Madden NFL 16 is an American football sports video game based on the National Football League and published by EA Sports for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. Madden 16 introduced the new game mode 'Draft Champions' to Madden. The game was released on August 25, 2015. Getting started in Madden NFL 16 Connected Franchise has been streamlined to three easy steps. Choose between Cloud and Offline. Cloud has faster week advances and gives players the ability to access their league online and invite friends. Offline still has the ability to create multiple offline characters, and saves the league locally.
Madden NFL 16 comes as another yearly release in the longest line of American Football video game franchises out there—the John Madden series. Though, to its credit, it does enough to shake up the franchise this time around, which keeps it far and enough away from the conversations of less-than-loved installments like Madden NFL 07 or Madden NFL 12. Madden NFL 16 offers players a newly implemented receiving, defending and quarterback system that allows new autonomy to the gameplay with regards to ‘playing under pressure’ and makes the game feel more like a simulator than its, less than realistic, origins. These modifications to the program, as well as a newly created fantasy-football inspired mode called Draft Champions, make Madden NFL 16 a great addition to a monstrous catalogue.
Why Stand Out?
There has been somewhat of a monopolization of sports video games in recent years as certain franchises have fallen away to the powerhouses of the medium. Games like Madden NFL, FIFA, NBA2K(/games/nba-game/), and MLB The Show have mostly swept the competition away as far as sales and agreements with the sporting events to which they represent. In addition, the loss of NCAA video games as those franchises lost out by an inability or non-desire to pay college athletes for the use of their image—left only the progress of the professional sports market. All that being said, the majority of these games, including Madden NFL, are yearly releases that follow in keeping with the upcoming draft of players—which offers excitement to fans of the sport by keeping up with the seasons, but offers a lot less time for innovation between releases on the video game end. Consequently, the changes to sports video games like this, just like the changes to the sport on a year-to-year basis, are usually minor in scope.
Refine, and Replay
Madden NFL 16 offers a few new modes to keep up with the ever-rising popularity of American fantasy football. The Draft Champions mode allows online play against others as they pit their painstakingly chosen football teams in a single elimination tournament that mimics actual leagues. This mode offers a lot of customization and even allows the games to be played out, as opposed to just comparing scores and percentages. This addition, as well as the passing and receiving system that allows for an ‘aggressive’ catch (one for the highlight reel) and more tools for the quarterback to pump fake or run, makes for a very exciting, and constantly engaging gaming experience. It also minimizes the downtime between plays and enhances the strategy when making calls on the spot.
One Every Year?
Madden Nfl 16 Career Mode
Madden NFL 16 has everything a Madden fan needs for a compelling American Football game. With clean graphics, an updated roster of players, the incorporation of a fantasy football simulator, refined penalty selection, and more controller autonomy—it’s a great installment of the series. The only drawback is that without a viable competitor, the changes to the series will always be as minor as they are for this release. Without more outlandish games like Blitz: The League to counteract the realism, or a comparable simulator, the changes to Madden will only be made minorly and as needed.
Additionally, if there was competition, and sales weren’t guaranteed—some years of the game could be amended to the next American Football season with a DLC update, rather than a full-priced release.
Madden Nfl 16 Achievement Guide
Pros
- Draft Champions mode
- Penalty frequency options
- Updated passing system
Cons
- Minimal changes from previous iteration
- Poor tackling physics
- Bad implementation of NFL live video
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