Day 248, Game 248 - Madden 25

I've written about my love for sports before on this blog, haven't I? All real sports, that is. I've always had an affinity for the major American sports - baseball, basketball and of course football. There is nothing like Opening Day of baseball season, or the World Series. In basketball, there is March Madness, the All-Star weekend and the NBA Playoffs. In college football, there is bowl season and rivalries week. 

But nothing comes even remotely close to the kick-off of the NFL season. Nothing. 

It's kind of amazing to sit back and think about just how big the NFL has grown in recent years. The sheer popularity of this league is mind-numbing, and is easily one of the most influential brands in the United States. Sure, during the season it's easy to understand everyone's excitement, but with the passing of every year, it's clear the NFL is in the hearts and minds of fans seemingly every single day. Even the offseason now yields headline-grabbing stories on a regular basis, constantly reminding the public how much they miss the football season. 

Well, the wait was grueling, long and tedious, but finally, the NFL season kicked-off officially, marking five solid months of weekly football games, fantasy leagues, betting odds, lazy Sundays and a whole lot of pigskin. And I couldn't be happier about it. Because of this, I decided to celebrate the beginning of the season in the best way I knew how. By playing the newest version of the Madden franchise of course, Madden 25.

Madden 25? Sounds weird, doesn't it? Instead of putting the year in the title like every other Madden game before it, EA decided to pay homage to the 25th year anniversary of the franchise. It's odd, but it doesn't really bother me. Maybe because I'm not a annual buyer of the Madden games, as I haven't bought one in about three years, I think. 

To me, this game is amazing, based on how long it's been since I owned a Madden game. I played last year's on the Wii U earlier in the year, but I hardly remember it. This game feels and looks amazing, something that the rest of the internet seems to disagree on. This might have something to do with the fact that by buying a game franchise on a yearly basis tends to make each new game seem like a copy-and-paste of last year's model. But give it a few years in between games, and you would be surprised how refreshing the new games can be.


It looks great, it plays great, and it is a fun way of partaking in the NFL experience on a different level than most are you used to. Having franchises, playing against friends or simply just playing exhibition matches is as fun as it always has been. I wish I could talk about how different this game is than previous games, but I can't. My memory doesn't work like that, unfortunately. I can tell you that having the old Michael Vick aka "The Michael Vick Experience" as quarterback for the All-Madden team is more fun than I could possibly describe. I remember back in the day when he was on the Falcons, and having to make rules about no one being able to be them when playing with friends. Man, those were the days. 


Anyway, I love football. It seems like it's been gone far too long, but I'm glad it's finally back now. Apparently Peyton Manning did to, as he put up "video game numbers" in the opening game. 

---

Join the Forum discussion on this post