Madden NFL 21 Review: 4 Ups & 8 Downs

Ups...

4. Gameplay Feels A Little Zippier

Ready for some positives after all that negative energy? You got it.

There's a greater sense of speed and power to Madden 21's snap-by-snap gameplay. It's like EA sneakily cranked the overall pace up by 1-2%, and that makes a bigger change than some might imagine. This, of course, has the knock-on effect of giving quarterbacks less time to make passing plays.

It's awesome for running plays though. Put the ball in your star back's hands and you'll have a great time mowing through defensive lines and snaking your way to the end zone. This is where Madden 21 is at its best; there's an arcade-ish thrill that comes from this sense of speed.

Everything generally has more of a zip to it, and that's neat. This is even true when playing the game on sim mode and removing those unrealistic Hail Mary attempts from every single possession. Sim doesn't lose that impactful velocity one bit.