Movin’ da chains
Maddenhas taken itself too seriously for decades as the realistic-as-it-gets facsimile of NFL football. The next game is flipping its hat around and sitting backward on its chair, all to let you know that it has acoolside too.
EA Sports has revealed a new game mode forMadden NFL 21called “The Yard.” It’s an arcade-style take on football, six players per side on playground fields. Behind-the-back passes, pitch after pitch after pitch, plenty of showboating — you know the vibe.
The obvious analog is to theNFL Streetgames of the mid-2000s, but don’t expect an authentic recreation of those.NFL Streethad a lot of little touches that leaned even further away from realism. Style points for flashy play, a GameBreaker superplay meter, stats-altering equipment — it was all so fun.Madden‘s The Yard looks to be somewhere between normalMaddenandStreet, like an itch half-scratched.
The first taste of The Yard is out today as part of theMadden NFL 21 Mobilelaunch. That’s a free app meant to promote the officialMadden 21launch in late-August. It has a singleplayer version of The Yard. On PC and consoles, The Yard will have full online multiplayer functionality. However, progression carries over between mobile and the officialMadden.
Or, for the authentic experience, bust out the PS2 andNFL Street.
