Madden NFL 26
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Madden NFL 26 Trailers
Madden 26 Official Gameplay Deep Dive
Madden 26 Official Reveal Trailer
Madden 26 & College Football 26 Announce Trailer | The Call
Critic Reviews for Madden NFL 26
There’s always room for improvement, but it’s hard to overstate what a leap Madden NFL 26 feels like both on and off the field.
Indeed, there's so much to enjoy in the base game that splashing cash just feels unnecessary, and a little grotesque. You won't play Superstar mode for as long as franchise, but fleshing out the folks in your 'Sphere of Influence' – from your agent, to tattoo artists – adds a neat off-field wrinkle, where every decision has a degree of consequence.
Despite a disappointing launch, Madden NFL 26 isn’t unsalvageable. I would imagine many of these problems will be fixed through post-launch patches, but that doesn’t change the fact that despite how strong its fundamentals appeared to be prior to stepping onto the field, much like a nervous rookie, this entry just wasn’t quite ready for primetime.
Madden NFL 26 finally pairs the series' great on-field gameplay with a destination mode thanks to an impressive Franchise makeover.
Madden NFL 26 drops with major Franchise Mode overhaul, but is it a game-changer?
Server issues at launch aside, and with the loss of cross-play noted, Madden 26 is a very solid port of one of the best outings for this franchise in recent memory. Yes, you'll need to get used to a drop in the frame rate to 40fps on Switch 2, but it's a reasonable downgrade in order to get this type of game running as well as it does on a portable machine. It really is a very close match in all other ways to other consoles.For newcomers, this is one of the best Madden games I've played in terms of teaching you the ropes, and for the returning hardcore, the improvements on the pitch, and with regards to presentation, should impress where its predecessor felt a bit lacking.
Once again, Madden NFL 26 overpromises and underdelivers. The new updates to Franchise mode and the general gameplay are nice, but let's be honest: the core issues are still there.
If you've had a couple of years off, or even if you haven't, this is an ideal time to return to Madden. This is a great entry in the series, and being able to take it on the go with Switch 2 and having the game in its fullest form is what NFL fans have been waiting years for.
