Madden 20 has finally arrived. For those with EA Access has had the chance to take it for a test run and so have I. Madden has come a long way from a dedicated fan base, dominating in the space they’ve monopolized. Due to that lack of competition has led to slow improvements that turned me off from getting hyped for its an annual release. Testing Madden this year with Madden 20 has proven to knock all the pass criticisms out the door. Plus Madden 20 has taken some pivotal notes from NBA 2K’s My Player with QB1 to keep all glued to the game.
So let’s start off that I have not been an avid Madden player since college which was during the Madden 07-09 era. Reasons why was because Madden as a franchise was becoming the norm same o same approach to Football simulation and would think there were improving its annual returns with functions that were from a previous Madden but reintroducing it with small improvements.
The lack of competition due to EA having the rights to the NFL license formed a monopoly where publishers like 2K sports and others could not make a genuine NFL game to compete with. In my opinion, this caused a lack of innovation that EA owed to their Madden community and customers. As the years progressed the lack of 2K sports not having a Football game and also bowing out of baseball lead to more development to their NBA 2K franchise.
For years NBA 2K delivered great gameplay over presentation, giving better-developed Basketball simulation, updated player stats, and crucial NBA gameplay factors over presentation gimmicks. Because of this, The tables turned in numbers when more players choose NBA 2K over EA’s NBA Live due to pure simulation over an arcade hybrid style of play. With its growth in numbers, 2K emerged to give players more than a basketball game with added modes such as playing out Michael Jordan’s career in NBA 2K11 to the birth of taking a created player to the next level with NBA 2K14 My Player.
Now to go way back when dedicated player modes were added to a sports title started with SIE’s ( Sony Interactive Entertainment) NBA 06 The Life Vol. 1. It was the precursor to adding a story narrative to a sports game, as you took a rookie and developed him to an NBA star. This unique model gave birth not only to NBA 2k’s My Player, but advancement to making a “created player”come to life. Now archetypes of basketball positions give a deeper way on a style of play.
The first time EA Sports dabbled in adding a story mode to one of their franchises was with Fight Night Champions, which was critically acclaimed by the media and fans. The second was with FIFA 17 with The Journey and then Madden 18 with Longshot. The story was preset with nothing to customized yet just play out compared to 2K.
Now with Madden 20’s QB1, it’s taken the extra key it needed for a more customized way like 2K My Player and also NBA The Life series to add a specific playstyle to your Quarterback depending on what you choose. This is a small step in a different direction than what Madden’s previous way of doing story mode. More is needed but so far making it feel like the player involved more so on the outcome of how the QB gives an extra layer to be more dedicated to the mode.
I look forward to playing more and giving a full in-depth review of Madden 20 soon. Let me know what you think about this new direction and if you think EA is heading in the right direction overall.