Madden NFL 2005

"Best Madden I have ever played"

When I heard reviews of ESPN NFL 2K5 I was extremely shocked of how good it was. Plus it's only 20$, but then I wanted to get Madden 2005 and I hoped that I didn't regret buying it. Well I dont have to worry about it because this is the best football game that came out this year.

Graphics: 8.5/10

Graphics are pretty good. See some lighting effects involved that wasn't in the 2004 version. It's not as good as NFL 2k5 but good enough. There is a few issues though like how the coach faces look a little weird and a little bit abnormal. Also that when you are picking your plays most of the time when a player runs to the huddle they look like there are jumping and running at the same time. To the good parts I like where when u start playing a game and its sunny and then at the 3rd quarter it got darker and the sun was setting. I really like that.

Sound and Music: 9/10

Commentary hasn't change a whole lot. Its pretty good when you can hear a guy about to crush the other guy. You gotta love that sound :). Anyways, The music is pretty good. Pretty well balance. A little bit of rock and bit of rap makes Madden fans feel happy.

Gameplay: 10/10

One word. Incredible. ESPN has nothing on gameplay againest Madden. Even though I have played NFL 2K5 at a friend's house and like the gameplay, Madden's gameplay is even better. I really really really like the playmaker defense. You can change things so you can make sure you can stop the play. One of the things I like was the brand new "Hit Stick". When you about to run into the other player and making sure your about to hit you can just move the Right Analog stick in any direction and you can just give it to him. The "Hit Stick" gives you more of a change to forcing a fumble or a injury.

Franchise:10/10

Other thing Madden beats ESPN is the franchise. There are still the same things from 2004 just with even better things. There is something new called Story Central. Where you can look at newspapers of your team and see how the press thinks of you. Also there is something called "EA Radio" hosted by Tony Bruno. I absolutely love the radio. So when I'm looking at my team and player stats I can hear what the people are talking about and people calling in to talk about the issues in the NFL season so far. Other thing is E-Mail. Where you get players, research departments, and coaches mailing you about how the feel about whats happening so far or telling you important information. One more thing is where if you are losing alot or you are not showing alot of "love" to your players they may not like what your doing. Something called "Morales" show how they feel about the team. It will either go up or down depending on what you did during the game or if you gave them more money or something.

At the end Madden NFL 2005 is better then ESPN NFL 2K5. Even though Sega made EA Sports very nervous about the price drop, but at the end EA Sports prevail but by much.

Last Note: If you want a great game with a great price then get ESPN NFL 2k5.
If you want the BEST game that is out on the shelves and have extra 30$ then get Madden NFL 2005.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 08/13/04