One of Madden’s biggest appeals lies within its authenticity. From playbooks to athletes and coaches, we all love the realism aspect of the Madden series. Official NFL equipment happens to also be an important element in the game’s authenticity. However, developers have had quite the struggle implementing such gear so far in Madden 18. Several pieces of equipment and various other uniform accessories are currently missing from this year’s game. Let’s take a look at what Madden NFL needs to add to bring it closer to what the players wear on Sunday.
Missing Equipment In Madden 18
Helmets
The first piece of equipment you decide on when in Madden 18‘s creation center is the helmet. Madden 18 limits those options by excluding the following types of helmets:
- Schutt F7
- Schutt Air XP Q10
- Schutt Vengeance Z10
- Xenith Epic
- SG Helmet
- Schutt helmets with blue TPU padding
- Precision Fit with black jaw pads
Chinstraps
- Cloth 2-point — also recognized as the Aaron Rodgers or Green Bay QB style of chinstrap.
- Adams chinstrap — currently come equipped on Schutt’s “Standard” and Schutt “Air XP.”
- SportStar chinstrap — currently on Schutt Vengeance and VICIS ZERO1.
- Ridell hardcup — currently come on Riddell’s ‘Standard,’ ‘Speed,’ and ‘SpeedFlex.’
- Softcup — currently a one-off option on Ridell ‘Standard’ for Brady, Rivers, and Gostkowski.
Facemasks
- Odelll Beckham Jr.’s CU-S2BD-SW mask
- Marcus Mariota’s CU-S2BD-SW-808 mask
- S2B-SK1 mask
- CU-S2BD-EM-SP mask
One last piece of equipment missing in Madden 18 is mouthguards. Not just different styles of mouthguards, but the mouthguards themselves are missing from the equipment list in the creation center menu.
In addition, neckrolls aren’t necessarily missing from the game, but they aren’t custom like many hoped. The neckroll option in the creation center only allows you to equip a vintage neckroll with a slider. Either slide it on, or off, but you can’t adjust the look, height, or width of your created player’s neckroll.
A big uniform accessory missing from Madden 18 is the Hand Clubs. Those are the huge rounded off casts that players such as JJ Watt and Jason Pierre Paul have sported in the past. They were included in last year’s Madden 17. So, we know EA Sports has the assets to include them in this year’s game.
Scratching Surfaces
Madden 18′s creation center gives you the option to equip a handwarmer on your player, but this accessory needs an update. You should have the option to equip handwarmers on the front and back in addition to making them larger. Currently, you have the option to equip a generic handwarmer by using an ‘On-Off’ slider in the creation center’s menu.
This year’s game is also missing the mid-forearm wristband option. Staying with wide receiver hand and arm accessories, Madden 18 is missing receiving gloves with the popular team palm logos.
Lastly, Madden 18 is missing various uniform options that give the game its realistic feeling. Particularly, weather condition uniform options are missing from the game this year. Long sleeves and full sleeves are options in the creation center, but the cold weather uniforms that were automatically equipped in past Madden games are no longer included.
Of course, these aren’t always the most noticeable aspects or missing elements from the Madden games. You probably don’t notice these pieces of equipment and accessories are missing until you visit the creation center and realize your options have been limited.
For more information on the Madden development team’s approach to crafting a realistic football experience, be sure to check out SGO’s behind the scenes look at Madden 18’s player likeness.
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