They're not saying play-action won't work, and that this is a gimmick to "fix" it. What they're saying is, yes, play-action should work when used properly. However, if the defense guesses right, and sniffs out the play-action, they still want you to have a snow-balls chance in hell to make a play or at least not lose yardage.
I remember one yr on current gen madden, we could turn any passing play into a playaction pass. I thought that was a neat feature, but it never returned.