Madden 20: Early Previews for QB1 Mode and More Anticipated Features

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes gracing the cover of Madden 20 is poetic in the way it speaks to massive expectations. 

Mahomes, after all, enters 2019 after a 50-touchdown campaign and has contention expectations chasing him into the regular season. Madden 20, in its own right, is the follow-up to a well-received release last year (80 on Metacritic), all the while promising big upgrades. 

One of those upgrades loops in the Chiefs star himself via the Superstar X-Factor system, which helps spur the massive overhaul to the ratings system. 

Those ratings are down across the board to help superstar players better stand out and influence the outcome of games—just as they do in real life. The Superstar X-Factor gives the 50 best NFL players unique traits. Mahomes, as a brief example, gets an increased throw distance of 15-plus yards and benefits when throwing across his body, provided certain conditions are met. 

And this superstar feature is prevalent in all areas of the game, including the other biggest talking point surrounding this year's release: Face of the Franchise: QB1. 

At face value, the Face of the Franchise: QB1 mode sounds simple enough. Instead of the fictional story of the last few years told through the Longshot modes, players are free to implement themselves in the draft process. Create a quarterback, work through the College Football Playoff after picking a team, make some decisions via cutscenes and then go to the draft itself. 

Except it isn't so simple, thankfully. A player's performance in the CFP appears to matter in where they get drafted. Choices made in conversations help forge things along, including identifying the player's archetype. And performance at the NFL combine also matters, with a created quarterback capable of coming off the board in any round and even falling into the realm of the undrafted. 

Naturally, Face of the Franchise: QB1 has been one of the biggest talking points of reviews so far, as Brian Mazique of Forbes wrote: 

"The cutscenes aren't too long and overdone, and they end once you make it to the NFL. From there, the experience turns into a traditional franchise mode save where you're controlling the QB only. Because each story is a little different, and there are unique challenges with every NFL team, the entertainment value remains even after the cutscenes have stopped."

Superstars and their impact on the game weren't the only anticipated new feature, though. On the field, the running game has received some refinements, as has the pass rush. Under center, realistic release mechanics and timings are now included, so players will have to make a game-by-game adjustment based on how NFL passers actually differ in their release times. 

A preview from EA.com also noted different sorts of throws will have different timings: 

"Furthermore, passes in the middle of the field, or square with the QB will always be the fastest. Passing to the left or right, which will require the QB to alter his feet, will be slightly longer animations. For a right-handed QB, throwing to the left will be the longest throwing motion, while for a left-handed QB, throwing to his right will be the longest."

And it wouldn't be a new Madden release without Ultimate Team getting a pass in one way or another. This year, the ability to string along an unlimited number of challenges at once instead of returning to the menu each time is a long-requested wrinkle to the collection-based game mode. 

Also of note is a better map of reward paths. In the past, it sometimes felt like players had to work through challenges they didn't care for while pursuing a specific item. Now a roadmap of sorts provides an all-encompassing look at rewards, which helps players identify what they want and how it can be achieved. 

Luckily for Madden, it didn't need to reinvent the wheel in a way Mahomes perhaps did last season. It needed to listen to fan wants and attack those, which it seemingly has based on some of the areas addressed in the form of inserting players themselves into the game and making actual star players stand out from the rest.