If you read the early impressions of Madden 25 we released on Saturday, then you know that we have found the game to be a obvious upgrade from the PS3 and Xbox 360 version, but we also had some issues with the game. The initial things we liked so far about the title on the PS4 (running game, line play, overall defense) we are liking even more as we spend more time with EA’s first next gen football title (that’s a good thing). The things we disliked, which are mostly carry-over issues from last gen, are more noticeable now and we assume will diminish the overall experience a bit more than they actually should.

As we spoke of earlier, one of things we were really enjoying was the enhanced running game with the new True Step technology. To us, this is the best addition to the next gen version only behind the offensive-defensive line improvements. One must now learn how to read their blocks, be patient, and pick the right time to attack the hole or the edge, and for those who love to grab onto the sprint button and never let go, you are probably in for a rude awakening. We still need more time with the game to see how it feels in a franchise over the long haul, but from what we have seen so far, the developers need to applauded for efforts in the running game – now just give us True Step for all in Madden 15 please.

As much as we love the improvements in the running game, secondary, and trenches, there are still some quirks that have us worried, and will need to be addressed for the franchise to take the next step forward. We spoke in our first impressions about awkward animations and player warping, and that concern has continued. We understand this is their first attempt, but the physics engine still displays some problem areas in tackling, recovery, and just overall player movement. That doesn’t mean that it plagues the game and should be considered a game-killer, but we have seen enough to warrant some concern and take away from the over realistic feel of the title.

We finally had the chance to jump online and see how Madden 25 performs, and even with the network issues that Sony is dealing with currently as their new console gets settled in, it was surprisingly good. We experienced no lag, and at least for the two games we tried, it was as solid as playing offline. Please understand the sample size is small, and we need some time to give this facet of the game a complete thumbs up, but we have enjoyed ourselves playing Madden 25 online so far.

For the final review we will dive into online franchise, slider effectiveness, quarterback accuracy, and much more. Instead of making a rush to judgment on this title, we wanted to give it an honest run and see if we can truly recommend it to our members, and we thank you for your patience. As you can see right now, we feel that Madden 25 is solid game of football with some issues that still need to be ironed out in upcoming iterations of the game. Make sure to check back in Wednesday as we will have the full review of Madden 25 for the PlayStation 4.