Madden NFL 17 Review

Gronk smashing things on the cover. How very Buffalo.

A FLASH IN THE PAN

It’s the playoffs. Los Angeles, California. The city hasn’t had a football franchise in 20+ years. However, the team is back, and you’re in the NFC Playoffs with just a few minutes remaining. The Redskins are in field goal position. The game is on the line. BLOCKED. Jared Goff, it’s your time to shine. You’re the number 1 overall pick. Down 7. You have to drive it down the field for a chance to tie. Once you do that, Head Coach Jeff Fisher says it’s time to get the victory. Run it with Todd Gurley III or pass it to Tavon Austin? Either way, you win the game, and advance in the playoffs in the franchise’s first season in the league. Talk about a hyped intro, am I right?

Yes, I named my team Bullet Club, and that means the abbreviation is BUL.

Purchase Madden NFL 17

Madden 17 is a lot of flash. Admittedly, I dropped the franchise from my “must play” every year because it was just stale. There’s only so many times you can play a football game before you’re simply doing the same thing over and over again. However, I decided to go all in for all my favorite games this year. Madden. NHL. NBA 2k. WWE 2k. Pokemon. ALL OF THE GAMES. It just so happens the first one to come out is Madden. Does flash meet substance?

Gronk smash into your TV screens. Yes, my gamertag is r3dbooger14. Challenge me. Beat me. I’ll tell you the story why.

First of all, this game is much more simulation in years past, at least to me. I remember the good ole days where scrambling with Michael Vick and then launching a 60-yard bomb was simply the norm. You lived with it online because you had to. Personally, I went Culpepper to Moss, but I digress. You CAN do that in this game, but it’s much probable that you will eat a sack from a pass rusher. Bombing the ball leads to interceptions, because they are risky. Sounds like real life huh? For every bomb Tyrod Taylor throws to Sammy Watkins, there are 5 other passes that end incomplete or picked off. Real life folks. Sorry, Bills fans.

I’m going to start a Franchise with the Geekiverse. Josiah is water boy.

I love the running game in 17, despite my lack of ability to be good at it. You get the opportunity to test it out in the skills tutorial after the Rams/Redskins intro, and it’s deep. You have a lot of options to escape the defense with the punch of two buttons, and that takes skill. Trigger buttons initiate the move, and then you use your main buttons to try and spin, juke, or truck the defense. I’m bad at it folks. Come at me. You’ll win. Overall, the gameplay is crisp and less flukey in years past. The kicking is a bit rough to get used to, despite it just being a press of the A button once or twice. However, it’s all adjustable for the average Madden player to the tournament playing nut jobs who are simply way too good at the game.

You should always trust your coach.

Unique Modes

I’m a big fan of Ultimate Team. I got into the whole trading card team creator thing with NHL 16, and so that was the first mode I dove into here on Madden. It’s just fun to take your cards (players) and create the best team possible. I really like that I can take 2 Superstar players from any team I want to start with. I chose Cam Newton and Luke Kuechly. They’re only 70’s overall, but that’s the point. Start from the bottom, end at the top. The challenge for me is always to not spend REAL money to advance my team. So far so good. Get back to me in 2 weeks and that may change. Ultimate Team is deep with lots of possibilities to spend countless hours collecting, trading, and buying cards to get better. I love the quick challenges too. Good way to spend 20-30 minutes rather than playing 1 online game head-to-head and that being it.

Madden NFL 17 Deluxe Edition

Revis, Gronk and Luck in Round 2? Only in Draft Champions mode.

I have not gone deep into Franchise Mode yet, however I do plan on doing connected Franchise with some friends here. Stay tuned on the Youtube Channel for that. However, it it touted as one of the best ways to get through games quickly, so that is a definite look ahead for me.

My Ultimate Team is SAWFT. For now.

I have not gone very deep into Draft Champions either. You draft a team, similar to fantasy, and then you’re the one responsible for making the team better. I remember doing this way back in the day on my own and I couldn’t get past seeing my favorite stars in different uniforms. Peyton Manning in a Dolphins jersey… tossing to Randy Moss? Weird. So is Manning in a Broncos jersey, but I digress. This feature reminds me of the movie Draft Day. You’re Kevin Costner, and you’re taking the draft room by storm. Seems like an awesome mode. Can’t wait to dive in and create a team of All-Pro players.

FINAL SCORE

8.5/10

I really like the game. Simply put, I’m glad I got back into football gaming once again. It’s great graphically, the gameplay is sound, and there is actual skill required to being good at the game. Online play can be a little cheesy at times with people running the same garbage time after time, but it’s a fun experience nonetheless. There is a lot to unwrap with this game, without having to “create” challenges like I used to in the past. It’s deep. It’s active. It’s still frustrating. It’s Madden.

Boxshot Wizard file used for creating global boxshots

+ Fun Football Simulation

+ Very Deep Sports Game

+ Ultimate Team/Franchise Mode are engaging for hours

-Online Modes can be cheesy

-Expensive for the “average” Madden Player

-Potential to be a steep learning curve for newbies.

Brunner 1.0 is the Michigan man with the perfect game plan. Whatever it rhymed.

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