new story mode. Combining elements of Longshot and Superstar, previous story modes in the series, Face of the Franchise is a 90-minute guided narrative experience that takes your character through his college career and to the NFL.
Some of the mechanics in Face of the Franchise will look familiar to those who have played Longshot in Madden NFL 18 and 19. Longshot served as Madden’s story mode as you followed a couple high school teammates, a quarterback and a wide receiver, as they made their way through college and to the NFL. Longshot followed the duo’s ups and downs as they both struggled to get on (and stay on) NFL rosters.
You will see some familiar mechanics such as:
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Cutscenes to give your character depth.
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Conversations with selectable dialogue responses.
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Guided help with basic quarterback controls.
Here’s everything you need to know about Face of the Franchise. If you’re not sure which button mention corresponds to the version you’re playing, visit this page by EA for information on each version of Madden 20’s controls.
Spoiler Alert: We won’t be getting into specific cutscene details but we will refer to the games and drills you’ll encounter.
Face of the Franchise is different in some ways from Longshot and Superstar because your character and his college career are the central focus. And there are very few off-field events to participate in that don’t directly involve you. Below are some ways Face of the Franchise differs from previous Madden story modes.
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You get to create your own character for Face of the Franchise, instead of using a premade one.
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Face of the Franchise does not have a definitive end. Once you end college, you’ll be playing in the NFL just like in standard Franchise mode.
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None of the characters from previous Longshot modes make a return. The cast is entirely new.
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Face of the Franchise is only about 90 minutes long, unlike the 12+ hours you could put into both Longshot and Longshot Part II, from Madden 18 and Madden 19 respectively. As such, there is far less time to get to know the side characters. Instead, the focus is on the character you create.
Face of the Franchise (FOF) is a self-contained mode despite essentially becoming a Be a Player Franchise file after 90 minutes. Here are some of the basics:
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Face of the Franchise is a single-player mode, but only during the story. You have the option to do multiplayer after your main character gets into the NFL.
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Any multiplayer in FOF is local only. FOF cannot be taken online.
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Your character is a quarterback.
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If you add additional characters to your team after your main character gets to the NFL, they can play any position or be a coach/owner. However, the main FOF character must remain a QB for their entire career.
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Standard Franchise modes (Be a Player, Be a Coach, and Be an Owner) can be taken online.
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FOF characters cannot be imported into a different Franchise file (they’d have to be remade from scratch).
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Upon reaching the NFL, some events related to the story will be unique to the main character only.
Near the beginning of Face of the Franchise, you’ll be able to customize your character’s facial appearance and name. Your character’s height, weight, and body type cannot be changed until he gets to the NFL. His position, however, will be locked in at QB for his entire career.
A few college games require you to play as the entire team, like a standard Madden game, but after you get through those you’ll only need to worry about controlling your own character.
In the first college game, your opponent has suboptimal AI. They have terrible clock management and may even hand you the game toward the end by making a few bad plays. For example, you may run into a situation where you lead by only a point or two with a few seconds left to play, but the AI will decide to go for it rather than attempt a field goal despite being within range. It won’t be this easy in other modes.
It’s still possible to lose this game, but even if you do, you’ll end up in the NFL anyway. Because FOF is ultimately a framing device and an introduction into Franchise mode, there is no way to lose completely. No matter what you’ll be taken to the Combine and eventually drafted.
If you lose in your first college game, you’ll advance to the NFL Combine and Draft after some cutscenes. If you win it, you’ll play a second college game after some cutscenes. This time the opponent is randomly chosen and the AI is given more strength. You’ll need to really be on your game here, but the overall strategy will not change. After your second game, win or lose, you’ll advance to the Combine and the Draft. Cutscenes will play out a little differently depending on the result, but you are guaranteed to be drafted.
After you’ve moved on from college, you’ll have conversations with a few General Managers before attending the NFL Combine. The Combine will run you through a few drills to test your throw timing. You’ll only have a single attempt per drill and 24 drills to complete. Your performance on these drills will impact your starting overall rating once you get to the NFL. The difference can be vast, with high-70s for exceptionally good performances or low-60s for exceptionally bad ones.
Your performance also affects which round you are drafted in and which team you play for. Teams with high-rated, established quarterbacks like the New England Patriots or Philadelphia Eagles will never draft you. Generally, if you perform exceptionally well, you’ll wind up on the New York Giants in an early round. If you perform poorly, you may wind up on the Miami Dolphins or Cincinnati Bengals in later rounds. You will never go undrafted.
After the draft, you’ll see a few ending cutscenes and then you’ll be taken to the Franchise hub for your first preseason game.
Once you make it to the NFL, the game will change to a traditional Franchise mode, minus a few key features such as online play. The file is still kept separate because your player will have some events not available to standard Franchise files, such as getting texts from other characters from the story.
The very first thing you should do is edit your player because Madden NFL 20 introduces Abilities and X-Factors which are powerful buffs that can significantly impact your player’s performance on the field. If the first tile of the hub says “Ability Slot Empty” as shown below, you can select that tile to go to your player’s card to set his abilities. Alternatively, press R1/RB to navigate to the Team category, then select the “My Player” tile.
The first time you view your player card, splash screens will quickly go over where you can view your X-Factor and Abilities. New ability slots are unlocked when you reach 60 OVR, 70, 80, 90, and 95, so you may have one or two slots available from the start depending on how you did at the Combine.
The abilities in each slot are different, so you’ll need to think carefully about which ones you want. Luckily, you can change these anytime in between games and they are explained in detail on-screen. Although your X-Factor may be game-changing, most of the abilities are not. Think about your personal play style when you select your abilities. For example, in the screenshot below, the highlighted ability is Inside Deadeye. This gives the quarterback perfect accuracy on throws when the target is between the numbers on the field. (Note: this doesn’t guarantee the pass will complete, just that it will hit the receiver in the hands. It can still be deflected or intercepted by the defense) This would be a great ability if you are a pocket passer, especially if you run a short passing game because it’ll ensure you won’t have errant throws on most of your pass attempts.
Conversely, the far-right ability in the screenshot below is the Leap Frog ability. This allows you to move quickly and easily hurdle over any would-be tacklers trying to stop you from scrambling. A scrambling-type quarterback in the mold of Russell Wilson would do well with this ability, but pocket passer-type quarterback like Tom Brady wouldn’t have much use for it.
You can select any locked slots to get a preview of all the abilities that can be selected. There are no additional requirements to unlock standard abilities other than reaching a certain OVR rating. Additional X-Factors require reaching 85 OVR with specific archetypes.
From then on, FOF is all about making an impact for your team. From the Franchise hub, you’ll have tiles that ask you to set goals and train weekly for XP. Training can be simulated, but you’ll earn less XP than if you run the drills yourself.
In FOF you will likely get the starting job for your first season, though depending on League Settings you wouldn’t necessarily get it in a standard Franchise file. Prior to games, you can interact with your coach or fans.
During games, you will only control your player. As the QB, he may be involved in holding the ball for field goals or extra-point attempts during preseason before he is named the starter, but otherwise he’ll only be on the field during a normal offensive drive. Madden NFL 20 will quick-sim through plays he’s not involved in, so the win and loss of the game may be out of your hands if your defense is having a particularly bad day.
For the rest of FOF, it’s all about adding to your Legacy Score. It’s a bit buried in the menu. To get there, head to the League category in the hub, then the Stats tile. This will bring up even more tiles and from there you can select the Legacy Leaderboard tile.
The Legacy Leaderboard will list where you rank compared to upper-tier real-life quarterbacks. Personal stats are a small part of your legacy score, but you mainly get Legacy Points based on Super Bowl victories, Conference Championship victories, and personal yearly awards.
Between seasons, you can demand to be released from your current team if you want a change of scenery. However, you must remain active in the NFL. You cannot be a free agent nor can you demand trades or otherwise negotiate the terms of your contract. For better or worse, FOF and Be a Player, in general, are more focused on the gameplay and on-field action rather than the minutiae of off-field management.
When you’re ready to retire, you can do so at any time (even during the season) by navigating to the Options category, selecting the User Management tile, then the “Retire” option. If you have no other human-controlled characters at that point, the game will automatically back you out to the main menu. If you do have other human-controlled characters, the FOF file can continue on just like a traditional Franchise file, but it still cannot be taken online.
For more information on Madden NFL 20, including updated Team Rankings and a full list of X-Factor players, be sure to check out our Wiki Guide!
Jon Michael is a freelance guide writer for IGN and YouTube content creator. You can follow him on Twitter @PyroFalkon and subscribe to him YouTube.
