Despite Madden 23 being the third-best-selling game of 2022 in the United States, it sounds like major changes are coming.
The game doesn’t work on a technical level and has devolved into a poor simulation-style game. The people at EA have admitted there is a problem, now the question is “What changes will Madden make?” Here are a few suggestions.
Solve the awareness issues
What are some solutions to these awareness issues? Limiting pre-snap options would be an obvious start. There should be some motion and audible options, but not to the extent that Madden has allowed. The vast array of options have lead to most of the handful of plays every year that no one cans top.
If my opponent only runs one or two plays out of the pistol, I should get that information before I play them. If I knew what plays were their go-to’s, I could pick a defense to counter. This would incentivize diversifying your offense, and punish running the same plays repeatedly.
Show me what people are actually running in game. When playing someone online, after every play, the game shows you what they just ran, but not really. The game shows you the base play they ran, but doesn’t show you all the adjustments they made at the line. Show people what beat them so they can adjust.
Cosmetics
Give EVERY player a realistic character model. There is no reason the in game models do not have a clear resemblance to the real life players they depict.
Above all else though, make sure the game works. People are tired of seeing highlights where the ball just magically appears at the fifty-yard line for no reason. People are tired of seeing clips where a player gets tackled only for them to get back up and keep running after going through their end-of-play animation.
All players really require is EA address some of the low hanging fruit issues that have plagued the game for years. Do that and the tone towards the franchise will start to shift.
Thank you for reading!