You already know if you are going to play Madden 24 or not. Honestly, you already know if you are going to play Madden 25 or not. The thing about Madden that makes it so difficult to talk about in the modern world of video games is that it is such a mainstay, such a constant force in the video game calendar. As long as the game reaches the quality of playable then people are going to buy it, they are going to sink hours into it, and it doesn’t actually matter if it’s as good as the games that many of us have such nostalgia for.
That’s why Madden 24 is what you choose to make of it, because I’ve been playing a lot of Madden 24 since it released and I am having a good time. I have an online franchise going with friends, we talk smack, make trades, put together dream teams, and get upset whenever Madden glitches occurs. The other day Justin Fields threw a pass to D.J. Moore and Moore’s knee hit the ground with the ball flying out of his hands like it was ejected via a spring. The commentary responded as if he had dropped the ball while the game itself gave him a first down. I’m unsure who was correct, but I was very mad about it. What I’m not as mad about is the feel of everything. I think players run the way they should, passes go where I want them to, and a big hit feels big. Madden 23 was in my opinion a step forward in this department and I’m happy to see that Madden 24 has built on that without breaking it.
I like how much of the game has cut away from the stuff that used to get in the way of me playing football. Franchise mode is relatively streamlined into a nice routine of adjusting weekly strategy, doing training, upgrading players and staff, playing the game, and repeating. There are dynamic objectives to make the season feel unique with players gaining superstar statuses or talking about how they want to improve, and while the interactions themselves feel fake, they at least give you something to strive for so not every game feels the same. Unfortunately, the PC version in particular has dealt with some sluggish menus that are supposedly going to get updated in a patch. My powerful gaming PC struggled to run the game until I adjusted settings to make the graphics look worse, but at least it’s running relatively smoothly now. I don’t have too much issue getting into a game as fast as I want to, and for a sports video game that is more important than anything else.
Even Superstar mode feels like it’s been more streamlined. Most of the cutscenes and weird plotlines are gone, and getting drafted to a team takes maybe 30 minutes to an hour depending on how much time you want to spend on the combine minigames. Those minigames, as well as the ones that you do in training, were a big selling point for this year because they were extremely popular back in the PS2/Xbox era of these games. They’re pretty fun, but extremely shallow. Maybe the originals were always this shallow, but I found myself skipping doing them because they would take away from the football games I wanted to play.
With Superstar letting you choose from being a QB, running back, wide receiver, linebacker, or cornerback, you’re free to live out whatever dream you want as long as you enjoy the grind of the game. Superstar maybe needs an overhaul even more than Franchise at this point in terms of giving you something to do, but if you want to role play yourself as a shutdown, smack-talking corner then this is the perfect game mode for you. Like everything else, it’s about what you choose to make of it.
Madden 24 made some small improvements over 23. I don’t know if it’s enough of one to justify the $70 price tag, but that isn’t going to actually deter those who want to play it. It’s a fun enough experience and I personally am enjoying myself. To add some personality to every game, my friends and I created custom coaches and give guys random motivations or personality traits. We’ve already had someone relocate a team to Australia but dressed them in traditional American colors because it’s fun to be silly like that. Do I suggest you go out and buy Madden 24 yourself? Only if that’s what you already want to do, because you already know what you’re going to get out of this. It’s Madden. It’s not changing. So make what you want out of it.
A review copy of Madden 24 was provided to UPROXX for this review. The game was played on a PC.