Madden 16: Early Expert Reviews of Newest Mode Ahead of Official Release Date

Draft Champions is the newest mode in the Madden universe this year. In a nutshell, it combines the fantasy draft experience with tournament-style gameplay.   

Gamers choose from a randomly selected trio of coaches/playbooks to begin play. They are given basic core players and then allowed to replace up to 15 positions with randomly selected stars in a draft format. The key to the draft process is to match the right players with the style you like to play and the scheme that your coach/playbook emphasizes. 

From there you jump into gameplay against either the CPU or other human-controlled players. If you win four in a row, you become the draft champion. You can repeat this process as many times as you want with a different set of coaches and players at your disposal each time.

With each win, you'll level up and gain rewards. Here's how EASports.com describes the newest mode addition to their iconic virtual football series:

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Draft Champions adds to the Fantasy Football experience by paying off draft night immediately. As soon as the draft is over, players can take the new squad onto the field. The result? A very tight draft experience that distills the best parts of Fantasy Football, and combining it with an exciting Madden event that can be completed in an evening.

Anyone who gets through a head-to -head gauntlet will truly be worthy of the title Draft Champion.

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Based on my experience with the mode during an early preview at a review event a week before official release, it's very addictive. At the start, it's almost like playing an as-yet-created card game. The three coaches you have to choose from are like the first card you're dealt.

The second is the group of players made available to draft. The head-to-head action can be super intense as well. This has the look of a mode that could become a staple of the franchise moving forward. 

YouTuber QJB had an opportunity to give the mode a spin months ago. Here's a video that shows him guiding you through the draft process and team selection. His enthusiasm shows just how much he enjoyed the experience.

Draft Champions is what's new on the game modes side, but there are additions to the overall gameplay that should be discussed. Ben Vollmer of Operation Sports had an opportunity to play the game back in July. He had some very detailed analysis in his impression. Vollmer wrote:

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Starting with the run game, it's easy to be impressed merely by watching the new tackling system. It isn't the gang-tackling of old (seeing seven to eight players pile up is a rarity), but rather a dynamic system in which can actually prevent extra yardage from the ball carrier's side. On the CPU side, the runners hit holes with real tact. 

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I found all of those things to be true in my time as well. Almost every aspect of the game that involved player-to-player contact has been drastically improved. That said, there were still some things happening with the passing game that were inconsistent with reality. Vollmer also saw some of those issues. He added:

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So there's the good news. The bad news is that, for the most part, QB play is still not close to where it needs to be. QB's regularly rifle throws right where they need to be, which the only exception being passes upwards of 30 yards. The only time incompletions happen are on knock-downs and interceptions. 

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This is a legacy issue that seems to be quite difficult for Tiburon (the development team) to get a handle on. Tweaking the accuracy/inaccuracies probabilities would be ideal. To put it plainly, there should be more balls thrown too high, low, left or right for anyone to get a hand on. 

We'll see if there is a patch or update coming that addresses that issue in the future.

All in all, the game plays better than it did last year, but it will still have some fans groaning about certain areas. There's no perfect game, and Madden 16 seems to have its faults and successes. As of now, there's more of the latter.

Stay tuned for a full review of the game August 25 when the game officially releases for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.

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