But the most impressive and promising feature we saw is exclusive to the next-generation version of Madden 25. Pass blocking, a perennial bugaboo for the franchise, is finally getting some huge upgrades on the new consoles. We spoke with Clint Oldenburg, a designer at Tiburon who played as an offensive lineman in the NFL and was put to work on blocking in Madden when he joined the studio, about the improvements being made to pass blocking.
Oldenburg showed us icons on the offensive linemen and defense that indicated each lineman's ever-shifting awareness of oncoming defenders. The offensive linemen know how deep the pocket around the quarterback should be, depending on the play you've called, and will track defenders so they can shift focus to higher priorities and imminent threats (like a blitzing linebacker). They also have the intelligence to double-team defenders for the first time in franchise history. According to Oldenburg, Tiburon hopes the combination of these features will encourage users to step up in the pocket like a real quarterback, instead of running backward to avoid the defense.
After Tiburon's presentation, we got the chance to try out rushing plays in a practice environment. Madden NFL 13 felt like a vastly different game from its predecessors because of the Infinity Engine, and while the next-generation version of this year's game didn't seem like as big an upgrade in this specific area, it was noticeably better in every way. That's what we should get from the next generation, and it was tremendously exciting to get a glimpse of it at E3.