Madden 24 came out two months ago to fairly average reviews. However, issues with the game still remain despite multiple updates aimed to improve the experience. While we wrote a less than stellar review for the game, we also want to see the series learn from its mistakes and get better. That is why we created a list of issues that still negatively affect our Madden 24 experience, and potential solutions to fix them.

Madden 24 – 5 Gameplay Issues That Still Plague The Game (And The Series)

5. Passing Accuracy

Madden 24 introduced a new passing mechanic that allowed you to choose from three different types of passes. You get a Classic setting, similar to older titles, as well as two placement systems, focused on either accuracy or power. Overall, outside of Placement and Accuracy, the other two options make it extremely difficult to make even some of the most basic throws. You'll throw a slant to a receiver and find the ball going way past him (and into the arms of a defender), or well behind him.

Placement and Accuracy at least gives you more control on where the ball is going via the left stick. However, even this still doesn't assure the accuracy of your pass. You still have to account for factors such as pressure or if the throw is on the run. Additionally, Placement and Accuracy takes time getting used to, where as in older Madden games, the QB could just throw mostly accurate balls based on their ratings.

While some of these settings are fixable via the Slider Settings menu, we feel these simple mechanics shouldn't really need to be adjusted. Casual gamers also won't know how or feel like changing the settings themselves, which might affect player feedback.

The developers sort of fixed this issue… in Ultimate Team and Superstar only. That's right, Update 2 only fixed the issue for those two modes. So if you like Franchise or just Play Now, you're out of luck, my friend. Why this couldn't be for all modes is a total head scratcher.

We feel a good solution to this issue would be to completely revamp the passing system. Instead of having three options, just focus on one setting that's fun, easy, but still challenging to use. This means QBs outside of Patrick Mahomes should still throw accurate passes, even when under pressure.

4. Dropped Catches

Receivers have been dropping too many balls in Football games for years. Madden 16 seemed to slightly fix this issue with the aggressive catch mechanic. However, when transitioning to the Frostbite engine, Madden gameplay changed drastically. Not only did player movement change, but the whole feel of the game.

Personally, we don't think the Frostbite Engine has done the series any favors. However, there really isn't a realistic solution to this. That being said, the developers should still focus on an area of gameplay that seems overlooked year after year.

Receivers drop the ball way too often in Madden 24. We understand good defenders can bat balls out of even the most elite receiver hands. However, most receivers should be able to catch most balls that make contact with their hands.

EA Sports did mention they plan to address this issue in the future, but why the delay? These games only have a 12 month lifespan (at most) until the next installment releases. Additionally, the developers won't update the game much after February, when the offseason begins.

We feel the only solution is that EA needs to work right now on developing a solution for such a big issue.

3. Defense

While EA Sports made slight adjustments to the defense in the first two updates, it still feels either terrible or too good.

For example, defenders seem to be interception machines on any standard throw and some deep passes. However, on most deep balls, defenders seem to forget who they're covering. For example, HB Wheel seems to always work, as a defender usually forgets to cover the RB. Additionally, throwing to your deep man also results in a total brain fart from the AI.

But as a player, defense has its issues as well. Most tackles, other than the most basic one, don't work. You just never connect to the player you're trying to hit, which just causes frustration. Hit sticks used to be risky but rewarding. Now they only work when you know you can pull off the animations in time.

While we mentioned receivers dropping balls, it seems defenders intercept them with ease. I understand most professional football players catch any ball that comes their way. But how come defenders seemingly have a better catch that receivers do?

Out of all areas in Madden 24 that needs fixing, the developers need to take a long look at defense. This aspect of the game might just need the most work out of them all.

2. Superstar Mode

Superstar mode needs more content and more oomph to it. We wish EA Sports would consider adding more content to it in any way shape or form. Even if this meant more opportunities to create buzz in the league, practice with teammates in a more meaningful way, etc.

Overall, Superstar mode is essentially a rebranded Face of The Franchise. You can only play five different positions, which really feels like a letdown. Why should we prevent people from wanting to be a offensive or defensive lineman, or kicker? The game has dedicated practice drills for each position, and it's not like the cutscenes cater to the five positions you're allowed to play as.

We feel a simple solution to improving Superstar is allowing players to pick their own position. Additionally, more content outside the field would extend the lifespan of the mode and separate it from predecessors.

While we also feel Franchise lacked in many ways, it at least got a few improvements. All Superstar mode did was add a Combine, and some cutscenes in the beginning. We hope EA learns to add more in the future for the series.

1. Content Outside Ultimate Team

Ultimate Team obviously means the most to EA Sports. It makes the most money for the game, and probably very easy to maintain and develop. However, we don't this mode is an excuse to neglect other modes.

When you start Madden 24 for the first time, the first game mode they recommend is Ultimate Team. It's basically the developer's way of admitting how popular and lucrative the mode became over the years. But for many players, microtransaction based modes aren't fun.

But that sadly doesn't matter to EA. Say out of 1 million people that bought Madden 24, 100,000 bought $100 worth of Ultimate Team items. It would mean EA Sports made roughly $1 million from just 10% of the player base.

And Ultimate Team makes way more money than just that. That's why they implemented the mode in every major sports title they produce (FC 24, NHL 24, etc). However, Ultimate Team's success lead to the neglect of other modes.

Franchise mode has been stripped of multiple features, such as create-a-team, in-depth scouting and drafting, coach and player management, and so much more. Many of the other modes (like the previously mentioned Superstar) feel like afterthoughts. It just feels like so much more could be done, and still can.

Unfortunately, unless players lose interest, Ultimate Team will always make money. But since the mode seems easy to maintain, we wish EA Sports wouldn't have to focus on it so much. We We just hope they eventually realize how much more they can do with an exclusive NFL license.

Our one and only solution to this would be for EA to just implement more content. If smaller developers like Metalhead can make a create-a-team feature in SMB4, then Madden 24 should be able to do the same.

And that about does it from us for our five biggest issues in Madden 24. We know Madden 24 still has plenty of other issues that need sorting out. However, we feel that these five stand out as the worst issues plaguing the game.

Additionally, we want to add that we don't make this list in spite of EA Sports. We all love the idea of playing as your favorite NFL teams and players. However, recent Madden titles struggled to replicate the fun from watching a game onto a video game platform. Overall, we wanted to list issues that might still be resolved in Madden 24, or at least in future titles.

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