Madden NFL 16 makes an interesting opening gambit

Madden's back for another year, as it tends to be, and this year I promise not to go on and on about what they can and can't do with a game that's released annually. What I intend to do this year is take a closer look at the nuts and bolts of Madden 16 and what it does and doesn't do compared to the real life game. More importantly, I want to look at how it stacks up to the real life sport that has such a gargantuan audience. The NFL season is rapidly approaching and that means another Madden game is also upon us. Annual sports franchises tend to have a decent fan base, as long as the sport is actually popular, so it's no surprise that Madden sales do well every year. EA could just sit back, add a little spit and polish, throw in the new names and player movements for the roster updates, slap a shiny new cover on the case, and rake in the dough. Luckily for us sports fans, EA didn't.

Madden 16 makes an interesting opening gambit, once again going right into a game, this time a fabricated Super Bowl 50 starring the Cardinals and Steelers. No one wanted to watch that match up seven years ago (except me because of the Kurt Warner), but EA insists on framing this nostalgia-less, fake match up with Any Given Sunday editing, close ups on players, and even tepid, badly-acted football dialogue, the kind of jawing written by someone who has not played sport. I say this before every Madden review because I write them from a position of generally being disinterested in football. I am the quintessential newbie, always learning about the game, and the sport, on the day it comes out. I'm the guy who hasn't played Madden year after year after year (except I have, because, you know, it's my job) and instead decides to pick it up on a whim.

Usually, this makes Madden very hard to get into. I pick my favorite team and I'm immediately assaulted with plays, special running commands, and tons of crazy mumbo jumbo that makes very little sense to me. Then I go into the “create a manager” mode and have a lot of fun just bossing people around. Building on last year's improvements to defensive play, this year the focus has been placed on the passing game. Receivers have been given new tools, allowing you to catch the ball exactly how you want, depending on the situation. For example, if your receiver is guarded closely by a defender who is directly contesting the ball, you can use the “aggressive catch” button to attempt an all-out, highlight reel type of catch. If your man is left wide open, you might opt for the “run after catch” option to snag the ball in stride, maximizing the amount of yard you can gain.

If you aren't sure which option would be the most useful, a button prompt conveniently flashes above your receiver's head, so you start making use of these handy new features right away. Holding down a button representing one of the three choices executes the catch. However - and this is critical - that doesn't mean players are pulling down catches every single time. Teams still need a good quarterback to make the throw, and receivers talented enough to make those acrobatic catches. For every one throw I would complete using Aggressive catch, there were four or five that missed the mark due to an overthrow or better positioning by the defender. But when you do make that one spectacular catch in a key point in the game, it is beyond satisfying, not to mention a good reason to stop skipping the replays.

Madden NFL 16 is strong title that demonstrates the development team's commitment to building a fundamentally sound core game, mostly avoiding the siren's song of sexy-sounding features that are short on substance. Madden supports its core Franchise mode players well while also catering to the ever-growing (and vitally important) numbers of Ultimate Team fanatics, and even attempts to bridge the two with an interesting new online mode. Despite some design decisions I don't love, there's no doubt that I'll once again be playing against my friends in fun, competitive matches for the next twelve months. Madden is not the best sports game on the market, but its steady rise is inarguable.