Madden NFL 23 Review: 3 Ups & 7 Downs
5. Face Of The Franchise
EA finally moved on from a rookie year in 'Face Of The Franchise'. Now, your character is five years deep into a once-promising NFL career, but has one last season to prove his worth and secure a new contract. Is that an excellent hook? Absolutely, but the on-rails nature of FOTF holds it back from achieving true greatness.
Being brutally honest, the devs might want to think about scrapping their restrictive, Netflix-worthy 'TV movie' storylines and look towards NBA 2K for inspiration; 2K's product can be cheesy too, but it offers a freedom that Madden just hasn't been able to match since kicking things off in 'Longshot'.
There's another glaring problem that hampers the mode's fun factor too. Being able to play in different positions is a nice touch, but choosing cornerback is torturous. Your star will rarely be involved in snaps, and that makes it harder to hit individual goals or milestones (think playing as a goalkeeper in FIFA's old 'Be A Pro' mode).
Hollow might be the best word to sum this feature up.