The Madden 21 trailer is finally here after being delayed a few weeks, and the trailer itself is… a bit underwhelming.  HOWEVER, there are a lot of new features that could present massive gameplay changes, and make the game more realistic than it has been in the past. Unsurprisingly, Lamar Jackson is the cover athlete, and he will feature on the cover of all three versions of the game: Standard, Deluxe, and MVP.  The cover art is a collage style, which is probably because EA was unable to get Lamar in for a photoshoot due to the pandemic, so all of the images appear to be from last season.  The different editions are mainly distinct because of what comes bundled in terms of ultimate team content, but the Deluxe and MVP editions will both allow for three days of early access when they are pre-ordered.

Some fans were disappointed that the gameplay looked a lot like Madden 20, but there is only so much improvement that can be made each year, and since the game is built for current-gen, we likely won’t see major graphical changes until next year.  Nonetheless, four changes are highlighted in the trailer, and a fifth was not featured in the trailer but is likely to make a lot of fans extremely excited.

Some obvious new changes are the new faces in new places, such as Tom Brady, Tua Tagovailoa, Joe Burrow, and others, as well as the new jerseys for several teams, including the Rams, Bucs, Falcons, Chargers, and others.  In terms of gameplay, essentially the run game and pass rush will have a lot more moves, and be more fluid.  Considering that these were the most overpowered elements of the game last year, hopefully, some balancing comes along with the fluidity of movement.  This could come in the form of the new tackling mechanics, which look to make tables more realistic, and essentially there will be a lot more variety in the animations throughout the game.  Custom celebrations were introduced last year, but after playing for a while, they get repetitive, and you can only choose from four categories.  The trailer boasts of user-controlled celebrations, which hopefully means that they will work like FIFA, where a specific celebration can be triggered by a combination of buttons.

These improvements should make gameplay more fluid and realistic, but another big change that wasn’t put in the forefront for some reason is the new version of Face of the Franchise.

Face of the Franchise returns! Create yourself and begin your career as a quarterback in high school where you’ll attempt to lead your team to a State Championship. We should mention while your career starts in high school, that doesn’t mean you’ll be the starting quarterback. Don’t worry, no story spoilers here.

Next, you’ll start your college career on National Signing Day where you’ll pick between ten Division 1 schools. You’ll be able to play two seasons of the College Football Playoffs where you’ll attempt to win not one, but two NCAA Championships. While in college you’ll have the chance to stay as a quarterback or switch positions to a running back or wide receiver.

After your college career, you’ll be attending the NFL Combine where you’ll have the chance to test your skills and run the iconic 40-yard dash.

When you finally enter the NFL, your career doesn’t stop. You’ll have the chance to experience different storylines each season as you make your case for the Hall of Fame.

This sounds great.  The face of the Franchise last year was fun, partially because everyone wants to be able to play an NCAA Football game, and this is the next best thing, but last year it was far too short and the same each time, plus when you finished you were dumped into the same old franchise mode.  Being able to play high school football, followed by two years of playoffs to really define your player before the draft sounds awesome.  Plus, being able to switch positions in college is great, most people want to play QB in Madden, but with the run game being so strong as of late, playing HB could be really fun.  Also, the scenario engine actually changing something besides player development in Franchise is sorely needed.  Hopefully, a later trailer featuring Face of the Franchise: Rise To Fame will release soon and give is a better look at the mode.

Madden 21 is set to release on PC, Xbox One, and PS4 on August 28th, but pre-orders of the premium editions will allow you to play on the 28th.  Origin and EA access usually allow for a free trial also ahead of release, so in theory, we could get our hands on the game sometime in mid-August.