Madden 24 is going to attract millions of fans without any of them seeing a single trailer or screenshot. Plenty of people purchase annual sports releases blindly, for better or worse. This is usually because they know what they’re getting. If it’s a year where the sports franchise makes a huge leap in quality, then even better. Madden 24 isn’t an entry in this historic series that takes a big step forward, but the details behind the game’s improvements are impactful enough to warrant praise.

Madden 24 is the top (and only) American football sim on the market. That said, we’re not going to recap what you can do in this game. You either know, or you haven’t played a Madden game before. Let’s instead focus on improvements I was able to notice playing my first 20 hours of this year’s release. First and foremost, it must be stated that the focus on animations and visual presentation made a huge difference this year. The game has never looked smoother (or felt better) in a really apparent way.

EA states they’ve added or altered over 1,7000 tackle animations, which include considerations on size differential and strength stats. I’ll say this: the first time a top-tier linebacker catches you one-on-one with a sub-6 foot halfback or quarterback out of the pocket? You’ll notice. Even things like cornerback battles with receivers look more realistic, which is a tough balance to hit. You can’t account for the human nature of real football, but this is about as good as it gets in terms of reproducing it in-engine.

Other additions like the Skill-Based Passing 2.0 features and SAPIEN technology make this game feel alive. Even after plays, the players interact in small ways that are really wonderful to the overall presentation of the game. For a game that feels so familiar, there are enough improvements to make an annual player stop and take note. As someone who has played this game for over two decades, I can’t say these changes make it an all-time release for the franchise. However, it does take full advantage of current-gen hardware to improve the Madden experience.

Franchise Mode doesn’t feel too different or improved. It’s still a tad behind the likes of NBA 2K‘s MyGM mode, but it is serviceable. Superstar Mode, the career option for Madden 24, is still a good experience. There’s a fun PvP feature called Superstar Showdown where you can take on your friends and team up with one another with your Superstar players. If you’re into playing with friends, then of course, time spent online or grinding Madden Ultimate Team gives you dozens of hours of gameplay.

There are still the typical Madden frustrations. Hilariously, my first exhibition game featured four instances of my wide receiver’s route getting clipped by a cornerback, only to have my pass sail incomplete and no flag thrown. On that note, the penalties feel few and far between in higher difficulty modes, allowing players to actually pit skill against skill. Still, hiccups in the AI can (and will) cause frustrations that I’m not sure EA can really do anything about. We’ll just have to continue to live with it.

Without a franchise-altering addition to its offering, Madden 24 will not be a game we talk about years from now like we do Madden 07 or Madden 12. That said, if you’re someone who skips the entries in this series that don’t offer any improvements, don’t skip Madden 24. The small tweaks to how the game looks and feels are enough to make me happy to spend my upcoming fall and winter pretending Justin Fields and the Chicago Bears are actually going 17-0 and bringing home the Lombardi Trophy.

An Xbox Series X|S review copy of Madden 24 was provided by EA for this review.

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Madden 24

$69.99

8

Score

8.0/10

Pros

• FieldSENSE animations are pristine
• Game looks and feels smoother
• Superstar Mode has some nice additions

Cons

• An incremental year of improvements, not a huge leap
• Tiny frustrations persist in-game