![]() In prior iterations the focus was on a handful of curated experiences throughout the player’s transition between high school and into the college game, essentially coming to a halt early on in an NFL career. Though it started off strong a few seasons back, the bloom is very much off the rose, so to speak. One of my favorite punching bags in previous years was the much-maligned Face of the Franchise mode. Madden NFL 21 Review – Put on Your Game Face Let’s just hope that some of the unlockable content being trickled out throughout the year will result in an expansion of the playbook or a few more ways to leverage the new mode, aside from the odd pick-up game. Quite frankly, this is probably one of the only reasons why it wasn’t spun off. This could’ve just as easily been spun off into its own standalone mini-release, but it instead helps to add a bit of unexpected variation to a title desperately in need of fresh blood. ![]() That said, if you are booting up a 6-vs-6 pigskin experience and expecting true-to-life simulation, you’re probably missing the point. While The Yard is a ton of fun as an isolated experience, it does lack the depth that many will likely desire. The result is a chaotic hybrid of the traditional football, with a bit of NFL Blitz (the PS1 era version, not the PS3 reboot abomination) mixed in for good measure. Some of these variations include the number of passes allowed behind the line of scrimmage or the amount of time that is allowed before a defensive player can blitz the quarterback. It’s very important to be attentive to these differences, as they can also have a pretty fundamental impact on the approach to each game. Every different field, of which there are only a handful available at launch, also features their own unique set of house rules. For those who’ve wondered if Aaron Rodgers would also double as a good DB, look no further. The more arcade-centric experience actually feels very akin to the 3-vs-3 mode that was added to the NHL series a couple of years back, minus the amazingly humorous announcing team.Įach squad is made up of a collection of hand-picked players from around the league that actually play both sides of the ball. This 6-vs-6 version of gridiron action is a fairly sharp deviation from the traditional Madden formula, resulting in a rather dramatic learning curve, at least early on. Think of this like a round of backyard football, featuring athletes with far better physiques than your average Thanksgiving pick-up game. In addition to the standard evolution of mechanics that are to be expected, there was one marque new mode added in Madden 21: The Yard. Combining these improvements with the nerfing of the obscenely buffed linebacker play from last year, also helps make this feel like one of the better-balanced installments in recent memory. Simply put, these enhancements feel more like tweaks than true revamps, that make the moment-to-moment gameplay feel more organic and, quite frankly, fairer. Jukes, spin moves, and side steps all feel far more organic and responsive, while also avoiding the series’ biggest pitfall of gameplay modification resulting in the impacted positions being overpowered as hell for the following twelve months. For one, the “skill stick” controls that are utilized for the both the running game and newly-introduced linemen special moves have improved the experience dramatically. We are well into the “dog days of mediocrity,” where innovation has stagnated in favor of ramping up for the launch of the PS5 version.īefore we start bagging on the areas that are still in need of serious attention, it’s worth mentioning that there have been a collection of advancements to the core “on the field” mechanics, that made significant strides in the right direction. Unfortunately, these advancements tend to hit a plateau after a handful of installments, then grind to a screeching halt once they’ve reached feature parity with the last generation. Things tend to start off with a bang each generation, as the development teams excitedly try to make the best use of new technology. It’s no small secret that the Madden franchise has been struggling to find its way for the past several years. 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? Madden NFL 21 Review – Punting on Innovation ![]() 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. 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.
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