You create a fresh new quarterback, and quickly find yourself mired in an absurdly bland high school football drama. But the cracks were beginning to show already, and this year's edition is a complete mess.

(The whole drama was anchored by Mahershala Ali, who adds prestige to anything he touches.) I kinda enjoyed the second chapter of Longshot in 2018, where Wade continued his journey as the quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys.

This tradition began in Madden 18 with Longshot, a well-executed saga of trauma and the restorative power of sports, as we watched Devin Wade slowly rehabilitate himself into a leader and a star. The only true tragedy of Madden 21 can be found in the Face of the Franchise mode, which represents the death knell of EA's belabored attempts to bring a story mode to their football games. Why would I want to play with running backs with a 75 overall rating, when I could switch over to any of the other modes and run around the field as Saquon Barkley? Whenever I watch yet another video of a teenager opening $1,000 worth of packs my eyes roll into the back of my head. The barrier of entry to actually competing in Ultimate Team is so wide, that I simply cannot muster the time or energy to commit. I traded him in for a small bounty of points that, eventually, will allow me to increase the speed of a wide receiver by a fraction of a percent. I booted up the mode, completed the first challenge, and was immediately rewarded with a Blake Bortles card, who is most famous for being the worst starting quarterback for a playoff team in recent memory. The same can be said for Madden Ultimate Team, the infernal card-collecting closed economy that asks players to assemble a top-tier team through either a boatload of microtransactions or an absurd amount of grinding. There are times where I wonder if perhaps there is a way to offer a sports management experience that is a little less stuffy than the deep recesses of EA's spreadsheet morass, but then again, negotiating contracts with veteran linebackers is supposed to be a little bit boring.

I've never been the type to go deep into the nuts and bolts of Madden's more sim-y qualities, but it's nice to know that the option remains on the table for the world's armchair GMs. Take control of an ailing franchise-the New York Jets, the Detroit Lions, whatever-and attempt to whip them into respectability with cornerback drills and intensive scouting reports. Franchise mode is back as a near-perfect facsimile of its past incarnations.

When can i play madden 21