Madden NFL 21

 PlayStation 4
User Score
0.3

Overwhelming dislike- based on 5792 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 85 out of 5792
  2. Mixed: 34 out of 5792
  3. Negative: 5,673 out of 5792
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  1. gouki88
    Aug 29, 2020
    0
    Designed entirely to trick kids into gambling via lootbox mechanics, haven't upgraded gameplay for the last 4 years at LEAST, no interest in making a legitimate simulation game, it's all scripted. Terrible game, do not buy this
  2. Rtk2297
    Aug 29, 2020
    0
    Give us something new... EA is such a trash company. The customer service is horrible, the game play is horrible, and franchise mode is the exact same thing again!!! They’d be better off doing a $5 a month flat fee instead of releasing a “new” game each year...
  3. AuburnPanic40
    Aug 29, 2020
    0
    The game is fundamentally broken and they content is laughable at best and pathetic at worst. But they’ll keep making them this was as long as MUT keeps making them money.
  4. Mechanix82
    Aug 29, 2020
    0
    I didn't think t hey could regress any more. The animations seem scripted pre snap. Players warping through each other. Offensive and defensive line bumping into each other with no logic or football awareness. Receivers still completing stopping in there routes with some one in the torrent path of their route. Pulling guards run into hole and stop with no logic on who they should block.I didn't think t hey could regress any more. The animations seem scripted pre snap. Players warping through each other. Offensive and defensive line bumping into each other with no logic or football awareness. Receivers still completing stopping in there routes with some one in the torrent path of their route. Pulling guards run into hole and stop with no logic on who they should block. Just absolutely no excise for this game to be in this condition so sad… Expand
  5. TheSportsGuy98
    Aug 29, 2020
    0
    This game is a horrible mess. This game tries to squeeze every penny out of it's loyal user base. This cash grab from EA Sports can make even die hard fans think twice this football season.
  6. Mac51
    Aug 29, 2020
    0
    Absolutely horrible game. Where is the depth and substance for franchise mode? Where is the innovation? This game is just a patch being sold as a entirely new full priced game. Madden has been the same for the past 5 years and people are just getting fed up with it now. EA has no excuses of putting out such a lack luster game. All you have to do is look at the older maddens like madden 9Absolutely horrible game. Where is the depth and substance for franchise mode? Where is the innovation? This game is just a patch being sold as a entirely new full priced game. Madden has been the same for the past 5 years and people are just getting fed up with it now. EA has no excuses of putting out such a lack luster game. All you have to do is look at the older maddens like madden 9 and compare the amount of depth you have in that game to madden 21. It’s just sad. Does anyone even play superstar KO. The yard has potential but desperately needs to have more added to it, maybe make it more like the park in nba 2k. The story mode is god awful, cliche and awkward at times. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY.… Expand
  7. inoise
    Aug 29, 2020
    0
    Remember, this is the only game that is licensed to make an NFL Football SIMULATION game and they completely disregard the one game mode that is meant to simulate the NFL. EA is laughing to the bank with your money and they do not care one bit, their work speaks for itself.
  8. eushully
    Aug 29, 2020
    0
    I did my part guys!
    Seriously though, this is just a 99% reskin with almost no effort whatsoever to innovate. When you have NO competiton, you are in no need to, god forbid, spend money on it. Most of the money, if any, went to microtransaction, which I hope dies a painful death.
    FU EA, for ruining many franchises throughout the years.
  9. Bobojr61
    Aug 29, 2020
    0
    Nothing else to say but this series needs so much change. I love football and it saddens me to see what they are doing with this franchise. The biggest joke of a game I’ve ever played and these guys are money hungry for ultimate team and now the yard lol what a joke. Would love to see what another company could do that actually improves on their product from a yearly basis. This game hasNothing else to say but this series needs so much change. I love football and it saddens me to see what they are doing with this franchise. The biggest joke of a game I’ve ever played and these guys are money hungry for ultimate team and now the yard lol what a joke. Would love to see what another company could do that actually improves on their product from a yearly basis. This game has legit been the same game with roster updates for what 15 years, pathetic.… Expand
  10. KingFly
    Aug 29, 2020
    0
    worst edition of Madden to date. biggest waste of money. i wish playstation gave refunds for downloaded games
  11. Ruskiy_Ranger
    Aug 29, 2020
    0
    Worst installment yet in Madden series! It has been 15 years since madden 2005 and EA has been taking a step back every single year in quality and quantity of madden gameplay. They have destroyed the franchise mode by taking away many features and shifting the whole focus of simulation football to gambling football. The only thing EA cares about is how much money they can make instead ofWorst installment yet in Madden series! It has been 15 years since madden 2005 and EA has been taking a step back every single year in quality and quantity of madden gameplay. They have destroyed the franchise mode by taking away many features and shifting the whole focus of simulation football to gambling football. The only thing EA cares about is how much money they can make instead of delivering a quality product. Unfortunately the NFL Supports EA 100% and continues to give EA exclusive rights to making a simulation football NFL games. ESPN NFL 2K5 will forever be the greatest Football game ever made because it’s the football game that completely focused on delivering great and fun gameplay. Also, they delivered a new take on a football game with many entertaining features. If you would take ESPN NFL 2k5 and today’s madden side by side gameplay, you would undeniably think that ESPN 2k5 was made today and MADDEN 21 was made in 2004. Please don’t buy Madden 21! Let’s show EA that we will not give them a dime until they give us a Madden with Madden 2005 like Franchise features and a game worth paying for!… Expand
  12. Emwlw
    Aug 30, 2020
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Madden, as a concept, year by year, is truly one of the most shameful and disappointing things in all of video games. I mean, I am absolutely disgusted and I have been for years! EA does not deserve the NFL license. From the lack of genuine annual updates to the goofy gameplay, Madden is not worth your money. If you need your football fix, I suggest buying Madden 17 because there’s little-to-no discernible difference between that game and all of its successors. Do not buy!… Expand
  13. ColeNovak
    Aug 29, 2020
    0
    It has been the exact same game for years and they didn’t touch franchise mode
  14. ttbeekman
    Aug 29, 2020
    0
    It's so pathetic this is the only simulation football game on the market. Eventually this is going to catch up with the NFL when their name/game is so poorly represented every year.
  15. Tj_85
    Aug 29, 2020
    0
    As a die hard football fan and someone who has bought this game year after year feeling disappointed just telling myself that it will be better next year or they will add this back next year but it doesn't this is my first time creating a account to review a video game because I'm sick and tired of it i always shake my head when I see people bash developers on sites because developers areAs a die hard football fan and someone who has bought this game year after year feeling disappointed just telling myself that it will be better next year or they will add this back next year but it doesn't this is my first time creating a account to review a video game because I'm sick and tired of it i always shake my head when I see people bash developers on sites because developers are people just like everyone else so i won't direct this to anyone in specific because i dont know any of you personally but please ea please for the last time find that place in your hearts that made you want to be developer find that inner kid in you that everyone has and make a change bring back some older features that were taken out bring some historic teams to play now that we can play with bring back the little mini comeback greatest games we use to have that we could make a great comeback you guys could have some old historic games that we could play and it could be a black and white grain filter for the game with no color and play as dick butkus or create a halftime show i could go on and on but I just want madden to be better in so many ways but its not at the moment or hasn't been for a while… Expand
  16. Wyattbrown
    Aug 29, 2020
    0
    No change for yet another year, just the typical micro transaction grabbing schemes. It's about time the developers are held accountable
  17. UnshavedComb
    Aug 29, 2020
    0
    This game is atrocious. Same game as Madden 20, which was a bad game. Franchise mode has been the same for years. All they added was pass rush moves and the yard
  18. RChase
    Aug 29, 2020
    0
    EA needs to create a new football game from the ground up, ditching their animation based gameplay system (which in my opinion makes this game unplayable and extremely unrealistic) and develop a physics based system. This game is an embarrassment and honestly EA shouldn’t legally be allowed to sell it as a “Football simulation” because simply, it’s not.
  19. bamf_1026
    Aug 29, 2020
    0
    This game is horrible. Do not buy. When 2K can make simulation football games, maybe then, EA will care enough to put out a halfway decent game. Madden 21 is a copy and paste of Madden 20. They couldn’t even provide us with updated loading screens, which may sound silly, but at least type something new about a superstar please. I spent 100 dollars on this game. Knowing what I know now, IThis game is horrible. Do not buy. When 2K can make simulation football games, maybe then, EA will care enough to put out a halfway decent game. Madden 21 is a copy and paste of Madden 20. They couldn’t even provide us with updated loading screens, which may sound silly, but at least type something new about a superstar please. I spent 100 dollars on this game. Knowing what I know now, I wouldn’t have spent 13 dollars on this “brand new” game. Do not buy.… Expand
  20. 3456matt
    Aug 29, 2020
    0
    The game is actually very boring and stale. “The Yard” is a counter to 2k getting a license but isn’t a very good counter at all. Franchise, well we all know about that. And Face of the Franchise is about one of the most cringe and stale things you could release in 2020. MUT is honestly turning into franchise we’re it’s the same thing every year which is gambling to get no value on theThe game is actually very boring and stale. “The Yard” is a counter to 2k getting a license but isn’t a very good counter at all. Franchise, well we all know about that. And Face of the Franchise is about one of the most cringe and stale things you could release in 2020. MUT is honestly turning into franchise we’re it’s the same thing every year which is gambling to get no value on the same cards every year. Why is Patrick Mahomes an 87 in MUT but a 99 in the real game, I’ll tell you why, money. And Superstar KO is quite literally a copy paste except they took teams out of the mode. Do not waste any more money on this game.… Expand
  21. xxazazelxx4k
    Aug 29, 2020
    0
    Total trash the same repackaged game year after year. The dev's never listen to there players year after year.
  22. menzy5
    Aug 30, 2020
    0
    To most people, Madden 2004 was the best Madden. The year of production for that game (2002-2003), EA's net revenue was $2.48B. To those same people with a functioning brain, Madden 2021 is the worst madden (Impressively topping Madden 20 which topped Madden 19 which topped Madden 18, and so on). The revenue for the production cycle of Madden 21 is roughly $5.5B. In any logical world, howTo most people, Madden 2004 was the best Madden. The year of production for that game (2002-2003), EA's net revenue was $2.48B. To those same people with a functioning brain, Madden 2021 is the worst madden (Impressively topping Madden 20 which topped Madden 19 which topped Madden 18, and so on). The revenue for the production cycle of Madden 21 is roughly $5.5B. In any logical world, how does it make sense for a company to produce a game 1/15th as good one they made when they were worth less than half their current worth? Let's first be kind and talk about what Madden gets right
    Pros: NFL License, Graphics
    Now let's talk about the cons.
    Cons:
    1) Still somehow no in-depth stat tracking (can't even see where a player used to play)
    2) Drafting is stale. Not even close to enough immersion (college stats, injury history, personality, etc)
    3) Animation based gameplay is horrid. Physics don't properly exist at all
    4) Too many bugs somehow
    5) Can't create a custom team or custom uniforms
    6) All the relocation teams have been the same for like 6 years or so
    7) The SUPERBOWL feels just like any other game. Madden 15s reg season presentation trumps Madden 21 SUPERBOWL
    8) Lack of customization for characters: Not at all enough faces, no tattoos, weird CPU generated body types
    9) If you try to sim 10 years into the future to start your simulation, here's what you'll find: You have no idea what teams have been good/won the SB, every team is like a 65 overall, all the players are as generic and ugly as humanly possible with none having actual good overalls.
    10) Not just a lack of player stat tracking, but all types. Why can't you see league leaders for individual or team stats from any year other than the one you're in? Where is the option to click on a team and find out how their defense has performed in each category for the last 10+ years?
    11) Simulation is horridly inaccurate. Every QBs rookie year looks like (55%, 3500 Yards, 18:14 TD:INT) and then from there on out they throw 40 TDs and 7 INTs each year. Idk if EA knows this, but not all 32 QBs are Aaron Rodgers. WRs are very inconsistent. HBs either have 3.5 YPC and 1000 yards or 6.8 YPC and 1500+ Yards.
    12) Gameplay wise now: Stopping the run is far too easy against RBs and far too hard against QBs
    13) QBs, even the worst, usually have no problem posting 300+ yards and completing 80% of their passes
    14) Defenses will routinely be able to force 5 TOs/game but simultaneously allow 400+ yards
    15) Elite WRs seem to not matter
    16) Good and elite (sometimes even average or bad) TEs seem impossible to stop sometimes.
    17) It seems like whatever happened in the first offensive and defensive drive leads the game to script out the rest of the game to follow the exact same style. I've tested it out. First defensive drive I allowed them to march down the field and score a TD (they used heavy TE) and when replaying the game I forced a turnover on that first drive. In the one they used TEs a lot to score a TD, the TEs finished the game with 14 Catches for over 200 yards and 3 TDs (Ertz) and the game where I forced a turnover on the first drive, I ended up forcing 6 on the game.
    18) Ball trajectory and that type of stuff is still iffy at best.
    19) Slant routes CAN NOT be defended
    20) Back to immersion (which should be a huge priority in a simulation game), there are still no OCs, DCs, or any type of position coaches. There's also no stat tracking to see how a coach has bounced around and come to be a HC.
    21) Commentary is **** Too many things to say. It's just awful.
    22) Progression of players is either far too easy or far too impossible.
    23) Pass blocking for user teams is bad in a way idk how to explain
    24) The game doesn't even properly update rosters at all and when the next years schedule comes out, they don't update the game to allow you to play the next season because EA wants your money (:
    25) Update the news feed. Generic, repetitive, stale.
    26) Whoever wrote the dialogue for Face of the Franchise has the social experiences of an 11 year old who writes My Little Pony fan-fiction. So cringy.
    27) Trading is unrealistic.
    28) Ratings are bad. I know this is very hard to do, but it's blatantly clear that a lot of the ratings are made by dudes who don't watch any football at all.
    29) Contracts are way too bare bones. Add options for contracts to be for people who don't understand them or people that do; so you can decide if you want easy and stale contracts or realistic ones.
    30) All-Pro should be added along with some cool in-season updates to Pro Bowl voting.
    31) Better presentation. Literally every single game feels the same. At least add cool graphics like (This team is 5-0 in the last 5 matchups, the last game ended 28-24, etc, etc)
    I'm gonna run out of characters. I hate how terrible EA has treated consumers (especially franchise) so damn much that I just went full-blown incel weirdo and wrote this massive thing. This game SUCKS.    … Expand
  23. KNC111
    Aug 29, 2020
    0
    im just tired, im really REALLY tired. Goodbye EA never ever again. THE same way you never try to fix this game is the same way ill never ever spend money on you. The AI has no no play recognition especially when it comes to spamming. if a play gets used 3 time they stop to be able to stop it the difficulty should cost up. I don't care if its gap press on four verticals FIX it. This isim just tired, im really REALLY tired. Goodbye EA never ever again. THE same way you never try to fix this game is the same way ill never ever spend money on you. The AI has no no play recognition especially when it comes to spamming. if a play gets used 3 time they stop to be able to stop it the difficulty should cost up. I don't care if its gap press on four verticals FIX it. This is an example of monopolies no caring. They know 995 of men in America love football and abuse this knowledge. PS everyone spams Crossing routes and the game doesn't reward smart plays. oh yeah even if your stacking the box people can run everywhere. even if you force mahomes to throw deep less by picking a formation with more corners its the same story. I SOLD THE GAME AWAY BEST LIFE DECISION EVER.… Expand
  24. Rondo808
    Aug 29, 2020
    0
    Please dont buy! It hasn't got any new concept whatsoever yet it is really expensive
  25. Dirtyfacesmook
    Aug 29, 2020
    0
    Worst yet, it honestly the worst madden I’ve played nothing new nothing innovative same old bull
  26. ChadLo
    Aug 31, 2020
    0
    I can't believe people still buy this garbage .... Stop buying EA Games!!!! How many times must they wrong us before gamers take a stand!!??
  27. Kidk
    Aug 29, 2020
    0
    This game is Trash! Been trash! I can write a whole book on how terrible this game is so I won’t!!! The absolute worst Game Ever made!!!! PERIOD!!!!
  28. Blair4833
    Aug 29, 2020
    0
    Typical EA game!!! I’m absolutely sick of EA releasing practically the same game year in year out. All they’re interested in is promoting online game through Ulitmate teams and Micro-transactions. All they’re interested in is exploiting people’s gaming addiction to make money. It’s obviously that a lot of people can’t help themselves when it comes to the gambling nature of purchasing cardsTypical EA game!!! I’m absolutely sick of EA releasing practically the same game year in year out. All they’re interested in is promoting online game through Ulitmate teams and Micro-transactions. All they’re interested in is exploiting people’s gaming addiction to make money. It’s obviously that a lot of people can’t help themselves when it comes to the gambling nature of purchasing cards and ultimately wasting a **** ton of money. EA has lost sight of making the game better, so that’s it’s more of an Immersive experience. It’s not just Madden that is affected, but also horrendous games like FIFA and UFC. I mean how the **** can they not sort out the Super Bowl on madden is honestly beyond my comprehension. It’s been the same **** presentation for years and doesn’t feel like you’re actually in the super bowl. I really struggled to understand how they can’t make something as simple as that slightly better each year and that goes to show that they clearly focus on conning people with online micro-transactions.… Expand
  29. Chocho777
    Sep 2, 2020
    0
    Awful #FixMaddenH2H Trying to get this hashtag some attention so EA might do something to fix their game. Hope you can help and spread the word. Thanks.
    Please put online H2H history, compare stats, and scouting back into the game this year and fix the H2H ranking problem.
  30. Randyc24
    Aug 29, 2020
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Still a poorly made game. No attention to detail, glitches everywhere, everything is an animation.… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

4
#4 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2020

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
63

Mixed or average reviews - based on 29 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 29
  2. Mixed: 23 out of 29
  3. Negative: 2 out of 29
  1. PLAY! Zine
    Oct 8, 2020
    40
    Madden NFL 21 is another blatant recycling of last year’s edition of the „simulation“ of the American football. Sadly, most of the modes remained the same. Gameplay received a few minor tweaks, and in the end it still persists as a cash grab not worth anybody’s time.
    Read full review
  2. LevelUp
    Sep 14, 2020
    70
    Madden NFL says goodbye to a generation with more questions than answers and with an uncertain perspective on what may happen in the years to come.
    Read full review
  3. Impulsegamer
    Sep 9, 2020
    70
    For NFL diehards, there remains hundreds of gaming hours at your disposal in Madden 21. These same diehards – much like players of EA’s NHL and Sony’s The Show – will be left with the impression they’ve played this game before, however.
    Read full review
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