Madden NFL 21

Madden NFL 21 is a solid product. It excels in several areas, like the presentation and Ultimate Team. The core gameplay is as fun and smooth as it’s ever been, and I’ve been playing since Madden NFL 2005. But the new jewels in the crown are flawed and need to be polished a bit more. Face Of The Franchise and The Yard both have tons of potential, but they aren’t realized here. Content updates may help with The Yard, but in the end it’s like scoring a touchdown but missing the extra point.

Madden NFL 21 is as fun and realistic as every Madden game, especially in its new “The Yard” mode and its increased focus on superstars, but its stagnation in gameplay innovation and established modes makes it sometimes difficult to distinguish its improvements over previous games.

Madden NFL 21 is an imperfect game, with some modes like Franchise and MUT lacking any meaningful upgrades. Fans of those modes will still have fun, but they will have to wait for next year's Madden to see where the major evolutions take place. Meanwhile, Face of the Franchise is awkward from a story perspective and lacks player agency. But the core gameplay experience feels better than ever, with things like the new Skill Stick controls allowing for creatively on the field. Lastly, The Yard is so good it could be its own stand-alone game.

Madden NFL 21 has an excellent new game mode that's great for short spurts, but the series staples don't move the needle.

With the continual mess that is the current health pandemic in the United States, it’s hard to predict if we will even end up having a complete NFL season this year. Thankfully, the folks over at EA Sports aren’t going to let a little thing like a global health crisis get in the way of raking in those sweet, sweet, Ultimate Team bucks. Madden NFL 21 is back again with vengeance after last year’s middling performance, but can they manage to finish off the console generation in style or are we looking at another season of increasingly diminishing returns?

Despite the fact that Madden NFL 21 features arguably the best core gameplay the series has ever seen and the introduction of a fun new mode in The Yard, the continued neglect shown to classic Franchise mode, lack of innovation across the board, and technical issues leave this gridiron mismatch coming up short.

But in-depth stories and fleshed-out characters aren't why sports fans play Madden. The gameplay, the graphics, and the shot at leading your team to victory keeps players coming back year after year. Sadly, Madden 21 under-delivers in many of its bread-and-butter departments, making it a game I’ll turn on the play with friends or check in on when updates are announced. But it won’t be one that I’ll be itching to play all year. 6/10.