Madden 15 Review

EA will be releasing Madden NFL 15 on Tuesday August 26^th, but thanks to the new EA Access app, for just 30 dollars a year you can play any EA game five days before its release.

                Madden is the first game that is available for early access, and you  have six hour of game play to decide if you want to go and spend the sixty dollars or not.

                The trial version of the game opens with a short video clip of the Seattle Seahawks and the Carolina Panthers battling for the NFC Championship. We see a fumble by Russell Wilson which gives the ball back to the Panthers inside the two minute warning. This is the player’s first chance to experience the game play of Madden 15.

                The graphics in the video were outstanding, and the situation of it already has you saying, “this game is going to be great!” followed by, “Let’s do this!”

                Once you see the new camera angle it already feels so unlike any Madden you have played to this point. The camera is much tighter.  It’s so close that you feel like you are right in the middle of all the action.  Once you hike the ball you will be 100% sure this is a whole new game that bows the last 25 years of football gaming out of the water.

                The stadium sounds, the broadcast presentation, and the player likenesses make it seem like you’re watching the game on Sunday afternoon. Every snap is so realistic and the game speed feels so different from what we are used to.

                After scoring a rushing touchdown with the Panthers, I got a quick idea of what is new in Madden 15 from Cam Newton. Then it was time to play for real.

                I played in exhibition game, Patriots VS. Jets and the game just got better and better. This was my first chance to play defense and the changes made to the D were a lot of fun. Instead of button mashing as the Defensive line to try ti get off your block, there is now a different system for pass rush and run stop.

                 There is a button specifically used to try and stop the running back, and a specific button for pass rush defensive moves.  All of this depends on how fast you get off the line which now is measured as perfect, early or late displayed above your defender.

                Perhaps the best addition to the defense in Madden 15 is the ability to player lock on defense and control one defender through an entire play. This has been seen in NCAA Football but was not in Madden 25.

                The best part is this is how you control your defender on connected franchise which now gives you the camera angle of your defender in third person view and the offense at the top of the screen which makes it much easier to keep track of a play.

`               The connected franchise mode is similar to last year but now instead of practice to gain XP you can now go through different forms of game prep with the addition of confidence which gives you individual game boosts or the typical XP that is more permanent.

                The Madden Ultimate team menu has changed and is now easier to navigate and introduces new challenges which give the player more chances to collect coins and buy new packs. Not much has changed the new very popular MUT game mode that has become the most popular mode in the game.

                New is the word to describe this game. It is unlike any Madden we have ever played before and when the full game is released on Tuesday, we will have enough time to see them all.

                Six hours was hardly enough time to experience everything so  If you haven’t bought Madden in a few years, now is he time to get back in the game. You will not be disappointed.