Madden NFL 24 Review: Minimal Gas, All Brakes

As I stated in my review in progress, Madden NFL 24 feels bloated even if the actual content on offer isn't much more expansive than last year's version. Instead, it feels like the real-world NFL product that become increasingly stuffed with commercials, making it a much less watchable product. Sure, the on-field action is maybe the most exciting it's ever been, but when you're waiting for minutes between each play, it becomes too easy to check out and start looking at your phone. Madden NFL 24 feels the same, except in this case, it's not commercials you're looking at. It's loading screens.

Look, I'm the type of player who spends time stopping down after each play to watch how my slot receiver blocked the nickel corner. I'll pause the game and go to slow-mo to see if the middle linebacker's arms actually wrap in a natural way when he goes for a big wrap tackle. In short, all of the changes to foundational football were essentially made for someone like me. And, for the most part, I think this part of Madden NFL 24 is better than it's been in years. Is it perfect? Not even close! Would I even say it's good? Probably not, but as the only football game on the market it is serviceable.

You're not getting a product that simulates football particularly well, but it does play Madden decently. What I mean by that is that if you're already into Madden, this edition is fine. If you've been checked out for years, expect to see most of the things that you hated previously. I'm talking about players not blocking for seemingly no reason (though blocking in general, is better), quarterbacks who can't throw a proper fade, and AI on both sides of the ball that makes questionable decisions far too often. Yes, things like route running and pass break-ups feel much more natural, but even then, I started to notice weird warping the more I played. 

I hate to assume, but if my previous experience with the franchise tells me anything, that last part will only get worse the more I play. That's traditionally the case with Madden. The more you play, the more you start to notice the weird inconsistencies in gameplay. Effectively, if you're a power user, your experience is almost always going to be worse than a more casual player who isn't paying nearly as much attention and just wants to have some fun with their friends.

All of that said, I really love the direction the on-field action is going. Again, it's good at its best, but far from what I'm personally looking for in a football sim. But the fact is that Madden is fun to play if you don't dig too deep into the intricacies of the game. Which is why what I said at the top is so disappointing. 

If Madden NFL 24 played as poorly as it did in the last few years, it wouldn't really matter much that everything around it is broken because I wouldn't care. Unfortunately, I do want to keep playing, but Madden 24 doesn't seem to want me to. Let's just begin with Madden Ultimate Team, the game's main money-maker. I don't even have to tell you that it's loaded with problematic microtransactions because it doesn't matter. MUT has even bigger problems that need fixing before you'd ever bother looking at the MUT Points screen. The menus in the mode are so broken, that I can't imagine why you would want to stick around. Navigating to the objective menu takes so long and is so obtuse that I immediately bounced off. Keep in mind that I'm the kind of power user who often spends a significant amount of money in Ultimate Team modes. But Madden 24's version of the mode feels so bad to navigate that I have no interest in even trying to continue.

Things don't get much better in other modes. This year, the team brought back Superstar Mode, but it's been neutered quite a bit from its golden era. For one, you're restricted to only being able to play as a quarterback, running back, wide receiver, middle linebacker, and cornerback. That likely satisfies most players, but as someone who played defensive end in high school, it was disappointing to not be able to relive my very limited glory days.

Taking things a step further is how shallow the mode feels. I'm not expecting a full story mode like we got with Longshot, but the limited narrative is essentially pointless. I was also unable to find an option for changing my off-field gear, which seems weird given how much time EA spent creating in-game gear for your Superstar to spend real-world money on. It's not a deal-breaker, but all of this adds up to a mode that feels like a sideshow that's not worth your time unless you're just really into being position-locked.

Similarly, Superstar Showdown, the updated version of The Yard, continues to feel mostly pointless. I found it a bit more fun than The Yard because you get more one-on-one matchups across the field, but if EA wants to make arcade fans happy, they just need to do a full remake of NFL Street. This half-measure has never been satisfying for anyone and it's hard to see why EA keeps trying.

Franchise mode, for its part, feels like most of the same to me, though it's important to note that I'm not someone who spends a ton of time playing it year-to-year. That said, I think the changes to the draft are neat and give you more interesting classes. I also like being able to immediately relocate a team to my home state and finally give Oklahoma a pro football team, but that's a minimal positive in a sea of strange decisions.

Here's the thing though, I know that this review is coming off very harshly and I think Madden NFL 24 deserves it. However, if all you want to do is load up a game and play some football, this is the best the game has been in a bit. The on-field product is far from perfect, but it's fun. That's much more than I can say about most Maddens over the last decade. 

Rating: 2 out of 5

Madden NFL 24 was reviewed on a PlayStation 5 console courtesy of a review copy provided by the publisher. The game was released on August 15 across PlayStation, Xbox, and PC platforms.