Madden NFL 2005

"Back and Better than Ever."

Overview
John Madden NFL Football, the defining sports franchise of all time, one of the best sellers year after year, a game that is so dominate, the competitors had to lower their price to twenty dollars just to get sales. However, year after year, Madden just continues to get better and better, and this year, could be its best year ever. Just one year after most reviewers chose ESPN over Madden, Madden comes back and dominates ESPN.

*Note: the following categories are ranked in order of importance.*

Sound- 7/10
The on field sound is fine, the booms, the hits, the snaps, its all there, but its old, it needs a boost, but I imagine this won't happen until next-gen, and I am fine with that. But the commentary, god, get some new lines. Madden makes the same comments he has made since 2000, it's really getting out of hand. But Al Micheals does fine play-by-play, so I guess its okay.

Music- 10/10
I love EA Trax, and this year is no exception, a good balance of rock and rap, I prefer the rock, and it has such tracks as “American Idiot” by Green Day, and “Take Me Out” by Franz Ferdinand, it may not be the best football music, but it is good listening music. And if you don't like the music, just import some songs, Madden is custom soundtrack compatible.

Graphics- 8/10
The graphics are great, but this game was designed for the PS2 and it really shows in comparison to ESPN NFL, which has much better graphics. But the graphics are fine and just work; graphics have never been stealer, Doom 3-type in any football game, so these are fine. I just wish Tiburon would utilize the Xbox's superior hardware.

Gameplay- 10/10
As in past years where the gameplay enhancements added little to the overall play of the game, like last years playmaker, this year it changes the entire complexion of the game. The offense remains pretty much the same with just a few upgrades. Option routes, where your WR chooses which route to run based on the coverage he is looking at. An increased pocket, boy do I enjoy this, actual protection from the offensive lineman, getting rid of speed blitzing by the D-Lineman for good. Playmaker is back, and is pretty much the same, though they claim the “point” where you can re-route your wide receivers in different directions to be improved, I see no real difference.

The real upgrade occurs on defense, finally, Tiburon getting around to addressing the issues of absurdly high scoring games in Madden, and the major issue of cheeseers in online games. The number one improvement, legitimate containment of the QB on Hail Mary type plays where people like to be the Falcons and run all day with Mike Vick. Unlike the last two years, you can actually stop that now, with containment plays. The number two addition, the hit stick, is a really cool feature, which at first sounds a bit arcadey, but is a well-implemented feature. The hit stick is a powerful hit that is very risky. In essence, you tap the right analog stick in the direction of the player you want to hit, if you hit him, he gets lambasted with a real pretty animation, if you miss, oops, you just gave up a huge play. It works really well on punt returns I've found, I have already created two fumbles with the hit stick, and given up a TD or two or three. Another innovation is improved DB logic, and it really shows, they have gotten rid of what I dubbed, “The Madden Catch,” where one could catch balls in quadruple coverage routinely. While it still is possible, usually if you double team a WR you can stop him from being a major factor in the game. Defensive Assignments allow you to assign a certain player to always cover another, real helpful if your opponent likes to run their best receiver in the slot, you can just throw your best CB on him and keep them together the entire game. And because I don't know where else to put it, the new create-a-fan feature flat out sucks, the signs in NCAA 05 were so much better. Xbox Live is great as well, no hiccups at release like there were with NCAA, and a roster is already waiting for you to download, with the newest singing and cuttings, up to about the Tim Brown release. And there are plenty of tools to cut down on cheesing, like the inability to go for a 4th down in the first 3 quarters unless it is very short.

Franchise- 10/10
Franchise is the main mode I play in Madden, and it is sweet this year, the radio show is pretty cool, the newspapers are great, the e-mail is perfect, Storyline Central as a whole is a great addition. One of the things I thought they could really mess up was the anger of players, like they did in MVP Baseball, where just about everyone hated you except your #1 starter. But they did it well in Madden; one could argue not enough players get angry, for example I used my #5 pick on a WR who ended up being an 80 overall, he was my #4 wideout, and he wasn't angry at all, though my WR core was aging, and signed my basic offer. RFAs are a great new touch, but one needs to be careful, I offered Ricky Manning Jr., a bit too much and ended up having to give my first and third rounders to the Panthers. The draft is much better, teams trade around picks, but only in the first and second round, I would like to see more trading in later rounds. The teams also draft realistically now, 7 WRs are not taken in the first round anymore. Owner Mode is back and pretty much the same, added features include the ability to renovate your stadium certain parts at a time, and there are some new upgrades, when you move you still don't get to have your logo on your helmet, which is kind of annoying, and I would think would be an easy fix. The ability to practice is nice as well for people that play a lot of games, and the “Coach's Gameplan” is a cool way to see what you need to do in the game. Position Battles are cool in training camp, though sometime the results aren't great, or random, mostly on defense. Teams now use most of their cap, and player progression is much better.

ESPN or Madden/Rent or Buy
If you like football in anyway, or have any plans to play the franchise mode, buy Madden. If you just want a football game to play a few times now and then, save 30 bucks and go with ESPN.

And this game is a definite buy; the replay is infinite, as there is no way to “beat” the game.

Overall- 10/10
The best game so far in the Madden series, and the best football game this year, overtaking both ESPN and EA Sport's own NCAA Football from last year.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 08/12/04