Madden NFL 19 Opens Up The Playbook At EA Play

Electronic Arts kicked off E3 2018 with its EA Play event, and naturally Madden NFL 19 was there.

This year's title (out August 10) hits all the familiar notes – including the return of Longshot story mode – but many fans will be heartened by developer EA Tiburon's stated emphasis on gameplay and the long-standing Franchise mode.

Madden is integrating what it calls Real Player Motion (RPM) tech already used in FIFA 18 and UFC 3 into Madden 19 for better player movement. Using the right analog stick gamers can navigate the crowded offensive line as well as make open-field, change-of-direction moves. Defensive players also have a counter-move to help them stay competitive.

 

The heart of this year's additions to Franchise mode, which hasn't received major changes in a while, is a new player progression system based on a team's offensive and defensive schemes. Which schemes you run determine which positional archetypes are the best fits for those schemes, with your players earning and applying skill points into archetype buckets that boost players’ ratings. Thus, some players will perform better on your team depending on the schemes (which can be changed), and otherwise-fringe players can progress and contribute in a scheme catering to their talents.

The mode is also getting fan-requested custom draft classes that users can edit, share, and import with each other.

Devin Wade and Colt Cruise are back in a new Longshot story entitled Homecoming. Devin is navigating life in the NFL while Colt looks like he's returned to Mathis. Both characters are playable this time around, with the mode featuring more regular Madden gameplay and NFL flavor through interactions with real players in the league.

 

Longshot feeds into Franchise mode and Madden Ultimate Team, the latter of which introduces Solo Battles vs. CPU-controlled user teams for weekly rewards (like FIFA’s Squad Battles), a new player leveling system via training, and more. For additional info on the additions for Madden 19’s Ultimate Team mode, check out this previous Sports Desk entry. For more on franchise mode, check out this preview.

Finally, EA has announced that Madden 19 will be on PC – returning to the platform for the first time since Madden NFL 08.