Face of the Franchise is done, and so is The Yard
By Owen S. Good on Jun 7, 2023 at 11:15 am
Madden NFL 24 returns this August with another promise of improving the chaotic gameplay of 11-on-11 soccer – the core demand of John Madden himself – but also with some significant changes to the modes.
Gone is Face of the Franchise, the attempt at a narrative-driven single-player mode with a user-created player that EA Sports introduced in Madden NFL 20 and has evolved since. Instead, the old Superstar mode is back, producer Connor Dougan told Polygon.
“There’s a bit of build-up history in the timeline, but really it’s all about setting up the experience,” said Dougan. “But we now have tiered skills, we now have real-time player rating, which is what you would expect in other sports games, the moment-to-moment feedback.”
It will more directly address players’ desire to play as a single player (in all positions except offensive line or special teams), without storyline tweaks that never resonated with the community and often spoiled the gameplay action they really wanted.
Image: EA Orlando/Electronic Arts
Image: EA Orlando/Electronic Arts
Image: EA Orlando/Electronic Arts
Image: EA Orlando/Electronic Arts
Image: EA Orlando/Electronic Arts
Image: EA Orlando/Electronic Arts
Image: EA Orlando/Electronic Arts
Image: EA Orlando/Electronic Arts
Image: EA Orlando/Electronic Arts
That also means The Yard is gone too. This was EA Sports’ attempt to augment a created player’s presence with a looser and arcade football style (with appropriate customizations and cosmetics), such as the style of NBA 2K’s MyPlayer suite or the NHL series’ World of Chel.
Unfortunately, trying to create some sort of sports-lifestyle mode for the NFL has failed, as American football really doesn’t have the kind of rec-league and pickup participation that sports like basketball or soccer offer. In its place, Madden NFL 24 will feature a mode called Superstar Showdown, which is a three-on-three arcade-style game.
“It’s really about getting two friends together and playing some fast, powerful, avatar-based experiences while building your character,” said Dougan.
In addition to Superstar Showdown, EA Orlando has returned to mini-games, both to advance players in both the franchise and Superstar, and simply because they’re fun on their own. Dougan specifically mentioned Rushing Attack, a mode that was introduced in Madden NFL 2005’s “Mini Camp” suite but soon disappeared for unknown reasons.
“Anyone who remembers Madden fondly remembers playing Rushing Attack and listening to every song on the soundtrack that they remember, and that was super awesome,” said Dougan.
Sports journalists indulge in nostalgia; Players have long been demanding its return, and EA Sports is finally listening and bringing it back, along with 25 other mini-games that serve as both a gateway into the game of American football and a means of developing players and teams in the franchise become superstar modes.
“Yeah, it’s used for training and XP and trying to give them more variety in terms of gameplay and the core loop of the franchise,” Dougan said.
This collection of mini-games will also be available as a standalone experience alongside the Madden NFL Skills Trainer mode, which will also teach players the game (and provide rewards for completing them in Ultimate Team mode).
Otherwise, Madden NFL 24’s developers’ biggest efforts seem to be in the gameplay, which covers all modes. The trailer released on Wednesday shows more dynamic tackling and open play; Dougan said the developers also focused on blocking runs, specifically blocking runs at the end of a game to provide a more authentic and fun experience in that part of the game.
“We added dynamic double-teaming and chip blocks,” Dougan said — which basically means a more sophisticated blocking behavior where players do more than just hit an assigned player on the other side. “In addition, we have also revised our aiming system for open field; We’ve also developed a new system for pre-snap targeting, which is actually designed to make it more dynamic and stop exploits.”
More or less, Dougan is talking about offensive line blockers and run blockers behaving more realistically, which is a promise that’s been repeated throughout the Madden series. “In past Maddens, you may have seen your offensive lineman change his mind or the receiver not execute the block that you expected him to,” Dougan said. “So we had to overhaul this system.”
Madden NFL 24 launches on August 18th and all of the features and enhancements outlined above will be available on PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X. Versions for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One will also be released on the same day.
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