Madden NFL 2004

"Good additions but I can't help but be a bit disappointed"

I'll cover the good points first as they apply to improvements over last years version. They have a much better dive that is far more effective and realistic in motion. The graphics are the best the series has offered and they have a superior number of accessories for create a player{The long hair looks pretty bad however, the dreadlocks in particular}. Franchise mode has been spruced up even more but beware the owner mode is more gimmick than anything else. The administrative parts become boring quickly and while the hiring assistant coaches and former players is great, I wish they'd give me a better idea of what I'm getting out of the deal. The new animations are good especially the blocking ones. Completing sideline passes is no longer a problem{excluding the times your receiver runs his pattern out of bounds for no apparent reason}. The all-pro difficulty seems to have solid AI, especially the computer offense. When you have the ball be on your toes because the pass rush is aggressive. The playmaker control is overhyped and takes some getting used to but it still adds to the game, just don't expect anything earth shattering.

Now the problems, I've been buying Madden since the first game on PS2 {along with several on the Genesis} and if I have one complaint with the series its their inability to fix existing problems. For example, the sliders have the same sensitivity since their inception, this is fine for the ones that work properly but for others {pass blocking} they could stand an adjustment. Now I happen to like defense more than offense and in last years game it was awfully hard for your average game player to get realistic sack numbers. For whatever reason this has still not been corrected, the computer QB's are in hyper speed. From a realism stand point its the worst Madden has put out in this specific area. The timing is terrible and its too bad because the OL/DL interaction is actually quite good unfortunately its rather pointless as in 90% of the plays it doesn't matter how great a move you make it won't have an effect on the outcome. The QB's often work so fast that it looks kind of comical and when you do get a sack it usually seems like luck. You can fix the problem a bit with sliders and playmaker control but the gain is minimal and you start killing the other team. My second defensive complaint is the speed of the passes, the ball is going so fast its hard to switch from pass rushing to pass coverage and accomplish anything, as a result it reduces your feeling of involvement in the game. For those that are interested, suction blocking hasn't gone anywhere and is just as bad as before.

This is the most ambitious Madden yet but I personally don't feel that the gameplay has made the jump. I find it irritating that most of its problems could be corrected with more sensitive sliders and possibly a couple new ones. It is an outstanding multiplayer game and many gamers undoubtedly won't have a problem with the things I was disappointed in. Whether its worth the cash for this update depends on what you value in the game.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/15/03