Madden NFL 2002

"Urge to kill rising..."

When I bought this game over a year ago ($43), I had high expectations. I brought it home, and started playing. I enjoyed it for a while, but then I started to noticed all of it's flaws. Then I began to like it less.

Gameplay: 4/10
The game runs pretty smoothly, with only a little bit of slowdown (the touchdown dances are a little slow and stiff), although it's nowhere near the quality of the PS2 version. The penalty system however is completely flawed. Whenever I tackled the opposing QB, the cpu called a ''Face Mask''. The cpu would NEVER call it's own penalties, but would have a field day with me! It would call me for things I didn't even do!! On a positive note, the moves that the players can do are impressive (compared to Madden '97). This is why I play Blitz... Another thing, the cpu can still dominate me and my football-master friend even at the lowest difficulty with the cpu's stats at their lowest.

Graphics: 3/10
The game's graphics are muddy and pixelated (especially the people who determine the first-downs and the cheerleaders). And the players all look alike (face-wise, that is).

Controls: 7/10
The controls are not overly-complicated, but can sometimes be unresponsive. Other than that, their ok.

Sound: 2/10
These are some of the most annoying sfx I've ever heard. Besides the irritating grunts and yells, the commentary gets really repetitive.

Features: 7/10
Madden 2002 is jam-packed with extra features, such as Training, Create-a-team, Edit players, and Franchise. There are also tons of classic-version teams as well as European teams and the expansion team, the Houston Texans which really don't add much. Oh, and there's the incredibly pointless Madden Classic which brings back bad nightmares of '97.

Replayability: 3/10
Hmm... not really. The only things to do besides the incredibly long season and pointless exhibition games are create a team/player and play Franchise.

Buy or Rent?: Avoid
I you really want to play this game, get the PS2 version which is better in every aspect (wish I had it...). But, I'm stuck with it because GameStop will only buy for $1 (or even less!!!). But it still ownz Madden '97!

Conclusion:
Until I get Blitz 20-02, this is the only football game I have. I'm still kicking myself for not waiting until I got my PS2 so I could buy the much better version and save money at the same time. A long time ago, I wanted to smash the cd into many, many pieces. But then I though ''It's worth $43, that would be even more of a waste''. Now that I know it's now only worth $1, I can finally exact my revenge. Ok, I'm getting to dramatic, but you get my point. In the words of the Comic Book Guy, ''Worst waste of money ever!''.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 08/13/02, Updated 08/13/02