Madden NFL 26 Is Lipstick On A Pig

After 17 hours, I really wanted to like Madden 26. Like I really, really, wanted to like Madden 26.

Madden 26 has some good things, but the bad stuff makes it not worth a purchase

After skipping Madden 25 because Madden 24 wasn't anything to write home about, I was given an early release copy of Madden 26 for the PS5 and I tried everything to enjoy the game on the field. Before I completely tear this game apart, there are some things I do like about this year's copy.

The Good Stuff

Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills introduction is just like you'll see it on Sunday!

Like other EA Sports titles, Madden 26 looks good. I'm playing it on a normal Playstation 5 and I think the game looks really nice - outside of heavy snow games. The presentation packages are quite nice. Thursday night, Sunday night and Monday night games all have different presentation packages and scorebugs which adds variety and closely mimics their real-life counterpart.

Teams have their real life intros in the game. It is nice to hear the announcer in Buffalo welcome the "defending AFC East champion, Buffalo Bills", though I didn't sim far enough ahead in franchise to see if that changes if they don't win the AFC East. With that said, watching teams run out to their actual introductions really brings home that "on television" feel that Madden 26 is bringing to the table.

And that's good. I think if you're going to be the only "simulation" football game on the market, you should be mimicking what people watch on Thursday, Sunday and Monday.

The changes to franchise are an improvement. I think playsheets are an excellent addition which gives you access to more targeted plays based on the coordinators you hire. If you have a quarterback like Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson, sneaking in a "QB Run" playsheet gives you 30+ plays all designed around them using their legs.

All coaches, coordinators and trainers have abilities now. These abilities will upgrade and/or downgrade through meeting certain goals (like throwing for 300 yards, 4 times or allowing 100 rushing yards, twice). The higher tier abilities will give you certain bonuses which can help change the way the game on the field is played.

The Bad Stuff

The bugs are absolutely horrendous and we're past the launch window. Some of these bugs should not even be a thing, but for some reason, EA Sports can't get out of their own way. Here are some of the bugs I've run into:

Combine players are missing body parts!

• In Superstar mode, your player will hit the combine to perform some drills, but unfortunately you may be missing parts of your body.

• Defensive players are substituted in at offense at seemingly random times.

• Progressive fatigue is still a mess from Madden 24 (and presumably 25) and should be turned off or by the end of the season, your offense will only be able to play a series or two before being tired.

• Blocking is extremely bad in Madden 26. Stunts on the defensive line are too powerful and confuse offensive linemen, causing them to block no one with free shots at the quarterback. Run blocking is just as bad with linemen shedding blocks and running up field past linebackers and secondary.

• Wide receivers drop way too many balls. This can be a touchy nitpick as drops in the NFL, even wide open, will happen. However, I have trouble believing that if Brian Thomas Jr. is wide open on a curl route, he won't catch the ball. In my Jaguars franchise, there were a surprising amount of open drops from receivers and it seemed heightened on 3rd down plays.

• Despite changing shell coverage and using different packages, AI quarterbacks are routinely completing 70%+ on their passes.

• Menus are sluggish and slow, especially at the player screen.

• Sometimes button inputs flat out don't work.

There always seems to be a "script" with Madden games. In my latest franchise game against the Texans, Joe Mixon shrugged off a tackle from Josh Hines-Allen, warped through a gang of Jaguars and took off 80 yards downfield for a touchdown. This tied the game in the 4th quarter and seems to happen regularly to make the end of games more exciting.

Superstar logic seems flawed. I created a quarterback and was selected 20th overall by the Denver Broncos. The same Denver Broncos that have a 25 year old sophomore quarterback who led them to a playoff berth in 2024. Why the Broncos would draft another QB in the first round after selecting Nix #12 the year prior is unbeknownst to me.

In my initial impressions of Madden 26, I said that if you skipped Madden 25 you may want to check out Madden 26.

I was wrong. Dead wrong.

Rain and snow games provide way too many turnovers and slipping animations that users have no control over. Heavy snow games are almost white out like conditions that strains the eyes.

What looks fun about this?

Whatever fun can be had on the field is immediately wiped away by piss poor AI blocking in both the run and pass game. Madden 26 is the perfect game reviewers put in for a couple of hours, look at all the flash and say "Well, this seems much better than last year" and rate it a 7 or 8.

As I continued to play more of it, its deficiencies outweigh any fun that can be had from the mediocre gameplay improvements. I cannot recommend anyone spent $70 dollars on this game. Hell, I wouldn't recommend you spend $40 on this game. Find a good $0.99 deal on EA Play and try the 10 hour trial.

What a fumble.