Andrew Todd pads up for a blitz on the quarter-century installment in EA's annual American football franchsie, Madden NFL 25.

Excellent player animation and physics; Detailed simulation of watching the big game.

Confusing to newcomers; Microtransactions are crass; More geared towards fantasy football management than actual gameplay; Defense plays itself.

Overall it is a great game that I will give 5 stars. Everything comes together this time for EA and Madden25 is the whole package.

-The new IGNITE engine gives amazing graphics and quality; The Franchise mode delivers immersive gameplay

-You have to pay to play online by having a PlaystationPlus account

If you have a PS4 this game is worth a look in person, you will notice a difference between this version's graphics and last gen's. I haven't gone back to the Xbox 360 version since I bought this, other than to play my friends head to head who still don't have a next gen console.

Anybody saying they don't notice a graphics update on this version compared to last gen is understating it; You really have to play the game to notice the upgrade though, youtube video compression makes this game look a lot worse than it really is.

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While I'm not the most dedicated football game fan in the world, I've spent my fair share of time with various games. I always had a fondness for the Joe Montana Football series on the Genesis and Sega CD, and I've played with NFL 2K1 , All Pro Football 2K8 and Blitz: The League over the years.

In my opinion I believe there are a couple of flaws with the Madden. I have noticed that I had some horrible calls, even after a review of the play and clearly the call should have been over-turned.

The connected Franchise Mode

Online gaming and too many gamers cheat playing online

Madden NFL 25 on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 is a tremendous game of virtual football. The gameplay was sharper than ever, the presentation was fresher than ever, and the 25th anniversary touches made it a wonderful ode to the series.

Having played a season of Madden 25 on my Xbox 360, going undefeated with my custom Steelers running back, I knew that the next gen version would be a day one purchase with my Playstation 4.

didn't bring everything I expected it to bring, much like my Denver Broncos in last year's playoffs. I wanted a Super Bowl win, and instead, the Broncos lost their first playoff game at home against the Ravens.

The next generation has arrived and with it a brand new sports engine for EA, which it hopes will "Ignite" another run of sales dominance. Foremost among the new releases for PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One this launch season (in North America at least), is the new Madden 25.

All the features from the previous versions of Madden 25 make it into the next-gen, but the upgrades you get with this version aren't that significant.