Madden NFL 18

The Madden series hasn't had online team play since Madden 25 in 2013, leading some fans to clamor for its re-introduction back into the franchise. The feature is indeed coming back for Madden 18, and this time it's attached to the Madden Ultimate Team mode.

For those of you who haven't played Madden in years and/or have been living under a rock, Ultimate Team is a mode where you collect player cards in order to build up a team to take online against others or use in solo challenges. While you play the games on the field like in all other modes in Madden, the addiction lies in building a great team made up of current and classic players, whether that be in buying those players at auction, finding them in packs, or winning specific players by completing certain objectives. Of course, you can spend real money in the process, but you don't have to.

MUT Squads is a 2 to 6-player co-op mode using gamers' Ultimate Team lineups. You can play 3v3 with all of your friends, or you can play in other combination with the game using matchmaking to fill out the open slots.

• Once you're in the mode's lobby, everyone has to select one of three captain roles: offense, defense, or head coach.
• Your team is comprised of the appropriate players from each participants' MUT lineup according to their role: The offensive captain provides the offensive/special teams players; the defensive captain brings in the defenders; and the team's head coach, stadium, and uniforms come from whoever is the head coach.
• The offensive and defensive captains also provide the playbooks and call the plays, audibles, and pre-snap adjustments for their respective units, while the head coach determines penalties and time outs.
• Each person on your team controls players on the field from down to down. When your team is on offense, for example, the offensive captain controls the QB, and the other captains choose any other free player on the offense. If no player is controlling the running back, the QB will automatically take control after the snap if it's a running play. On a passing play, the QB can switch once the pass is thrown.
• When on defense, unlike the old online team play, you're not tied to a specific position group like only being able to control players within the linebackers, defensive line, or secondary.
• If a player leaves during a game, their responsibilities pass onto a teammate.
• The blog says that "quite a few new gameplay mechanics have been designed with MUT Squads in mind."

Developer EA Tiburon hasn't mentioned what the rewards for these MUT Squad matches will be, or what kind of larger match/season structure if any there is for the feature. But for more info on MUT Squads, check out the blog post by MUT producer Jake Stein via Reddit in the source link below.

Bringing back online team play was on my recent Madden 18 wishlist, so click the link for more of what I'd like to see from the game.

[Source: Madden Ultimate Team producer Jake Stein]