Madden NFL 2002

"Fun For All Flawed Football!"

When Madden 2002 hit the gaming markets, it had a lot of potential. First time players of the game raved about how it was the best football game they had ever experienced. After a month of playing, that opinion began to change from awe to utter disappointment. With no further ado, here's my review.

Graphics: 6.5/10
Everything is very clear and very distinguishable, that needs to be clear and distinguishable. As far as the players, the field, and the ball come, I have no complaints.
Most my complaints come from the sidelines. Coaches and referees are 2D people in a 3D world, and so is the crowd.
If you feel like running off the field, you have the power to run straight through the stadium, coaches, and whatever else suits your fancy.
Tackles can look great like the NFL, or terrible like the XFL. I don't want to complain too much about this category.
Overall, the graphics get the job done, but definitely could have, and should have been better.

Sound: 7/10
I'm gonna forget about the hits, the QB yelling hike, and all that junk which should be in every football game. It's there, and it should be there, which gives the sound half its score. I would have liked to see a little more crowd reaction, but the fact that it isn't there, doesn't hurt the game.
The real gist of the game is the in the music and announcers. Months after playing the game, John Madden was still saying things I had never heard before. At the same time, I was able to predict what he was going to say after a play happened. Still, the announcers keep the game fresh. The music is catchy, but redundant to say the least.

Controls: 5.5/10
The menus are easy to navigate, that is a plus.

QB: Easy enough to throw the ball where you want, but they did a terrible job with scrambling controls. If you want a QB to just forget throwing an run the ball, it takes forever to get him to run, and even the fastest QBs get stopped much earlier than they should be. Also, QBs seem to be too round, like the only difference between QBs is speed.

RBs: They did a good job with this category, but the running game in Madden is far too easy. Speed is important for a running back, and it often is not a stat that can be increased with experience. The simplicity of the running game made it that I almost never did a stiff arm or a spin move, because I would get 85 yards a game, at least, regardless of what I did or who I was against.

WRs: Also pretty good job here. Height seems to be a factor for wide receivers which is good. Speed is not the most important category, but a big problem is that young receivers develop far too fast, nothing like the NFL. Also there is always and I mean always 2-3 great wide receivers to take in the draft. With running backs there is always at least one.

TEs: A position that I believe they did well at to an extent. TEs that have the stats that make them a great TE often only score about a 60 overall, which is ridiculous. Overall stats need to be more based on needed stats. Drafting a TE can be incredibly difficult, which is a good touch.

Ks: A good position, but you can't trade kickers, and kickers definitely become far too round. Drafting them can be difficult, but usually isn't.

OT/OG/C/: About halfway through my franchise every team in my league had around 95 overall for their offensive line. Madden did a terrible job with this position. It is far to easy to draft a good O-line. Also, when every team has a good O-line, less blitzes occur and the game gets boring.

DL: Terribly done. It is very hard to get even one sack with a DE, so Strahan will not be getting over 20 sacks anytime soon. Drafting these is near impossible, as they begin at like 68 overall, and are always drafted first by the computer, at least in my franchises.

LBs: Good. Thank EA for getting at least one category right. LBs are well-rounded, and hard to develop. My complaint is outside linebackers no matter how good blitz with ease and rack up tons of tackles, while inside linebackers like Ray Lewis and Brian Urlacher are often stifled for games. I have never had a 100 tackle season with Ray unless I simulated all the games.

Secondary: The most terrible position in the game. It is far too easy for a WR to breakaway and get a touchdown and far too hard to get an interception, although it does happen. The secondary looks clueless always. Drafting these are easy too.

Gameplay: 8/10
What can I say, it is a fun game. There are some major flaws, besides the ones I mentioned. The salary cap is terribly done and almost never restricts me from anything. Its far too easy to manipulate the trade system, and the CPU never offers trades. Players are too round, no matter what position. Still, Madden is a great football experience.

Replay: 9/10
Play against friends.

Overall: 7/10
If franchise/season mode was done a little better, and the graphic/player flaws were fixed, this game would have gotten a 9/10. I only hope Madden 2003 can fix the problems, and create an even better game than 2002 could ever be.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/20/02, Updated 09/20/02