there isn’t anything necessarily special about the passing offense in this installment of the franchise. Just like the past few versions of the game, players are able to direct the position of their pass in front, behind, short, or high for the intended receiver. Through the air, offense will be very familiar for veteran players with the only difference coming in how much quicker defensive lineman shed blocks and come in for a sack. It has been noted by developers that talented defensive players will no longer be locked up for five or more seconds, and will be able to disrupt plays in the backfield much easier. This is very noticeable as the passing pocket closes much faster, though it sticks out the most in how it affects the run game. It is no longer easy to average six yards per carry on the more advanced difficulties, but instead, expectations should end up being more realistic seeing most user controlled running backs getting around four yards per carry. Runs get blown up in the backfield much more often, and even the faster running backs seem to get run down by defenders a lot easier. It is frustrating at first and is definitely a learning curve for those who have played previous versions of Madden. There needs to be much more focus on finding the right hole to run through and rely on special moves like juking in order to be successful.
The biggest added gameplay feature in this year’s title is called “real player motions” don’t seem to have too much effect in game, but it can be noticed in the quickness that user controlled players move and in the returning interactive touchdown celebrations. All in all, for EA to market “real player motion” as the big add in for this year’s game is a pretty weak improvement for such a big game franchise. It is not all that noticeable, and while the gameplay does feel more true to real football than just a video game, user-controlled players feel sluggish and it is not all that enjoyable when you are unable to break off big plays like in the past.
Apart from gameplay, there is very little added to Madden that makes the game that much different from previous installments. Franchise mode returns with a new skill progression system for players, new specialty positions like slot receiver, and it also brings back custom draft classes that can be downloaded from the community. These small features do help improve franchise mode, but nothing is a game changer and players who dislike this part of the game in the past won’t be rushing to play now. Ultimate Team remains fairly similar except for the added three versus three online mode and the solo battles mode. The online card trading game has a lot to offer this year as it does every season, and it makes sense because it is the game’s biggest money maker, it will be fresh all season with content being added all of the time; Ultimate Team has the most potential out of any game mode. After an up and down first year, Longshot mode returns with an improved storyline and more gameplay than in its inaugural version. These are the three major game modes that make up this years installment.
Madden NFL 19 combines the dependability that gamers have come to expect from the franchise, while adding in some new gameplay mechanics and features, but unfortunately it has not done enough to make all gamers happy. For a game that costs $60 every August there should be an expectation that more new features be offered, but unfortunately, that is not the case. Anyone still playing Madden 18 is not losing out, and it is honestly tough to recommend spending the money to get the newest version of the franchise. Madden 19 does a lot of things well, but not enough to impress veteran gamers. Although, while there aren’t a ton of new features, EA has a great way of keeping players buying their games year after year. This installment of Madden does not pack a huge punch, but it isn’t disappointing by any means. The franchise does tend to be very similar every year, but that also creates an experience that you can depend on for a good time. If there is one thing to be said about the game, it is ”if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.
