Madden NFL 25 Trailer: Defense Goes on the Offensive

The latest Madden NFL 25 Playbook trailer gives us insight into the new changes coming to the defensive side of the game. Whatever improvements EA Sports is attempting to make, it has to generate better defense than what was in Madden NFL 13, right?

As the real NFL has moved to a league all about offense, the same could be said of the Madden NFL video games. EA Sports has tried to make that side of the ball better, and less unaware of what's happening on the field, but offense is continually overpowered. With Madden NFL 25, EA is tweaking the running game, and to balance all the new abilities out, defense is also getting some (hopefully) nice new features.

To counteract the (supposed) 32 new juke stick maneuvers on offense, the Hit Stick is being revitalized. Now, if you hit an opposing player that's juking with the Hit Stick, the chance for a fumble increases tremendously. It makes some sense, but also means there might be an unrealistic amount of fumbles (which were already a problem last year). It's a little less clear what Heat Seeker tackling is, but judging by the trailer, it will help you line up players for bigger hits. The new diving wraps and trips look better, but the problem with trailers is how they're set up to show features when they work.

There's a lot of hype surrounding the 25th anniversary edition of the Madden franchise. We just hope EA hasn't bitten off more than it can chew with all these new additions, and the game doesn't suffer growing pains right before the jump to next gen consoles.