Madden games have been around since 1988, longer than many gamers playing the series have been alive. At a certain point, an annual release cadence can result in the loss of quality, as development teams struggle to come up with innovative additions to a game. Can Madden NFL 23 avoid that this year, or is this more of the same with a shiny coat of paint and roster update? Find out in our Madden 23 PS5 review.

Thanks, Coach

John Madden was a legendary coach and sportscaster, who passed away in December of 2021 at the age of 85. Madden NFL 23 has thus been dedicated to the late football coach. In many loading screens, “thanks coach” is scribbled out, while the introduction of the menu system shows old footage of Madden coaching and winning the Superbowl. Madden NFL 23’s introductory game pits vintage Madden against more modern Madden, and it’s a surreal matchup that even the game’s commentators note is strange but also kind of cool.

It feels sort of hollow, then, that Madden 23 plays it safe this year. You don’t get to the status that John Madden achieved by playing things safe. So, while this is still the best-looking and playing version of Madden to date — that has usually been the case for most every entry in the franchise — whenever it was the latest and greatest. Graphically, things are perhaps slightly improved from last year – some character faces have become more lifelike, and current-generation consoles get a toggle between high frame rate or higher-fidelity graphics. Meanwhile, plenty of audio commentary is re-used, and frustratingly the sportscasters respond incorrectly to the on-field action on occasion. Things like saying a team failed to convert a 4th down situation, when the UI clearly states that the chains are being moved.

Meanwhile, some strange bugs in Madden 23’s presentation will pull you right out of the game. For instance, take the game mode The Yard, where players make their own avatars and level up by playing smaller, street-style exhibition matches. In my very first game for this mode, my player would always freeze in place a few seconds after play stopped, resulting in unintentionally hilarious replays. Furthermore, some post-play animations made the football move on its own and zip right back into the player’s hand, when just moments before the ball was clearly on the ground and not being held by anyone.

FieldSense is a new feature exclusive to current-gen consoles — this isn’t even coming to PCs — as for whatever reason EA has opted to keep that build on the previous generation console version of the game. It’s a vague term that includes more options while the action on the field is taking place. For example, as a ball carrier you can juke with the right stick as usual, but you can also mash the X button once a defender grabs you in an attempt to break free of a tackle, with an increased chance of the ball coming loose. You can also hold L2 and mode the left stick to perform a quicker turn, though of course the opposing team has moves to counter this as well. These new options, combined with the more nuanced throwing options, does feel like a more capable game is starting to develop.

What’s old is new again, or so some say. This is rarely true for games, and Madden is notorious for carrying over features from the previous year’s entry, without so much as a new coat of graphics. In a franchise that hasn’t missed a year of release since basically its inception, this is almost expected. Franchise mode has seen the most upgrades, with players having different desires when it comes to what team they wish to play for. Previously, simply offering a player the highest contract bid would win them over to your team. Now, you have to pay attention to such variables as how likely your team is going to be in contention for winning the Superbowl vs. the free agent’s seniority – players nearing the end of their career may opt for a lower-paying team if the likelihood of hoisting up the Lombardi trophy is higher. Even something as mundane as the weather at the team’s city can make or break a deal. Player Tags can also affect negotiations, like an All-Star player lowering the amount of money a prospective player will accept just to be on the same team as, say, Tom Brady. Finally, salary caps rollover, much like in real life. Teams can opt to bank any leftover salary they had, in order to spend more the following season. This can add some strategy to nab a high-profile free agent later on.

Microtransactions are nothing new to sports games, and EA of course has a ton of them available in Madden NFL 23. When looking to buy packs of premium currency, they are sorted by high price first. Honestly it felt like a mobile game, the way they present a $149.99 pack of tokens as the “best deal” when it’s absolutely insane to suggest that spending that amount of money on a game that already cost $69.99 to even play makes sense. So-called “whale” players who purchase these sorts of packs are probably out there, and I understand why EA would want to offer these as easily as possible, but it comes across a little desperate.

Verdict

Madden NFL 23 has some good new ideas, but is mostly more of the same. The graphics and presentation are fine, but only just. The football appears to have a mind of its own sometimes, while commentators don’t always have a response to the on-field action that makes sense. If Franchise mode is where you spend your time, then you are likely to enjoy the changes. Outside of that, though, Madden 23 feels awfully familiar.

Score: 6.5/10

Pros:

• Best-looking version of Madden yet
• Some sentimental dedication to the late John Madden
• New passing controls are intriguing

Cons:

• Not a whole lot new to look at outside of Franchise
• Odd camera and animation glitches
• Audio commentary doesn’t always match onscreen action

Madden NFL 23 review code provided by publisher. You can read MP1st’s review and scoring policy right here.