In a way, given all this drama, Madden NFL 16 had to be good. Where else would video-game playing Football Nation go if it stunk? Well, fear not. This is most solid version of Madden to date, but it's not because of a singular revolutionary feature or mythic overhaul. Instead, this the first Madden I've played in years where I feel like EA has addressed and improved every facet of the football-playing experience. It hasn't hit all the marks, but playing Madden 16 feels fresher and different, and it's needed to feel different for a while.

 

Meanwhile, the new patch also fixed the bugs for the Connected Franchise mode which leads to various problems such as the disappearance of some players from the free agent pool as well as easily signing elite and superstar players in discounted or lower value than what it should really be. The game publisher even suggested that players should not start the connected franchise mode until installing the new patch in order to avoid experiencing the said problems. Moreover, besides addressing the bug that causes a short-term attribute boost to players, rookie's deep accuracy rating and QBs "supersim" stats which allowed them to have too many carries during a game were likewise tuned. The play is on as "Madden NFL 16" was officially released on August 25. With bugs and other technical problems to fix, EA Sports is still positive that these will be resolved early in the game. But beyond all these repair-musts, reviews seem to hint a homerun yet again for EA.

 

That’s the main new game mode, and while there are some tweaks elsewhere, the rest of the game should be familiar to anyone who’s played Madden in recent years. In Franchise Mode you take control of your favourite team as usual. This year, preparing for the draft is slightly different, in that each week you get a number of scouting points which you use to unlock prospective players’ best attributes. It’s a fairly simplified way of doing it, but it’s effective if you’re not that interesting in getting down to the nitty gritty of scouting players. There are also new drive goals which pop up while you’re playing. You might have to get two first downs on your possession, or limit the opponents to 15 yards. If you complete the drive goal, you’ll get a temporary stat boost and confidence bonus.

 

My favorite addition this year is the new franchise mode. Yes, we’ve gone from franchise mode to connected careers mode and back to franchise mode again, but this year’s effort offers substantial changes, ones that have caused me to play Madden obsessively since launch (and actually delayed my review- I couldn’t stop playing to write about it). Madden now assigns goals to all players prior to each game. As these players make plays and achieve these goals, the experience and confidence gains pop up right on the screen, a la Borderlands. It’s an excellent change that provides overt ownership over player development. As I played games, I found myself game planning around these XP gains and using my pregame planning hours to develop key younger players. Goals (both individual and teamwide) appear dynamical during each drive of the game as well.

 

There were moments when I was starting offensive linemen who were actually worse than their backups for the first time in the history of my Madden play, because they were younger, and the XP they gained by actually playing helped them develop and actually become better. Even the draft, with the long scouting process, and the player by player analysis, is a fun and exciting process. There’s nothing like drafting in the fifth round and discovering that you’ve gotten the 5th overall ranked player. The focus on the franchise mode is a welcome one, and give me a degree of Madden obsessiveness I haven’t felt in years.

 

Add in strange camera angles and a still-frustrating penalty system, and you can imagine the game: a rugby match where you can’t really see where you’re going, but players are randomly chasing an oblong ball like roided-up beefcakes, while the opponent’s AI constantly tackle your teammates without penalty and nobody ever scores. Sound like fun?