Madden NFL 25 (Xbox 360)

Madden NFL 25 is the successor to Madden NFL 13 in the NFL American football series. It uses different numbering in the series to mark the 25th anniversary of the series, but it largely a regular incremental upgrade in content. The Xbox One and PS4 versions use a different engine and were released at a later date with various enhancements. This yearly update includes the usual graphical tweaks, the full roster update and a number of new features. It retains the balance of managing, coaching and playing teams in both single-player and multiplayer.

The most notable addition is the ability to play as the owner of a team in the Connected Franchise mode. Previously it was already possible to customize and be a player or a coach, with 32 players simultaneously online, and now the larger overall management is added. The game offers both fictional and real-life personalities. You still need to gain experience by taking on various challenges, but you also need to take care of a media strategy, the price of merchandise, finances, staff and possible re-location. Most existing game mode return in an enhanced and tweaked form, such as the Madden Ultimate Team where the online season is combined with a trading-card game.

The game uses an upgraded Infinity Engine to manage the fluidity of players animations, team artificial intelligence and physics. The controls are tweaked with the addition of a run free mechanic where various modifiers such as jukes, spins, dives, stiff arms and trucks can be pulled off. These modifiers are based on the individual players’ statistics. They make movement less linear and can be combined into combos to achieve larger runs. As a new addition the game offers various practice modes for it. On the defense it is now possible to lock on to enemy ball carriers to make tackling easier in an open field.