Now that Madden NFL 22 has been officially unveiled, the attention turns to what exactly the next installment in the long-running series will offer. One of the biggest complaints of the last few versions is that the franchise mode hasn't been enjoyable or different enough from one year to the next. This year, Electronic Arts has detailed several changes made to franchise mode, changes that are hopefully enough to convince its audience to stay loyal to the Madden NFL series. The big question is whether or not the company accomplished that goal.
When it comes to the expectations for Madden NFL 22, it looks like EA has addressed some of the complaints players had over the years. EA should get points for being upfront from the jump on the kind of things on offer: The updates to this year's version are clearly geared towards making the franchise mode more realistic. There appears to be a concerted effort to make players feel like they are actually running a front office, something certainly missing in recent installments.
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One of the biggest changes in Madden NFL 22 could be one of the most effective when it comes to changing how the coaches impact the game. While there's long been the ability to hire and fire coaches, this year's edition adds reasons for hiring the right assistants. Each member of the staff is said to have an impact on the players under them: The coaches have different ratings that will help players progress and improve, while coaches themselves can also progress and improve on their own.
This particular feature seems similar to what MLB The Show 21 offers when it comes to the pitching and hitting coach. If this works the way it appears to be intended, hiring the right offensive coordinator might add just enough offense to put a team over the top. The question is whether or not those changes are going to have a real impact. There's also the question as to whether or not the impact is going to be big enough to satiate people who had grown weary of Madden's repetition.
The biggest tweak that Madden NFL 22 offers in its franchise mode this year is a kind of live service foundation. This particular change is said to allow the game to evolve on the fly and become better as the year goes on. Just how this is going to work is still a bit of a mystery, but at its face value, it sounds like a game-changer.
Alongside the live service is weekly planning that allows players to better tweak a game plan for each of a team's opponents. With these two options together, there's a very real chance that gameplay in the Madden NFL 22 franchise mode could be better than it has been in years. All of this depends on whether or not Electronic Arts can carry out its promises. That's going to be an open question until launch day, but there are positive signs thus far.
Madden NFL 22 is set to launch on August 12 for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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