Madden NFL 18

 Xbox One
User Score
4.6

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 66 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 66
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 66
  3. Negative: 32 out of 66
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  1. Seamusburg
    Mar 6, 2018
    3
    The updated graphics are the only nice thing I can say about this game. Other reviewers have already mentioned in length the litany of problems with this years entry. One person even has an entire youtube channel dedicated to the problems with Madden 18.

    Madden 18 is the reason I will no longer purchase any future Madden products from EA going forward.
  2. Deerlsayer85
    Oct 6, 2017
    4
    I had purchased Madden 17 with high hopes. I love football, love a good computer simulation and had heard great things about the great graphics offered in Madden. So I purchased the game and gave it a try. Admittedly I was surprised at the complexity of mastering the game controls, as well as the extensive playbooks available on both offense and defense. Still, the complexity onlyI had purchased Madden 17 with high hopes. I love football, love a good computer simulation and had heard great things about the great graphics offered in Madden. So I purchased the game and gave it a try. Admittedly I was surprised at the complexity of mastering the game controls, as well as the extensive playbooks available on both offense and defense. Still, the complexity only added to my excitement and my hope that Madden would be an engrossing and accurate simulation of NFL football, sans the bruises, broken bones and CTE of the real thing.

    Unfortunately I was disappointed in Madden 17, and am even more disappointed in Madden 18.

    Without question, the graphics are outstanding. One thing I will acknowledge as an improvement in ’18 over ’17 is far better rendering of the faces of the players, coaches and referees. Gone is the pseudo-“Zombie Apocalypse” appearance of the faces. Also, the stadium and gameplay graphics appear to be somewhat cleaner and sharper than before. Sad to say, great graphics is the best thing Madden has going for it. The music track is terrible. Seriously, it stinks out loud. It is almost as if one of the millennials who wrote some of the code for the game just dumped their playlist into the game and said “Yeah! That’s cool!” Uh, no…it’s not.

    The Franchise Mode can be entertaining. “Longshot” is okay, but just okay and really adds little to the value of the game itself. The biggest problem with Madden has been and continues to be the way the game plays. Playing against the CPU you have 4 levels to choose from in ascending levels of difficulty: “Rookie”, “Pro”, “All-Pro”, and “All-Madden”. “Rookie” is where you learn to play. As expected, it is meant to be easy and after a few tries you could play as the Cleveland Browns and be able to blow out the New England Patriots. “Pro” is considerably harder and less forgiving, and more so as you advance to “All-Pro” and finally “All-Madden”. Also, you can choose to play in two different modes: “Arcade” and “Simulation”.

    I assumed simulation meant just that: a simulation based on the actual abilities of the players on a team roster. I also assumed when I played I would be the virtual coach of the team, with some additional control of the movements of the quarterback, receivers, ball carriers, and some of the defenders. But it appears EA defines “simulation” somewhat differently than most of us. Here is what happens:

    A typical game will go like this” Let’s say you want to play as the Packers against the 49’ers. You will score a couple of times in the first half, and be ahead by a score of something like 17-7 at the half. Not an unexpected result given the match-up. But then, almost like clockwork, something changes. The CPU controlled players seem to gain almost superhuman abilities, the human controlled players begin to drop passes, fumble, or commit penalties right at critical times, and somehow CPU controlled defenders can manage to sack the QB while playing a Cover 4 offense where 2 or three defenders penetrate the offensive line virtually untouched by a defender. Aaron Rodgers will start underthrowing a receiver by 10 yards (regardless of whether you choose “bullet pass”, “touch pass”, or “lob pass”), Victor Bolden or Trent Taylor will make two or three one-handed pass receptions on third and long, Randall Cobb will have a pass bounce off his hands, and have it tipped by no fewer than 3 defenders before finally being caught by a 49er DB and returned for a “Pick-6”. This crap occurs in virtually every simulated game. I had emailed EA about this months ago basically wondering what was up. I was told, “we make every effort to make the game entertaining and competitive”. Competitive? Hmmmm…. I thought this was a simulation. So in other words the game is set to actually cut the point spread if it’s deemed by the CPU to be too wide? Yeah, that’s not how football…or any sport…really works. Well, unless a gambling syndicate is involved but we won’t go there.

    So if are looking for is a video game with an AI engine which seems to have a lot in common with the AI from the old arcade game “Space Invaders” (just make things go faster as you level up), this is the game for you. If you are looking for a game that does a great job of simulating a true NFL game, save your money. This is not what you are looking for.    … Expand
  3. Baldwin7
    Jan 31, 2018
    8
    Madden 18 is a solid football video game to play during the NFL season. I think the graphics are unreal and the commentary is updated every week with news on players and teams. This year's game has three new modes to use during a game. They are Arcade, Simulation, and Competitive. I like Arcade the best because there are bigger hits and more big plays. This year's Madden Ultimate team alsoMadden 18 is a solid football video game to play during the NFL season. I think the graphics are unreal and the commentary is updated every week with news on players and teams. This year's game has three new modes to use during a game. They are Arcade, Simulation, and Competitive. I like Arcade the best because there are bigger hits and more big plays. This year's Madden Ultimate team also includes the three new game modes during the solo challenges. I think the challenges this year are so much fun and I have enjoyed playing MUT for the last 4 months. The connected Franchise mode is also fun to play, but the top players are near impossible to trade for which is annoying. Finally, the most anticipated mode to play on Madden 18 was Longshot. Longshot was the biggest disappointment in this game. I was expecting to play more games in college and high school. Ever since the discontinuation of the NCAA football games there hasn't been a true "Road to Glory" mode on Madden and I expected this mode to be exactly what I was looking for, but it was far from what I expected. It was basically a movie and you would play like 2 games. It was a complete waste of time and I was unhappy with that. Overall I think they did a good job this year, but I would like to see more of a college season during Longshot next year if they decide to improve it or totally go away from it.… Expand
  4. crusher351
    Dec 18, 2018
    8
    I have been playing Madden since I was a kid. Starting out with Madden 03 and Madden 05 (which I still play to this day), when I jumped from 05 to 2017, there was stuff I liked (graphics and addition of more plays and formations) and things I thought they actually made worse (fluid movement on defense and lack of certain features in Franchise Mode). When I got 2018, it played a lot betterI have been playing Madden since I was a kid. Starting out with Madden 03 and Madden 05 (which I still play to this day), when I jumped from 05 to 2017, there was stuff I liked (graphics and addition of more plays and formations) and things I thought they actually made worse (fluid movement on defense and lack of certain features in Franchise Mode). When I got 2018, it played a lot better on defense I thought. The controlled player on defense definitely responds to your inputs better, which is always a plus.
    I don't play Ultimate Team, so I don't have any experience with the micro transactions and other problems others have had in that mode. I did play through the "story" mode, and it was pretty good for what it was. The voice acting was good and it was cool to make choices that had impact on the final outcome. I only wish they had made it go farther into his story, but that's how they get you to buy each years installment. Offline franchise mode is where I spend 99% of my time in that game. It is a little more bare bones than Madden 05 for example, but there is a lot of features that are improved from that title. The scouting of college players is cool, as is being able to build your draft board. The weekly training is also a cool way to build up players experience. There are some things I think could have been improved on. The ability to do formation subs is cool, but it doesn't work 100% if you build your own playbooks like I do. Honestly though, those are just small things that don't really kill the experience that badly. What can mess it up a little is the repetitive commentary and sometimes just flat out wrong commentary. For example, I miss a pass in the red zone and they say I'll have to likely kick a field goal, but the missed pass only made it 2nd down. Again, not the worst, but it can make you scratch your head a little.
    Overall, this is a good game with mostly fluid controls and lots of things to do. If they could just polish it up a little, it would be great, but this EA we're talking about, so I won't hold my breath.    … Expand
  5. MonkiReviews
    Aug 31, 2018
    8
    This game is fun, and better than Madden NFL 17. The new story mode adds value to the game and is a great addition to the game series. The graphics look better and more realistic also. Now onto the gameplay. Every once in a while the controls aren’t that great, but normally it’s fine. This game is fun!
  6. NoobTooberton
    Sep 4, 2017
    7
    Good but not great. For those who have been playing religiously year in and year out this installation will seem a little foreign. The controls for the most part are the same. What takes a while to get used to is the different variations of player movement now that the game uses the frostbite engine.

    In true Madden-ing fashion; you'll find yourself tempted to throw your controller    Good but not great. For those who have been playing religiously year in and year out this installation will seem a little foreign. The controls for the most part are the same. What takes a while to get used to is the different variations of player movement now that the game uses the frostbite engine.

    In true Madden-ing fashion; you'll find yourself tempted to throw your controller through your TV while your left arm goes numb and your neighbors learn new curse words. But when you pull off the long play or make the great tackle it all seems worth it for a brief moment in time.

    Longshot mode is...well...interesting. It's like a football soap opera where you get invested in the story simply to have an open ended conclusion because the developers are greedy and want to force you to buy next years game in order to find out how your player is doing in the NFL. The story was rather predictable and some of the practice gameplay seems real hollow.

    I'd love to give this game a higher score simply because it looks amazing and the commentators are great but I can't due to the finicky player movement and lackadaisical tackling.    … Expand
  7. SuperkenGaming
    Sep 14, 2017
    8
    Madden NFL 18 Longshot
    Making me care for something I otherwise wouldn’t
    Madden 18 calls itself the madden for everyone... and after hearing such great things about its story mode I put this statement to the test... and I wasn’t disappointed… Longshot is essentially a 4 hour interactive movie where you play as Devin Wade, a former Texas Longhorn Quarterback who walks away from football    Madden NFL 18 Longshot
    Making me care for something I otherwise wouldn’t
    Madden 18 calls itself the madden for everyone... and after hearing such great things about its story mode I put this statement to the test... and I wasn’t disappointed…
    Longshot is essentially a 4 hour interactive movie where you play as Devin Wade, a former Texas Longhorn Quarterback who walks away from football after his father dies and comes back for redemption... as he sets out to get drafted by the nfl…
    And some execs come knocking to give you the opportunity of a life time to join their reality show longshot to get you out into the public eye, get coached by a legend and increase your shot of getting drafted
    I personally have no interest in football period… but I loved practically every moment of this campaign
    There is a dash of gameplay here but for the most part youll be making dialog choices improving or decreasing your standings in the eyes of nfl scouts.. As anything you do or say can perceive how the public sees you…
    though your choices in the game are a bit of an illusion... your standings are effected… but the game still sets out to tell you its story with minor tweaks based off of what you choose, wit h3 alternate endings based on these choices and your in game performance…
    These are the parts, surpsise.. I didn’t like that much…
    There are multiple choices questions and quick time events to boost your performance and iq score…
    which I didn’t mind too much, but every once in a while you’re thrown into a game to come back from an upset, or sometimes just throw down on the field with different rules tied to runs, passes, and downs…
    thankfully the game does a great job at helping football noobs like myself understand what to do, spoon feeding your scenarios before you have to actually play a little bit…
    and how you do in these moments effect your chances of getting drafted..
    These moments are enjoyable and a nice break from the story...
    But they aren’t deep and I can understand madden fans being disappointed with the story…
    But as a game for everyone as it claims... I was completely fine with how little playing you actually end up doing here…
    I sorta started to get the feel of being a star quarterback…
    but the system even with its arcade feel never quite clicked with me…
    I had a hard time throwing the ball to the right person without that person then just dropping…
    and playing defense I was just awful locking myself in defense stances... I still managed to get through these sections and get lucky a few times to come out on top boosting my scores...
    The story here though, the characters, the writing, the comedic moments, the ups the downs, its all great..
    Its compelling from start to finish
    everyone has a bit of charm to them, from your best friend, to the slimy producer
    I enjoyed the entire supporting cast...
    This really was a great experience…
    Is Madden 18 worth picking up just for this touching story mode though?
    I believe so.
    And luckily for you if you’re a fan of storytelling but not so much football... sports games end up in the bargin bin way quick... so if oyu see a sale snatch it up..
    But hopefully EA wises up and releases this as a standalone
    I give Madden NFL 18’s Longshot
    an 8.5/10    … Expand
  8. frady
    Sep 13, 2017
    7
    I have always loved Madden but this one just feels broken. Not sure why they can't send out a more polished game. And it takes forever just to get an accurate final 53 man roster out.
  9. mircopetruzzell
    Mar 31, 2018
    0
    It's very easy: if you pay you win. That's EA's phylosophy of gaming. Good game for rich people
  10. RTCWFAN
    May 10, 2023
    8
    Madden 18 was the peak, before everything went down. I really enjoyed playing it with friends and the solo campaign is also great. Overall rating: 7.6.
  11. BigGuyKnowsMen
    Feb 4, 2023
    10
    Madden NFL 18 was a standout title in the long-running Madden franchise. With its advanced graphics and immersive gameplay, it easily stands as one of the best sports video games of all time. From the lifelike player models to the realistic stadiums, Madden NFL 18 transported players directly into the heart of the NFL. The gameplay was smooth and intuitive, offering a challenging yet fairMadden NFL 18 was a standout title in the long-running Madden franchise. With its advanced graphics and immersive gameplay, it easily stands as one of the best sports video games of all time. From the lifelike player models to the realistic stadiums, Madden NFL 18 transported players directly into the heart of the NFL. The gameplay was smooth and intuitive, offering a challenging yet fair experience for players of all skill levels. The addition of the Longshot story mode was a great touch, providing players with an engaging and emotional storyline to play through. The games online multiplayer was also top-notch, offering a deep level of customization and intense competition. Whether playing against friends or battling it out in ranked matches, the online multiplayer in Madden NFL 18 was a true test of skill. Overall, Madden NFL 18 was a triumph in sports video game design and set a high bar for future titles in the series. Whether you're a seasoned veteran or a newcomer to the Madden franchise, this game is a must-play for any fan of American football.… Expand
  12. Jhagman
    Aug 16, 2023
    6
    This game is ok. It's not terrible but it's not particularly special. Offense is a little difficult but its been worse before so.

Awards & Rankings

39
#39 Best Xbox One Game of 2017
59
#59 Most Discussed Xbox One Game of 2017
44
#44 Most Shared Xbox One Game of 2017

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
82

Generally favorable reviews - based on 22 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 22
  3. Negative: 0 out of 22
  1. TheXboxHub
    Sep 14, 2017
    80
    Madden 18 is a rewarding and highly enjoyable game that offers its players a chance of glory and a free reign over how they want to become a franchise legend.
    Read full review
  2. MondoXbox
    Sep 10, 2017
    90
    EA keeps improving an already excellent game, adding intriguing new modes and a new and very effective passing system.
    Read full review
  3. New Game Network
    Sep 5, 2017
    70
    It’s nice to see Madden NFL 18 taking risks and experimenting, with good results like the Longshot mode. Hopefully the franchise will continue to refine what works, and iron out some of the technical imperfections and lackluster game modes.
    Read full review
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