Madden NFL 16 Review (PS4/Xbox One)

[Sphinx]

Quote: Originally Posted by MMChrisS

Madden NFL 16 is a game where I have faced mixed emotions playing it. On one hand, the gameplay has arrived in every way now, and can be put amongst any other game in our genre in terms of great-playing sports games. On the other hand, funky design decisions and truly bad bugs really hamper the experience in the game’s main mode: Franchise. That always brings a tension in reviewing a game. It's brilliant but left wondering why some decisions were simply made. With all of that said, Madden NFL 16 is the best football game you’ve ever played, and the experience is generally becoming one that can be described as great. Read More - Madden NFL 16 Review (PS4/Xbox One)

I couldn't agree more with this review. Well written!

[Dazraz]

Sluggish Menus, Carbon copy Madden 15 presentation, On Field Individusl Performaces that are NOT Reflective of their Ratings....how do these not get a mention? 8??? 7 at best.

[redsox4evur]

Quote: Originally Posted by Dazraz

Sluggish Menus, Carbon copy Madden 15 presentation, On Field Individusl Performaces that are NOT Reflective of their Ratings....how do these not get a mention? 8.5??? 7 at best.

The menus are sluggish for me. Can't say anything about it being a carbon copy of 15 because I never played 15. And the performances could be related to the issue brought up by completing drive goals.

[asu666]

For a game that evolves from year-to-year, the number and significance of bugs is unacceptable. They caused me to skip a purchase, because I buy what is on the disc.

[ShaiLeGran]

About the ticker bringing out-of-town scores, let me quote a tweet reply from Clint Oldenburg, answering my question why they are not in there: "nothing is impossible, just not anything we've had time to do yet". Maybe it is patchable? If not, then it will be next season I guess.

Just adding a ticker with other scores would have upt the immersion quite a bit.

[The Real Ma$$ive]

Yeah add that Franchise ticker showing scores and updates, and a Tony Bruno radio show with interviews, and recaps!?

Man!!! Would be the best Madden ever, and fix that update in the franchise that always makes changing jersey's a highlighted news article, that's taking up chances for real nice stories, and tweets.

If Madden 17 does this... Wow


And they should steal that feature from Madden 92 I think it was where they showed you the last 2 min's of another game at the end of your game. These things added with the superb game they put out this year, would make the franchise mode one of the best ever.

[ty5oke]

I'm going to skip this one since I'm a franchise only kind of guy.

[McG]

At this point, we just want our Franchise to come back with a triumphant return. I know they probably wont meet our demands this year, but I wish next year they would just go all in with Franchise mode already. Does anyone else see the lack of space this game takes up for a current-gen game? It's only around 20GB, NBA 2K15 is around 45GB or even a little more. So that begs the question, why aren't EA making "more" of a game? It seems to me that this is one of the main reasons the majority of content in Franchise mode feels so short-sided. I'll use NBA 2K15 again for the example here, does it feel like twice the game compared to Madden? My honest answer has to be yes, and that is without even seeing 2K16 yet, which looks even more in depth.

Now, to be honest I really enjoy the gameplay Madden 16 has to offer. It's the best Madden has been in years. Sure, maybe there are a few to many one-handed catches, but that could be tuned down. On the field, we are all getting sick of the sidelines looking like they are from the PS2/Xbox era, but that comes down to the lack of space/programming used in this game. Also, presentation could be upgraded quite a bit as well. From the commentary, to the lack of the in-game ticker (both have already been mentioned before), to the lack of authentic player accessories, there are a ton of little things here and there that could bring this game to EPIC levels.

Overall, I really enjoyed the review from Chris. He touched on the majority of good and bad issues regarding this game. I am just curious if there will be a "2 months from now" review, considering there should be, hopefully (fingers crossed) some serious patches to come. I know I hope they focus on fixing the many issues plaguing Franchise mode and I also hope they fix a few on the gameplay side as well. Thanks again for the review, and we look forward to more write-ups/videos in the future.

My Madden 16 rating- 7.5-8.0