#Madden nfl 20 review pro

When I’m looking over the postgame stats, there always seems to be a story ready to explain it. Madden NFL 20 succeeds in that pursuit, in the way it subtly differentiates star players from game to game. The closer that sport’s relationship to television - and American football is almost a made-for-TV sport - the harder that job is. This is always the goal of a sports video game, for both developer and player: to perpetrate something that passes for the sport as broadcast on a weekend. The result is a more realistic Madden.Īaron Donald is even deadlier in Madden NFL 20, as faster players are able to gain greater separation to disrupt plays, or make them. And I’m no longer running players against their type, expecting a between-the-tackles runner like Gurley to be as lithe as Elliott. Some guys do have better moves, and they’re more effective. He did the ineffective, quick-flick, standstill shimmy I’d come to know and hate over more than a decade of playing and reviewing Madden.īut in the bigger picture, at least this made sense. In Ultimate Team, the fantasy-sports/card-collection game that drives so much of Madden’s revenue, the 72-rated Todd Gurley that everyone gets at the beginning didn’t have it. In the main game, Elliott has the First One Free superstar trait, which means that his first juke move on the right stick is a lot better at faking out a free defender.

Playing later, in the Ultimate Team mode divorced from the NFL’s present day, I found out why. I took control of Ezekiel Elliott on a toss play, and he dusted the linebacker with a juke move so supple, I blurted out like I was livestreaming the game: “Goddamn! That worked like hell!” Finally, I thought, Madden was putting some forgiveness in the timing of its stick moves, which lesser users like me always seem to key in too late.

#Madden nfl 20 review pro

Madden NFL 20 begins with the 2019 Pro Bowl game, and it’s an appropriate showcase for what’s changed this year.