'Longshot' In Madden '18 Is Quite Simply The Greatest Thing To Come Out Of The Franchise In Years


– BEWARE: Possible Spoilers Ahoy –

That’s it. EA Sports now has the right to put the women and children to bed and go looking for dinner after this one. It’s been about 45 years since the Madden video game franchise came out with a new feature that makes everyone go – WOW. Hell, it’s been quite sometime since they’ve done anything notably, just, new. And Longshot is not only fresh, but blows the nuts off of what anyone would expect out of a Madden game in 2018.

Longshot is a game within the game of Madden, but it’s so different from anything the franchise has ever released before. It’s a choose your own adventure type tale that’s way more movie than gameplay.
Telltale has come close to perfecting the art of the choose your own adventure games as of late with their takes on The Walking Dead (SHIT show, but an excellent, and highly recommended series of games), and Longshots follows suit. It has kind of the spirit as (very) old school greats like Indiana Jones And The Fate Of Atlantis, The Secret Of Monkey Island, and Grim Fandango. As an older gent of a gamer, what sometimes frustrates me is I simply can’t play all these new games enough to get the controls and layouts down tight. Sure, I’d LOVE to take a few whippersnappers behind the woodshed in, say, Overwatch, but I just don’t have the multiple hours to devote to one single game to truly Make Smitty Great Again. I can’t stay competitive. With Longshots, I was entertained and still got my gaming fix while not having to devote my entire left nut to the cause. It was rejuvenating.

The storyline in Longshot magnificent. You get that Friday Night Lights feeling (Jason Street plays the lead’s best bud) but there are also elements of so much more, including old school Madden gameplay that inserts you in key situations. But the characters, writing, and acting are all top notch. If you’ve been around competitive sports at any level then you’d know that Coach Ford is a PERFECT portrayal of a football mind. Just an old school dick who might not seem he cares about anything other than winning. Devin, the main protagonist, is a bit of a babyback bitch at times, but he’s an overall likeable and sympathetic figure. The snake producer is one hilarious asshole that I can imagine is a very realistic portrayal, sadly. Even our newest Barstool Sports employee Chad Ochocinco had a major, funny role in the latter stages of the game. Child, please.

As far as the gameplay, I’m surprised just how much football knowledge went into the game. You actually have to know the x’s and o’s football somewhat to excel. It’s simple coverages, packages, and schemes, but if you never were involved in the game then it would be extremely difficult. Not to mention I’m SHOCKED the NFL itself approved of some of the dialogue and happenings that went down (Not going to get into Spoilers, but there’s NO way Goodell would’ve approved of some of the stuff if he knew what was going on beforehand).

The fact is, you are playing a video game. There’s no disputing that.
However, you wind up emotionally invested in what happens with every person. That’s why it’s up there as an A+ experience because you get absolutely captivated by the storyline and characters. The only other times I remember feeling that way over a freaking VIDEO GAME was while playing The Last Of Us and The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time. The latter of which I had a closer relationship with the horse Epona than I had with any member of my immediate family. It shouldn’t surprise anyone if more immersive video game experiences like Longshots arise in the future – As they should.

We jumped around a lot here, but that’s all she wrote. I highly recommend on playing Longshots through from start to finish, but below is the “Full Movie” of the video game…which is legitimately better than 90% of hits theaters today. A certified “Fresh” rating on Smitty Tomatoes.

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