Madden NFL 2005

"Madden NFL 2005 is $30 better than the Competition"

Madden NFL 2005 is $30 better than the Competition

When I think of football video games, the first thing that comes to mind is Madden football. The Madden franchise has been THE football game for some time now...and rightfully so. Every year in August, thousands of Madden faithful run to the nearest Best Buy or Circuit City to get their hands on a copy. Madden football has been nothing but 11 vs. 11 action, even when it took 2 years to design in the beginning. Madden football was and still is the most dominant sports video game. My title is referencing ESPN Football's franchise. In a clever marketing move, ESPN designed Football 2k5 to compete with Madden. In my opinion...it couldn't, so they decided to price it at $20 hoping that people will chose the cheaper option.

Gameplay:
Madden has been given a significant upgrade in game with improved defense and AI, which makes the experience much more enjoyable. Rookie is the same difficulty and All-Madden still gives the most obsessed experts a challenge. Also, a nice little touch is the 4 3-D fans that cheer for you when you score a touchdown, the big thing is one of them can be a fan that you make!

Defense is what 2005 was about and they didn't disappoint. With Defensive Playmaker control, audibles and the human player, defense can react to anything the offense can do. This really helps to keep the scores under 30 for both teams. The hit stick is the most enjoyable part of playing defense. When you use the hit stick, you miss most of the time, but when you don't, the player often fumbles and that can be a game changing play. Though the hit stick doesn't drastically change game play, it adds a very nice touch. One thing I didn't mention is coverage. Coverage is much more realistic, but it is still a little faulty. If you throw a lob over the middle into double coverage 7/10 times it will be knocked down, knocked out of the hands of the receiver, or picked off. The other 3/10 includes the wide out breaking free and scoring, so be ready for that too. Coverage also benefits from defensive hot routes and shadowing players. This means Randy Moss will never end up against your 3rd string cornerback like he always used to!

On the offensive side of the ball...Ever heard the phrase better late than never? Well how about a flea flicker!? That and better Playmaker response from wide-outs make the offense better, but not like the D!

Already one of the most fun parts of the Madden experience, Franchise mode added on with a few nice menus and 3 big improvements/additions. The big addition is Storyline Central which has three main menus. Newspaper, where the media (local and national) gives you suggestions and comments on your moves, E-Mail, where coaches and players send you messages, and EA Sports Radio Show, where Tony Bruno comments on news throughout the NFL. It is sound, which surprised me since it just about never repeats. Also in Franchise mode is Owner Mode, where you can buy Medical Staff and Coaches with the money your team makes, improve, relocate, rebuild and rename your stadium, and do all of the things you could in 2004 (set prices and advertise). Only this time there is fan support, so even the fans follow the morale theme that Franchise mode added.

In one short sentence, the computer is smarter and much more flexible. It now trades during the draft and you might have a computer ask you to confirm a trade while you are picking. Also, draft picks are rated Top 5, Top 10, 1st round, 2nd round, etc. which allows you to know which players are really special. After the draft each team is given a grade, though it isn't too hard to get an A or A+ for that matter. One other nice feature is the restricted free agent segment of the offseason. If you have a restricted free agent and lose the bidding war, you get picks in the upcoming draft! I once got the top overall pick, though I lost a great player.

Players have feeling to! Especially in Madden where signing a free agent or pick isn't about money anymore. Money still matters, but now, more than anything else, the player has to want to be on your team. This means that players will take hits on money to go to the Patriots rather than the Cardinals. Sometimes a player isn't happy with you, and he isn't going to play as well. That means that you trade him, but he was a good player and a locker room leader. This causes other players to become upset with you. See how it works??

Mini-Games provide Madden with much more variety and there are many returning games as well as a few new ones. You may as well call the first group of Mini-Games drills, because that's what they were in 2004. All of the drills make a returning appearance, though Swat Ball didn't seem quite as hard as it used to be. Anyway, the Training Camp option is still there in franchise, or you can play them for fun (?). I do not have the Collector's Edition (CE) but a Trivia game is included in it. There are supposedly more than 1,000 questions to answer! Also not included in the regular version is a special group of situations, these are from some of the greatest football moments (e.g. the drive). You can replay those moments and help guide Elway 98 yards downfield. Pretty much everything from past editions is included. Extras is loaded with videos that are good for newbies and die-hards. The one fault is that Tony Bruno is the voice, not John Madden. Madden Cards are still hear and like any other Madden Game, it takes forever to get them all.
10/10

Online:
I can't comment on online play, I recommend you read other reviews to learn about other's opinions.

Graphics:
Wow! They are much improved over Madden 2004 with much more detail put into the faces and bodies. You can see the veins in Junior Seau's arm as he tackles an opposing running back, you can see that each player has a distinct face, not 10 or 20 models used over and over. The fans are mostly 2-D sprites, but it isn't noticed. The big thing is the new tackling motions...there are about a million new ones. The first game I played I didn't see a single old tackle from 2004. The menus look nicer with a black and red theme, and the roster menus other displays look nicer than in 2004. The frame rate rarely slows down, but it does and it always seems to be in a key moment.
9/10

Sound:
This is where madden is going to take a huge hit. I am not going to lie to anyone hear, the soundtrack is sub-par. Green Day is on there, which helps, but other than that...I pretty much want to take my PS2 through a window when I hear the songs. Madden, once again tried to please everybody, but like the Roman saying goes, a friend to everyone is a friend to no one. You can still change the soundtrack by deleting songs, but if you got rid of all of the bad songs, you would not have enough songs for variety. Besides the music, the sound is fabulous, the biggest difference being with the Tony Bruno radio show. It is something that I enjoy listening to, and IT ALMOST NEVER REPEATS ITSELF!! After about 7 years in my franchise I began to remember hearing the stuff before, but 7 years is a long time.
6/10

Replayability:
You will never get tired of this game until 2006 comes out, but that is a year away. There is no reason anyone would become tired of this game. There is too much to do and...it's football. What's not to love about football??
10/10

Buy or Rent??:
Do you like football?? If yes, buy the game. If no, rent it and see if you enjoy Madden.

Overall Rating:
9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/20/04