The Madden NFL 25 Demo is out, what are your impressions of this year's game?

Ben Vollmer: Ben Vollmer: It's odd that NCAA, a title with fewer resources than Madden, continues to be a more consistent product than it's bigger brother year over year. Where NCAA seemed to get more of the little things correct this year, Madden continues to ignore them all together. Like Jayson mentions below, even when zone coverages are called in the correct situations, they often break down and leave wide-receivers wide open for an easy catch. Blocking doesn't seem nearly as fluid as it does in NCAA, and the only time I was able to get consistent pressure out of my front four was when the CPU would miss a block all together. Not to mention, I ran into several glitches in my three games that killed what immersion there was.

The physics engine is certainly an improvement over last year, and much less buggy. One last positive: the horrid CPU play-calling that ruined Madden '13 from being playable seems to be fixed from what I experienced, and AI seems to be in better shape overall.

Essentially, Madden fails to bring anything new to the table. And with the new generation of sports games right around the corner, it isn't easy to justify a purchase as the game stands. At this point, it's easy to hope that poor efforts on the Xbox 360 and PS3 were just a result of EA focusing on the Xbox One and PS4 versions.

Jayson Young: It is dumbfounding that America's top-selling sports title, developed with the biggest budget, most manpower and greatest resources, continues to feature the ugliest animations and jerkiest player movement of all major sports video games.

Madden NFL 25's Infinity Engine, now in its second season, causes athletes' bodies to bend and contort like gel-filled Stretch Armstrong dolls rather than human beings with rigid skeletons. Upright, WWE-style solo tackles continue to dominate Madden NFL 25's animation library, with minimal gang tackling and few wrap-up attempts.

The game's four-man pass rush, a go-to call for many NFL defensive coordinators, fails to generate consistent pressure, even with sack specialists like Chris Clemons (95 finesse move) and Bruce Irvin (95 power move) rushing from the ends.

Popular zone plays like cover 2 and cover 3 are as ineffective in the trenches as they are in the back end, with defenders standing idly in the center of their zones, failing to attack nearby receivers or scrambling quarterbacks. Man coverage AI has its own deficiencies, too, with receivers routinely gaining five to ten yards of separation coming out of simple routes like drags and slants. Curl routes, if timed well, seem unstoppable, regardless of the receiver/defender matchup.

While defensive backs have acrobatic animations that let them leap over receivers and make twisting, one-handed interceptions, wideouts are missing fundamental skills like boxing out defenders, coming back to meet passes or squaring their hips towards airborne balls.

Every week, NFL fans watch pass interference and roughing the passer penalties change the outcome of games, yet in Madden NFL 25, flags rarely appear, apart from the occasional false start or clipping call.

Errant throws, mistimed routes and quarterback/receiver miscues are even rarer in Madden NFL 25, with incomplete passes only coming from balls that are dropped or swatted away. Even on All-Pro difficulty level, it is common to see both quarterbacks finish the game with 80% to 90% completion rates.

Minor improvements to commentary and player cinematics mean little when Madden NFL 25 -- EA Tiburon's ninth pro football game on the Xbox 360 -- still looks, feels, controls and plays so unrealistically.

With so many other sports titles offering amazing experiences on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, there is nothing in the Madden NFL 25 demo that justifies a $60 purchase. Football fans' best strategy is to wait for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of Madden NFL 25 this November and see if the new consoles' power can revitalize Madden NFL's tired, broken-down career.

Robert Kollars: Both Ben and Jayson make valid points on the demo, and if we are laying all the cards on the table, I found very little enjoyment myself the first few times I played it. As someone who is really enjoying NCAA this year, I fully expected to see a lot of the same issues from NCAA carry over to Madden, but also the same level of fun and enjoyment that its little brother has brought me, but early on this simply wasn't the case.

As I started to play Madden more though, the more I started to enjoy it - Why? I'm not sure, but I did. I started having the same amount of fun that I had with NCAA, which is a good thing. I could list all the things I enjoy, and all the things that I don't, but we are all different and have different expectations. By now most sports gamers know what Madden brings to the table, and it is incumbent upon you to decide if a few fixes, updated rosters, and a new mode or two is worth it.

Madden 25 is a video game which replicates the game of pro football, but it isn't a simulation of it. For those expecting all of sudden EA's latest iteration was going to surpass all of your wildest expectations, and end up as a football title we will be talking about 10 years from now - you should either lower your expectations or simply pass on this year's title. At this juncture Madden is what it is on current gen consoles, and it's up to the buyer to either accept that and purchase it for their yearly football fix, or start speaking with your wallet. As much as we like to think that all of our input has helped shape the Madden we know it as today, the game is shaped how management wants it shaped.

If you don't like Madden but continue to buy it expecting something new or different, the definition of insanity does say doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Matthew Coe: I find myself really underwhelmed by the Madden NFL 25 demo. Many times a demo can be used to help generate hype and drive sales for the retail game. If I were judging my buying decision for Madden NFL 25 on the demo alone, I wouldn't even have Madden on my radar for it's upcoming launch on August 27.

I am extremely disappointed Madden NFL 25 seems to have taken some steps backwards in terms of it's in-game and pregame presentation from Madden NFL 13. Gone is the CBS style music, overlays, and intro, replaced with a Madden NFL 25-centric version that beats me over the head reminding me that, yes indeed, I'm playing Madden NFL 25 by EA Sports. Guys, I get it. Also seemingly missing are the CBS TV style camera angles, taken from us for the new on the field views of celebrations and post-play cutscenes. The change, and in my opinion step backwards, in the presentation really stood out to me in the demo.

Some other areas of concern and/or disappointment: the tackles in the Madden demo still feel over the top with shoulder blocks and clotheslines being handed out left and right instead of the wrap tackles and arm tackles seen in the real NFL. The animations in Infinity Engine 2 also somehow manage to look more out of place than the interactions in NCAA Football 14. Player and especially coach likenesses are VERY hit or miss. Uniform numbering is still oddly large or small on the front of the uniforms as are some names on the back of the jerseys.

Defensively, zone coverage seems a mess of inactive mannequins standing in their designated areas with little or delayed reaction as a receiver passes through their zone. Even with man coverage curl routes are money.

Offensively, it is far too easy to complete 70-80% of your passes regardless of how highly rated the defenses are in the demo and the blocking animations are less refined (or well-timed?) than the same animations found in NCAA Football 14. It's a real head-scratcher all around.

My bottom line is this -- Madden NFL 25 needs to bring the house with Owner Mode and a much more refined Connected Franchise mode. The old dog known as Madden's current-generation gameplay engine(s), has run out of new tricks it appears. The action still has the same mostly sterile, lifeless feel to it while lacking emotion of any kind really. The actual on the field mechanics are familiar with their mediocrity. I sincerely hope that the full version of Madden pulls gamers in a lot more strongly than the demo does. If not, it could be Madden's season of discontent.

Chris Sanner: This year's Madden presents an interesting problem for me. I really have enjoyed playing NCAA and in many ways I enjoy Madden NFL 25. The problem is, I love football and there are numerous football sins committed in EA Football -- basiclly fundamental aspects of the sports which the game tends to just get wrong.

If you are a hardcore football fan who also happens to be a gamer, the amount of fun you'll have with it hinges on how much forgiveness you are willing to give the title for it's football sins.

For all it's faults, Madden does play a fun game of football, mainly because the offenses are so overpowering. My simple advice is this: if you have liked what EA has brought to the table this generation then you'll like Madden NFL 25. If you haven't, then this is a game you can skip.