Madden NFL 24 Critic Reviews

Overall, Madden 24 hits all the right spots with exciting gameplay, incredible graphics, and fun new game modes. It is extremely difficult to put the controller down regardless of its flaws.

Madden NFL 24 feels like the most complete game since jumping to this generation. EA Tiburon continues to build on the core that was established four years ago. The changes for this year’s game are numerous, but results with inconsistencies and ultimately need more polish. Hopefully this will come in the coming months with patches. When everything works, it’s cool to experience it all coming together that can result in a big play. This also ties into the resolution mode which is playable and offers excellent image quality. There could have been more implemented with the Training Camp mini-games, but they’re a fun change of pace that add to the Franchise Mode experience. The games also do not feel as scripted, even though the division games in Franchise Mode aim to level the playing field no matter the difficulty. I have had enjoyable and drama-filled tight games this year and the AI brings more of a natural level of opposition compared to something that’s pre-designed. There are bugs, but the overall experience in Madden NFL 24 is getting closer and closer to properly replicating an NFL broadcast.

You can’t go wrong with Madden NFL 24 as the new superstar showdown mode is a compelling selling point for fans pining for arcade gameplay. Plus, the franchise and superstar modes have been improved in a significant way, and it has more long-term staying power as a result. With the core gameplay as solid as ever, EA’s latest football game is a triumphant offering that is more than a roster update.

Madden NFL 24 does provide a pretty good simulation of NFL football when you’re on the field. The animations and AI are improved over last year, and the games are fun and challenging at the higher difficulty levels. I just wish that everything around the on-field action was overhauled. Ultimate Team needs to be revamped, and should look to Madden NFL Mobile for inspiration. The mini-games need to be reworked, if not totally removed. And, please build an interface that’s fast, easy to navigate, and gets you pumped to play some football.

Madden NFL 24 is a great game limited by a series of small issues that significantly affect the experience. While certain issues have been resolved and clear improvements are seen in the gameplay, the game modes and menus either remain the same or are worse and, along with some small hiccups that persists, limit the game's potential.

While action on the pitch feels great, much of the modes offer little variation from the last few years. Madden NFL 24 is starting to become untouchable gameplay-wise, and the SAPIEN technology, combined with FieldSENSE, offers a fluid and realistic time across the four quarters. Presentation is sublime, and the addition to detail across most positions and how they act to their real-life counterparts is stunning. It’s just a shame there’s little to shout about besides this. The minigames are fun for a while, and I did enjoy the Superstar Showdown mode, with the online mode pitching me against a wide range of different players and playstyles.

Madden NFL 24 is a great game limited by a series of small issues that significantly affect the experience. While certain issues have been resolved and clear improvements are seen in the gameplay, the game modes and menus either remain the same or are worse and, along with some small hiccups that persists, limit the game's potential.

Despite the excellent work done by FieldSENSE, Madden NFL 24 fails to solve some of the issues that have plagued the EA Sports saga for years. Adding poor menu navigation to predictable game modes and imperfect AI, the final result is a game that has some good moments, but has no chance to win the Superbowl.

Madden NFL 24 is yet another instalment of what has already existed in previous years with a few notable improvements.

More of a rehashed Madden 23, Madden 24’s new additions do little to move the chains. Old hiccups return, new ones introduced, and it remains a title best suited for hardcore players.

The promise was that Madden NFL 24 would be a game-changer in the series' history, but that's not the case. It has its positives, such as improvements in the Franchise mode and the grand return of Superstar mode, but it still carries over issues from previous years.

Madden NFL 24 is a good sports game, a playoff contender even – but you just never really get a sense this game is going to win the Super Bowl. That’s the fundamental flaw here: it’s a good effort from EA Tiburon with a lot of strong under-the-hood gameplay and presentation improvements, but the annual development cycle is preventing this series from really taking meaningful strides forward. Superstar, the reskinned Face of the Franchise, is fine for a few hours – and even Ultimate Team has improved to be more accessible overall. But cumbersome menus and a general sense of familiarity drop the ball, and prevent the release from reaching its full potential.

Madden NFL 24 is an excellent product of the evolution of American football, which is celebrating its second decade. If you are a fan of this sport and only watched it on television, now is the perfect moment to try your hand at the game.

While Madden NFL 24 is better than last year’s release, there are still some glaring shortcomings that hurt it, specifically with UI clunkiness, game mode access at times, and repetitiveness.

The improvements to the fundamental gameplay in Madden 24 continue to pay dividends with some of the most authentic football the series has ever seen. But, like an ill-timed penalty, the dreadfully slow menus and funneling toward tedious minigames wipe out any forward progress and move the series backward overall.

When it comes right down to it, I’m just not getting what I used to out of Madden. It doesn’t do much for me, and issues that I’ve had for several years are still there. That’s why I suggested a break at the beginning of this review. Something tells me it wouldn’t spell the end of the world. And yet, something else tells me dreaming of such a thing is wishful at best.

Madden NFL 24 makes several much-needed improvements to the on-field experience thanks to fantastic additions to animations and AI, but it still suffers from the same problems it always has once you get off the field: everything here is just done better in every other sports sim, even the other ones made by EA, and this year’s tweaks just aren’t enough to make up for the series’ continued feeling of sameness and lack of progress.

Madden NFL 24 also carries over a handful of bugs and visual glitches that were present not only last Madden, but the game that came before it. Bugs like the one where both teams appear frozen on the field during the cinematic view between plays, or where the camera isn’t showing the players despite them being at the line of scrimmage. It feels like such a slap in the face to the player and makes a strong argument that this franchise is long overdue for a reckoning. The real Madden heads out there will likely find Madden NFL 24 tolerable, but as a die-hard football fan, it sucks that we’re still doomed to this annual mediocrity.

To the naked eye, Madden 24 is discernible to the last few entries in the series due to its lack of innovation in its game modes and presentation. The late John Madden once said, “Winning is a great deodorant.” Right about now, the Madden franchise is starting to stink up the joint.

Madden NFL 24 feels like it needs a team talk that'll ruffle some feathers, but without it, the franchise feels like it'll be doomed to repeat the same season again, and again. It's time for EA to break the cycle, but if history is anything to go by, we could be approaching a redemption story.