EA Sports’s latest trailer for Madden NFL 15 highlights the new Skills Trainer mode, The Gauntlet, showing off the arcade-inspired minigame that’s meant to test your skills in a variety of situations. The player is given 5 ‘lives’ with which to complete the challenges, and losing those ‘lives’ (by failing at a given task) results in a game over. In addition to the ‘lives’ mechanic, The Gauntlet also features ‘boss levels’ which require the player to complete a more outrageous play.
Challenges in The Gauntlet range from completing relatively normal plays, to kicking a 107-yard field goal in hurricane force winds. There are even challenges designed to teach players how real-life football plays, offensive and defensive, are designed and how they’re used.
The Skills Trainer mode, introduced in last year’s Madden 25, is designed to educate players on some of the finer points of football and has made use of the minigame style to great effect. The Gauntlet looks to challenge players, while retaining the arcade-y, minigame feel of the Skills Trainer mode. The official website describes The Gauntlet as the place to “test your new found skills through intense challenges and conditions.” The end of semester exam if you will, where you take everything you’ve learned in your lessons and put it all on the table.
EA Sports is always refining the Madden brand with smart, functional changes, as discussed in our hands-on E3 preview, and The Gauntlet is just one more small addition that could have a big impact on the series and how gamers play Madden.
Enter The Gauntlet below:
Madden NFL 15 will be released on August 26 for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
