Madden NFL 21

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Critics Recommend

Average Score

Total Reviews: 45

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Solid on-the-field action cannot eliminate the feeling of mediocrity that’s crept into almost every mode.

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Critics Recommend

Critic Reviews: 45

Critics Consensus

# Reviews: 45

Solid on-the-field action cannot eliminate the feeling of mediocrity that's crept into almost every mode.

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Critic Reviews for Madden NFL 21

Reviews

High Score - 80/100

Low Score - 40/100

David Jagneaux (IGN)

6/10

“Despite the fact that Madden NFL 21 features arguably the best core gameplay the series has ever seen and the introduction of a fun, albeit novel, new mode in The Yard, the continued neglect shown to classic Franchise mode, lack of innovation across the board, and technical issues leave this gridiron mismatch coming up short.”

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Luke Winkie (PC Gamer)

68/100

“It’s still good to have Madden back on PC, but a stagnant odor is creeping in.”

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Mark Delaney (GamesRadar+)

3/5 stars

“The series’ most stylish entry ever thanks to The Yard and player customization, but these new features come without the substance required to contend for football glory.”

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Read the Reviews (45 total)

Outlet	Author	Score	Date	Quote	Read
Area Xbox	Unknown	7.5 / 10	09-01-2020	Madden is the only option in the market for football fans but still it has some improvements over last years edition. The gameplay received a few tweaks with makes it feel somewhat fresh, but nothing to call home about.	Read review
Attack of the Fanboy	Dean James	4 / 5 stars	08-28-2020	Madden 21 as a whole may feel like a bit of a letdown compared to the past few years in some areas, but The Yard definitely helps to make it worth it for players that are interested in trying something a little different. With the free upgrade to the next generation version and the promise of treating Franchise like a live service as the season goes on, Madden 21 is likely still going to be well worth the purchase in the long run, even if you may be left a little dissatisfied at this point.	Read review
Cheat Code Central	Jenni Lada	3.5 / 5 stars	09-01-2020	Madden NFL 21 is a game that is generally fine.	Read review
COGconnected	Trevor Houston	68 / 100	08-27-2020	Madden NFL 21 isn’t necessarily a bad game; it will improve over time with updates. Yet the product at launch is riddled with deficiencies and the incremental additions aren’t significant enough to warrant a purchase recommendation from me.	Read review
Digital Chumps	Dillon Sweeney	8 / 10	08-17-2017	Madden 21 is a great game that old and new players would be excited to play. New modes and updated features like Superstar X-Factor and The Yard have put youth into a veteran series. The way the players acted and how the games sound makes it feel like a real NFL game and in 2020 that is needed. While it still has flaws, it may be one of the best Madden games yet.	Read review
DualShockers	Ricky Frech	4.5 / 10	08-28-2020	Madden NFL 21 is a mess of lazy modes, bad gameplay, and a continued descent into a focus on over-monetized offerings. The Yard is a neat idea though!	Read review
Forbes	Brian Mazique	6.25 / 10	08-28-2020	While the gameplay is in as good of a spot as it’s been for a while, Madden 21 is dragged down but neglected features, stagnant and/or underdeveloped concepts.	Read review
Game Informer	Brian Shea	7.8 / 10	08-27-2020	Despite meager upgrades this year, Madden NFL 21 still delivers solid on-the-field action for football fans	Read review
GameCrate	Giancarlo Valdes	7 / 10	09-01-2020	Madden NFL 21 is the clearest example yet of how unwieldy the series has become, so your en-joyment will vary depending on which modes best suit your play style. For me, that comes from seeing my virtual 49ers hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy at the end of the season, so anything else on top of that is just a bonus.	Read review
GameSkinny	Lloyd Coombes	7 / 10	08-27-2020	Madden 21 takes a few shots down field but ultimately plays it safe	Read review
GameSpew	Richard Seagrave	7 / 10	08-28-2020	Madden NFL 21 isn’t a bad game. It’s good, in fact. It just feels wholly unnecessary.	Read review
GameSpot	Steven Petite	6 / 10	08-28-2020	Madden NFL 21 has an excellent new game mode that's great for short spurts, but the series staples don't move the needle.	Read review
GamesRadar+	Mark Delaney	3 / 5 stars	08-28-2020	The series' most stylish entry ever thanks to The Yard and player customization, but these new features come without the substance required to contend for football glory.	Read review
GameZone	Cade Onder	6.5 / 10	08-28-2020	For Madden NFL 21, the only one that's going to be affected by any sort of Madden Curse is EA themselves. While it can initially get by with some fun gameplay, there's little here to justify playing this for an entire year until Madden NFL 22. For a game that's supposed to be the start of a new-generation of Madden, it lacks severely.	Read review
GamingBolt	Matt Bianucci	7 / 10	08-28-2020	Madden NFL 21 is as fun and realistic as every Madden game, especially in its new "The Yard" mode and its increased focus on superstars, but its stagnation in gameplay innovation and established modes makes it sometimes difficult to distinguish its improvements over previous games.	Read review
GamingTrend	David Burdette	80 / 100	08-27-2020	Madden NFL 21 is a solid product. It excels in several areas, like the presentation and Ultimate Team. The core gameplay is as fun and smooth as it's ever been, and I've been playing since Madden NFL 2005. But the new jewels in the crown are flawed and need to be polished a bit more.	Read review
Generación Xbox	Gabriel Fuentes	7.8 / 10	09-01-2020	Madden 21 incorporates some innovative aspects to the franchise in order to attract the public that had gone furthest.	Read review
God is a Geek	Chris White	6 / 10	08-31-2020	Although Madden NFL 21 sees some improvements to its gameplay, and the enjoyable The Yard Mode makes an impressive debut, there's far too much that has been ignored. It feels more like an update than a fully blown follow-up, and it sucks that Franchise Mode has been left in the dirt.	Read review
Hardcore Gamer	Cory Wells	3 / 5 stars	08-28-2020	Madden NFL 21 is a mix of missed opportunities.	Read review
IGN	David Jagneaux	6 / 10	08-28-2020	Despite the fact that Madden NFL 21 features arguably the best core gameplay the series has ever seen and the introduction of a fun, albeit novel, new mode in The Yard, the continued neglect shown to classic Franchise mode, lack of innovation across the board, and technical issues leave this gridiron mismatch coming up short.	Read review
IGN Spain	Ángel Llamas	6.9 / 10	08-31-2020	Madden NFL 21 will not be the game in the series to win a GOTY again for this long-lived sports franchise. Will there be more luck with the new generation versions?	Read review
Impulsegamer	Paul Stuart	3.5 / 5 stars	09-09-2020	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 review
Jump Dash Roll	Jesse Gregoire	6 / 10	09-13-2020	A killer soundtrack and inclusive accessibility settings don't make up for the lack of innovation and gameplay fumbles of this just-another-Madden experience.	Read review
LevelUp	Víctor Rosas	7 / 10	09-14-2020	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 review
Metro GameCentral	Jay Jaffa	5 / 10	08-31-2020	A stale series stuck in its own Groundhog Day almost redeems itself with The Yard and will entertain casual football fans, but mediocrity seeps into almost every mode in another backwards step for the franchise.	Read review
Noisy Pixel	Jake Yoder	6.5 / 10	08-29-2020	Madden NFL 21 is a strange beast. It is the same fun football experience that millions of players have come to love, yet I still expected a little more from it. While it features refined gameplay and fun game modes, its lackluster story mode and plethora of graphical glitches don’t reflect what a game releasing this year should look like. The online modes will keep you playing through various simulation and customizable options, but most of this is just more of the same in comparison to what has already been delivered.	Read review
Operation Sports	Robert Kollars	Not Recommended	08-28-2020	All that being said, if you understand that and simultaneously understand that Madden 21 offers up a good game of football between the lines, then there is something here for you. If you're looking for Madden to be more than that this year, then just wait until next-gen to see if it's improved, or wait until the game has a big sale/hits EA Play.	Read review
PC Gamer	Luke Winkie	68 / 100	09-09-2020	It's still good to have Madden back on PC, but a stagnant odor is creeping in.	Read review
PlayStation LifeStyle	Staff Reviewer	5.5 / 10	08-28-2020	At the risk of beating a dead horse, Madden NFL 21 feels very much like the byproduct of a game being developed in a vacuum, devoid of any true competition. Why bother reinventing the wheel when you are the only person manufacturing them? This lack of inspiration feels like a breeding ground for many of the franchise’s biggest complaints, most of which have been festering for far too long. It’s a good thing that the next generation is on the horizon, because without that new tech boost to hang their hat on, there’s nothing substantial enough to recommend this fumble over last year’s outing.	Read review
PlayStation Universe	Timothy Nunes	7 / 10	08-28-2020	Madden NFL 21 makes a good attempt at adding variety into a tried and true formula. However, Face of The Franchise has awkward and dry storytelling and cannot match up to the excellence that Longshot offered the franchise. The Yard has some ambitious ideas and offers up a nice change of pace, but it needs some control tweaks to feel like the mode it's trying to be. The fundamentals are getting better and better, with gameplay getting long-awaited touches of realism.	Read review
Polygon	Owen Good	Recommended	08-31-2020	Madden NFL 21 then, is a lot like a best friend in the time of social distancing: someone I desperately want to see and spend time with, except doing so also recalls how much we’ve actually lost over the past five months.	Read review
PSX Brasil	Thiago de Alencar Moura	65 / 100	08-30-2020	Marked more by its technical problems than by the improvements made this year, Madden NFL 21 is a clear step back in the franchise. Its news seems empty or just corrections of bad changes made in the past, while its qualities are essentially things that were already present in the previous game.	Read review
Push Square	Sammy Barker	6 / 10	08-31-2020	Madden NFL 21 is stagnant, and while football fans will find things to enjoy, it's not like there's an alternative option available. The Yard is a genuinely promising addition, and we're looking forward to seeing how it evolves over the course of this season – and future games. But an embarrassing story and an untouched Franchise mode mean that it's the only real reason to upgrade. And while Madden Ultimate Team continues to be a time sink, the stale state of the on-field simulation means that this year's game fails to find its intended receiver.	Read review
Rapid Reviews UK	Alex Laybourne	4 / 5 stars	09-28-2020	I am always a sucker for sports games. Yes, they are mostly repetitive, but it is precisely that element that appeals to me. I don’t play exclusively in the sports genre, but if I ever want to escape into something, then its sports that I often turn to. It’s like a comfy pair of slippers or a warm blanket on a stormy winter afternoon. You can nestle down and go with the familiar. You know what to do, yet there are still variances, none more so than in an (American) football game.	Read review
Shacknews	Chris Jarrard	4 / 10	08-27-2020	At the end of the day, Madden NFL 21 is only worth a look if you want in on Ultimate Team or you were turned off by its attempts at being an NFL simulation and are looking for something even more arcadey.	Read review
Sports Gamers Online	Michael Straw	5 / 10	08-28-2020	Dedicated players are going to pick this game up no matter what, but it’s tough to justify a $60 purchase on a game that feels too similar to what we’ve gotten the past three-plus years.	Read review
Telegraph	Tom Hoggins	3 / 5 stars	09-08-2020	The football is good and The Yard makes a welcome addition, but issues elsewhere are hard to ignore in EA's latest gridiron sim	Read review
TheSixthAxis	Dominic L	6 / 10	09-14-2020	Madden 21 has the components to be a solid, if utterly by-the-numbers entry in the franchise. However, a raft of bugs and glitches serve to undo the game's atmosphere at every turn.	Read review
ThisGenGaming	Charles Oakley	7.5 / 10	09-07-2020	On the whole, Madden NFL 21 is an impressive title.	Read review
Twinfinite	Ed McGlone	3 / 5 stars	08-28-2020	Madden 21 is fine and serviceable but other than The Yard (and that’s a stretch), there’s almost nothing that is worth getting excited over this year.	Read review
USgamer	Kat Bailey	3 / 5 stars	08-28-2020	Madden 21's gameplay takes some appreciable steps forward as the generation comes to a close, with The Yard providing some casual fun. The experience is marred by an abnormal number of bugs though, and the single-player modes remain a major sore point. Ultimately, it's able to pick up a few yards on the way to the next generation of consoles, but just a few.	Read review
We Got This Covered	Eric Hall	3 / 5 stars	09-02-2020	Madden NFL 21 is as enjoyable as it has ever been on the field, but a litany of off-field issues make this one of the weaker efforts in recent years.	Read review
Windows Central	Anthony J Nash	3 / 5 stars	08-28-2020	Madden NFL 21 offers some fun new modes and significant fixes, but bugs and lack of care to many of the games core modes prevents it from elevating itself amongst the greats.	Read review
Worth Playing	Redmond Carolipio	7.8 / 10	08-28-2020	Considering that this could be the closest thing we see to "normal" football for a long time, Madden NFL 21 works. However, I can't shake the feeling that more could be done. Some things feel practically untouched. The create-a-player faces are still weird. Why can there be such a discrepancy in head sizes? Why can't I seem to port over the player I created in Face of the Franchise into a regular roster or at least have him available in regular create-a-player? The array of quarterback throwing motions still seems limited, and it pales in comparison to the way players in other sports games are so heavily signaturized. I still feel there's plenty of work to be done with this franchise, and that so-called "next level" we keep looking for can be reached. For now, I might tighten up my Yard skills, see what new decisions I can make in a new career mode, and beef up on my RPO mastery while I hope for more in next year's Madden outing.	Read review
ZTGD	Ken McKown	6.5 / 10	08-28-2020	Madden 21 is the first time I have found it hard to recommend upgrading. It truly does feel like a roster update in a lot of areas.	Read review

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Game Info

Game Description / Storyline:

Rise To Fame in Madden NFL 21. A new generation is leaving its mark in the NFL. Will you rise to the occasion? Change the game and take control of your own legacy.

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