A little over a month and a half from now, Madden 22 will be available on both current-generation consoles and last-generation consoles in its first year of release, marking the first time a game has been released on both consoles at the same time. It is possible for Madden 22 to take advantage of new platforms, including the brand new Dynamic Gameday features, thanks to the introduction of these new platforms. Madden 22 Coins was tested in a closed Community Playtest by EA Sports prior to its release, giving us the opportunity to get a feel for the game's new and improved features. The new features in Madden 22 are numerous, but Dynamic Gameday is by far the most involved of them all across the game's various modes and modes. Therefore, we decided to start with that option, which is available through the Play Now feature in the game. What was particularly interesting here was that the Community Playtest allowed us to choose any teams we wanted to use in Play Now, rather than limiting us to the previous Super Bowl matchup, as had been the case in many previous betas. When you look at the different teams and their respective home stadiums, you get a good sense of what Dynamic Gameday has to offer. Each of the three components of the Dynamic Gameday (Gameday Atmosphere, Gameday Momentum, and Next Gen Stats Star-Driven AI) are exclusive to the next-generation console. Immediately noticeable were the stadiums in the game, which have been enhanced to look better than ever; however, we were unable to take a thorough look at each of the various stadiums during this playtest due to time constraints. Gameday Momentum can be seen very quickly in the game via the meter that can be found directly above the score at the top of the screen, which can be found right next to it. This is similar to what we had in the past with NCAA Football 14, but it is much more involved because there are different tiers to it this time round. A team's meter moves in the direction of the team that performs well, such as when they score a touchdown or get a big sack. One of three special perks can be awarded to the home field team, or the visiting team can take advantage of the momentum and force them to forfeit the special perks they were awarded. One thing that I found irritating was that you could earn access to the top tier perk only to have it revoked after one poor performance. It appears that, given the amount of time it takes to build up to that meter, a string of bad plays could be required instead to clear it away. However, while there are some benefits available to everyone, there are also many exclusive benefits that will make the overall experience even more enjoyable. It did feel like it was a little difficult to tell what was causing the meter to move specific amounts, but that is something that players will most likely figure out as they continue to play. Also impressive to see in action was Madden 22's new Next Gen Stats Star-Driven AI; players appeared to react more naturally than in previous editions. The new rookies in the league who were just drafted did not have accurate ratings, so we did not get to see them in action very much. However, how Madden 22 handles the new players with the AI will be very interesting to watch. Similarly, the game planning feature at the start of the game, where you can choose which offensive and defensive strategies you want to employ in the game, was a successful implementation of this. During halftime adjustments, there was also the option to switch things up, which was extremely useful for selecting plays for a specific game plan. Furthermore, the development team behind Madden NFL 22 Coins has made it a priority to make the physics engine feel even more realistic when it comes to player weights and heights as they relate to movement on the field. When tackling a smaller or larger player, the goal is to make it appear more realistic based on how the player would be tackled compared to the size of the player who is tackling him. When we played, it was clear that there had been some advancements, though this is something that will become more apparent the more you play as opposed to a smaller sample size, which we did not get to see. Despite the fact that it is not a completely new feature, Madden 22 has finally implemented the much-needed changes to Franchise mode that fans have been requesting. There is a new interface that is much easier to navigate, as well as a change in the way the program functions overall. An important new feature is the inclusion of staff management, which includes a skill tree for each of the staff positions. While it appears to be a basic feature, it will pay huge dividends in the long run for Franchise. The most significant drawback of Franchise during the Community Playtest was the large number of bugs and general unfinishedness of the game, but this was something that the development team made clear to us in advance. More or less, this was a sneak preview of what Franchise will have to offer, rather than allowing us to run our own full Franchise during the playtest. The assumption would be that everything will be fixed and ready for the game's launch in August, especially given the fact that the scouting update will not be released until September. The Community Playtesters spent the majority of their time on these features because they were the most significant additions or upgrades in Madden 22. Some other game modes, such as Ultimate Team and The Yard, were available, but we didn't devote nearly as much time to them as we did to the others. It certainly appears that the development team will provide us with an exciting entry this year, and we are looking forward to seeing what else it has to offer in the coming months.