Madden NFL 20 Reviews

“Madden NFL 20’s Ultimate Team and Franchise modes are superb, but the career mode misses the mark.”

There is a saying for long running series fans like to use: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. This doesn’t really apply to Madden NFL, as there is always room for improvement. Unfortunately, EA Tiburon doesn’t think that because not only did they do nothing to advance Madden NFL, they removed way more than they added. And what they added was so small I honestly can’t believe it’s all that we got in a full year and $60.

Madden 20 provides another year’s worth of well-crafted gridiron action. It’s a shame to say goodbye to Devin Wade and the Longshot narrative, but QB1 does a decent enough - if short - job of framing your own rise to fame. The rest of the package is as slick and smooth as you’d hope. Should you upgrade? If you’re an avid fan, you probably already have. For everyone else, both Madden 18 and 19 still play a fantastic game of football.

*Cue the classic Andy William’s song “It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year”* Do you hear that? I realize that it isn’t quite December yet, but for fans of sporting games, it might as well be our holiday season. As always, EA’s Madden franchise is the tip of the proverbial spear, ushering in a magical eight-week window where athletically-aspirational controller jockeys are inundated with enough awesome experiences to tide them over for damn near an entire calendar year. Sticking with this admittedly terrible analogy, I guess that would essentially make Madden NFL 20’s release date our own personal Black Friday. Thankfully for all parties involved, the only people actually getting trampled have large numbers on their shirts. But the question remains, will this be another quality haul of gridiron goodness, or should we wait for the real holiday discounts before making the plunge?

Madden NFL 20's major new features are good on their own, but they are even better as a foundation for the years to come.

In addition to the usual incremental graphics upgrade and respectable new story campaign, Madden NFL 20 meaningfully improves on a lot of the issues that plagued the previous iteration(s). The running game is noticeably smoother and X-Factor traits make superstar players actually feel like a force to be reckoned with on the field, and while there are still problems that linger with animations, it’s safe to say that EA Tiburon is making large strides in the right direction. That said, I’m running out of patience for the Franchise mode to receive some revitalizing updates – it’s still fun after all these years but Madden 20’s Franchise doesn’t feel substantially different from Madden 19’s.

I have no doubt you will see reviews from other outlets touting “a new step forward” or “the best Madden yet” around online, but they are just avoiding the real issues. Someone out there could make the argument that the on-field portions are better than Madden NFL 19, but incrementally besting a deeply flawed experience is nothing to be celebrated. I was extremely lenient in my review of last year’s game due to the return of the franchise to the PC. Getting the game working on a new platform is no small task, so expectations were that Madden NFL 20 would be where the game truly moved forward, except it has not. Madden NFL 20 is the worst major sports league video game out there. Despite some despicable microtransaction design, NBA 2K is an exponentially better representation of its real-life counterpart and has an ever-improving Franchise mode that offers real depth and year-over-year growth. MLB: The Show is the blueprint of excellence for which other sports titles should be judged. Save your money for a series that still respects its fans. 4/10 butt fumbles

Admittedly, I am torn when it comes to Madden NFL 20. On one hand, I’m enjoying it. The gameplay is fluid, passing feels great, the animations are impressive, and MUT is as addictive as ever. I am having a hard time putting down the controller. On the other hand, there is little in the way of true innovation this year. It feels and plays almost identical to Madden NFL 19. I’m left with this overwhelming feeling that the development team at EA Tiburon played it far too safe this year. Perhaps maybe we’ve just hit the hardware limitations with this generation of consoles. Maybe there is just no room to make any big enhancements. Either way, I feel like I’ve been to this dance before.