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Madden NFL 18 Trial is Live on EA Access for Xbox One Players

Xbox One players who subscribe to EA Access Play can huddle up for this season's NFL game.
David Craddock
David Craddock
3

Xbox One owners who subscribe to EA Access can now download and play Madden NFL 18's Play First trial. The trial lets you play Madden NFL 18 for up to 10 hours in advance of the game's release on August 25.

PastaPadre (via GameSpot) reports that the trial gives you access to the full game. However, Longshot mode punts you out after the first section. On the bright side, any progress you make during the trial carries over to the full release. Just make sure to disable the game when you're not playing it; the trial's 10-hour limit whittles away even if the game is running in the background.

As a reminder, EA Access is exclusive to Xbox One. Subscribers receive other perks besides early access, namely a 10 percent discount on all purchases. That means if you play Madden NFL 18's trial and enjoy it, you can purchase the game for around $54 instead of $60.

Madden NFL 18 will kickoff with several new modes when it launches later this month. Among them is MUT SQUADS, pitting teams of three players apiece in a Madden Ultimate Team challenge. Shacknews CEO and editor-in-chief Asif Khan took the field against other journalists at a press event held at EA's Redwood Shores headquarters. Check out the video below to see how he fared.

Fans are hoping for a more technically refined experience in Madden NFL 18. Reviewing Madden NFL 17, guest editor Bryan Carr was keen on gameplay online and off, but pointed out nagging legacy issues that EA needed to fix. "To the point, Madden NFL 17 is a quality Madden game," he wrote. It does a lot of things right, and fixes most of the major shortcomings of previous editions. If you’ve lapsed in the series or just want to know if you should grab this year’s game, go forward knowing that you will get a lot of mileage from it. It’s good. At the same time, however, it is still absolutely a Madden game, and in the 12th year of EA’s exclusivity deal with the NFL it’s hard not to pine for a little competition."

Long Reads Editor
Long Reads Editor

David L. Craddock writes fiction, nonfiction, and grocery lists. He is the author of the Stay Awhile and Listen series, and the Gairden Chronicles series of fantasy novels for young adults. Outside of writing, he enjoys playing Mario, Zelda, and Dark Souls games, and will be happy to discuss at length the myriad reasons why Dark Souls 2 is the best in the series. Follow him online at davidlcraddock.com and @davidlcraddock.

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