Madden NFL 27 Review
Do I know anything about being a linebacker? No. Do I know anything about the proper plays to call in the heat of the fourth quarter? Also no. Do I know a single thing about football beyond the basic rules? Yeah, not really at all. So why did I review Madden NFL 27? I have an answer for that. The answer is that I wanted to try something new. I am one of those people locked into the cyclical purchasing cult for Call of Duty. So I wanted to step over into another gaming lane that releases every year as well. What I wasn’t expecting was the level of customization to make the game and the sport newcomer-friendly. With more arcade-style gameplay and difficulty, I found myself having a ton of fun trying to win every game I played like I had money on it.
When you first boot up this year’s Madden, you go through a laundry list of settings. But I got rather excited when the questions started to relate to how I wanted to play. I wanted a more arcade style, which is something they offered. So less realism, more scores, and bigger plays that just make everything more exciting. I could feel it from my first game, yelling at my TV when I missed a tackle, as if it wasn’t my own fault. I felt like a true sports fan except I had the power to actually do something instead of just yelling at players through a screen.
Another really cool feature was the ability to select your favorite team from the start. It customizes the entire game’s user interface to reflect your team’s colors, music, logo, and more. I was shocked by how much detail went into the teams, like having each coach’s face when I went to pick plays to see how they’d approve or not. The last Madden I sat down and played was 2003, so any small improvements must have felt like the creation of the printing press to me, so take this all with a grain of salt. I love my experience with the gameplay and the setup as someone who doesn’t know football that well. I must imagine these things mean a million times more to someone who loves playing football with Madden every year.
The game looks incredible. There is such a level of realism to every detail. Every stadium looks perfectly recreated, to the point that it’s a bit eerie to see how closely they have recreated real spaces. Players’ faces look almost human as you zip by them between plays and on menus. It feels so real that I wonder how much further they can push the boundaries as technology improves.
My favorite thing, though, is the Superstar mode of Madden NFL 27. Getting to create my own player, get an agent, and get drafted was such a fun experience that I am sure a million people would buy this game just to feel alone. I did find myself having a lot more fun with the training mini-games before games because I made my player a linebacker. Being a linebacker in a video game isn’t the most exciting position to play over and over. But I committed. I helped my team to victory by using my body as a meat missile. It was a fun experience just getting to rise up the ranks, upgrade my character, and move around the league.
With a new Madden arriving every year, I think I could see myself returning for another go in a few more cycles. With the constant improvements in their approachability, graphics, and extra modes, it seems like Madden backs up why so many people are annual patrons of the franchise. While I don’t think I walked away learning anything that would fundamentally change how I watch football, I did want to end with the only thing I know for certain in the world of sports: Go birds, dickhead.
