Madden 21 Is Worth The Price
Image by Alec Carpenter
Madden 21 is an EA sports football game with a little something for everyone. Whether you want to hook up and play with your friends or have a unique customizable football experience on your own, Madden 21 has it all.
Madden 21 comes with five main game modes, Franchise, Face of the Franchise, The Yard, Madden Ultimate Team, and Exhibition. Madden 21 has gotten a lot of hate this year because people feel like it was just an updated version from last year’s Madden 20. However, after playing all the modes, I have found that Madden has provided a little something new for everyone that really separates the two games apart making Madden 21 worth the buy.
Franchise mode is a game mode that allows the player to choose his or her favorite team and play as the coach. After choosing your team, you start with the active roster but have the ability to switch up players positions and start whoever you want. In addition, players are able to adjust the roster. You are given the ability to pick up free agents and draft new players through the NFL draft. However, in order to get to the draft, you either have to play every game on your schedule or you can simply simulate to the draft. I felt like this game mode did not get much love from EA this year. If you have played Madden 20, it is basically the same experience this year, just with an updated roster.
Image by Alec Carpenter
Face of the Franchise is a game mode that gives you the whole football experience. The game mode starts off with you being allowed to create a player that you will play as through the whole experience. Then the game allows you to put in the name of your high school along with choosing the high school’s mascot. As you progress through the game you are allowed to choose how your player interacts with his coaches and teammates. After your last high school game, you are put into signing day where you decide which college you are going to attend. The list of colleges includes Clemson, Florida, LSU, Miami, Michigan State, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, and USC. The notable ones here are Michigan State and Nebraska which were not in Madden 21.
After picking which college you attend you are thrown right into your first game. As you keep progressing and start getting comfortable with the game, the difficulty progressively gets harder. After you complete your first playable season, you are given the option to either apply for the draft or go back to college. When you eventually get to the NFL draft you are given the ability to either randomly be drafted by a team or choose your team. On entering the league, you can gradually start upgrading your players abilities and try to win a Super Bowl.
I felt like this game mode was extremely fun to play. I was fully immersed into the gameplay and thought it was really fun playing college football. Although after getting to the league I felt like the game would get boring the more I played it, so now I only play it every now and then. Do not get me wrong, it still is usually fun when I do play it, but after maxing out your player there is no real point to play it anymore.
The Yard is a game mode where you can choose what position you want to be along with your abilities and then pick from a bunch of randomly generated cards in order to pick your five other teammates. The Yard is new this year and unique to Madden 21. You can play this mode with up to two more friends, but instead of picking five cards for teammates, your friend and you take turns picking three other cards. Along with being able to customize your players looks and clothing, you can also gradually upgrade your players position as you play. I feel like The Yard is extremely fun to play solo or with your friends. The unique ways you are able to pass the ball along with the rules that make the yard fast bring a whole new light to Madden 21. Overall, I feel like EA did an outstanding job with this aspect of Madden making it easy and fun for the average player to pick up and play.
Madden Ultimate team is a game mode where you open card pack and get players to put on your Ultimate Team. You start off with bad cards, and either have to grind in order to get decent cards or you can just buy card packs to get good players. You are able to match up and play against other players teams online. I tend to not really play this game mode because it is mainly pay to win system that rewards money more than skill or achievement. If you do not put in money to buy card packs and get good cards you will almost always lose against the people who do put in the money. I can see how other people like this game mode, but I just do not want to waste money on cards just to compete.
Overall, this year’s Madden release enjoyable. If you liked how Madden has been in the past, you will enjoy Madden 21 and the new features that EA has introduced to the game.