ESPN NFL Football

"It gets no better than this..."

For years I have played Madden football, without a bit of concern for any game touching it. I have argued on message boards about how great madden is and how bad the 2k series is. The unrealistic AI, the slow plodding players, good graphics but no substance....that has all ended. This years 2k series has out done itself in every way possible, and has passed the stable madden kingpin. I will break down the aspects into the usual format.

Graphics: 10

Even better than last year, with wonderful player animations, and full scale look a like players. The stadiums are spot on and you can almost see the blades of grass on the field. Everything is big and bold and the colors are bright and wonderful. There are no jagged edges on the xbox version I have and no slowdown in anyway. You can see the shine off there helmets, as well as the different little touches that adds to the realism of the player. Tapped fingers, air holes in helmet, crowds, etc.
The first person mode is spot on with how it should look from that vantage point.

Sound: 9

Pretty great hitting sounds and QB calls as it has been for years. They have added a little punch to the crowd sounds and the announcers are pretty good at not repeating alot of speech. You can hear the players chatter, and even get a nice little touch of humor from the announce team. You can rip your own music to your juke box on xbox and that is pretty cool stuff.

Gameplay: 9

Oh boy did they improve this. I didn't mind the running game and the linebacker play too much last year, but your DB AI last year was dumb as a stump. The jumping up in the air 10 yards in front of a wide out catching the ball is gone. The AI on both sides of the ball is wonderful, and depending on your sliders is very spot on with real life action. The controls have changed a bit, last year seemed a little squared off, this year you can almost turn on a dime with how great they are, sharp cuts, and stops are as good as it gets, and again this is all affected by your sliders for your preference. It has a few new goodies like being able to do subs from the ''plays'' menu screen, and you are also able to see the plays and routes with the right and left trigger. Everything has been revamped for the better, and since everyone is different with some adjustments of the sliders, you can make it work for you the way you want it. A lot of people have said that its too hard to tackle, but you can adjust this to fit your personal preference, and it works just fine.

Fun factor: 10

From the franchise mode to the first person mode, to the crib, this game is packed with goodies for everyone. I spent hours on the trivia mini game alone. I have not unlocked all the aspects of everything yet, so all i can tell you is that you can fix up your house with cool stuff like glass incased balls, and things like furniture and bobbleheads, its great fun. The first person mode, for a first time attemp is way better than I thought it would be, it really feels like you are out there doing it. The hits seem real, and walking up to the line and looking across at LB's wanting to kill you is great stuff. Some say it can get kind of boring, because you don't hear announcers, but I think this was for a realism factor. If you are a football fan, this game is beyond your fantasy dreams.

Tilt: 10

With all the upgrades and fixes over last years game, in my opinion, it has outdone all other football games this year. There is just way to much to say about how great this game is, and so much detail went into everything. All the problems I had with this game last year, have been more than fixed, and that alone would have been enough to make me like the game, but they went far beyond that. The fact that a Wide out does not catch everything but on the other hand does not drop everything, and sometimes you just fumble, and sometimes a bad team just plays better and wins. With all the weird things that sometime happen, its in here. I have never played the same game twice. Madden is a wonderful game as usual, and I have little bad to say about it, but this game, this year, has finally outdone madden in my eyes. Play this game, adjust your sliders, as with any game even madden, and I promise, you will be impressed. Its not about what is best or what is better, its about a great game, and this is a great game.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 09/10/03