Madden NFL 2005

"Perhaps a tad bit overrated; but still a very good game"

There isn't too much new to the Madden NFL 2005 domain, but a few new features have been tweaked.

First of all, a lot of hype has gone into wrenching up the defensive mode, and this year Madden has done this through additional "Playmaker" addendums for the Defense. The new defensive abilities allow you move any defensive player to another person or area of the field much like you could alter a single hot-zone tight end, wide receiver, or running back on offense. You could move more than one defensive player, but you would have to do it one person at a time. So choose wisely. (Next year: same mobility options for the offensive receivers/running backs, perhaps?)

The other new change is the "hit stick" that allows the secondary (or what's usually called the analog joystick) to move in a certain direction depending on what you want the defensive player to do. The games I've played, I haven't found this to be as effective, as it kind of counterintuitive at times. It also seems like something that the computer portion of the defensive player was suppose to do anyway, so I don't quite see the point of letting you do it all the time.

I've played all of my Madden games at a level that I would call mostly beginner, not at the insanely All-Madden level that allows the AI to get a lot of advantages. (I usually tweak it so that both sides are really aware of everything, and I play the full 15 minutes per quarter.) Supposedly the new changes was suppose to lower the insane scores. I don't see it. Furthermore, it also doesn't help the fact that stats are still out of whack. There are too many games where you or the computer are going to pile up over five-hundred yards of total offense a half at least and also to accumulate that many yards of penalties if you put the penalty meter at the strictest level you could possible have, so there's penalties on every play. (I'm not sure why there's such a variable option, anyway. Officiating should be limited into three levels: Flag, Regular Season, and Tournament mode.) However, it is nice to see that going for it on 4th and 15 won't be such a sure thing now.

Eyecandy is where I feel most of the stuff has been modified. The create a fan deal is so not worth your time, as your fan will be about as good looking as the rest of the fans in the stadium. "EA Trax" are still very good, although I wish they could have put more effort in making more television-ish sounding music. Would it be too difficult to write scripts for Michaels, Madden, Tony Bruno (What, couldn't get Jim Rome or someone from the ESPN or other nationally sports radio shows, or even a famous local sports radio talking head?), or their female sideline announcer that would make them sound more like they weren't reading from a script?

Yes, believe it or not, there is more realism to your Franchise/Dynasty modes, as you get headlines and stories from USA Today, story jabbering from EA Radio's Tony Bruno show, and e-mails from all of yours players and player's agents. I'm not sure whether to marvel at the realism or the wretch at the advertising placements. I'm not totally sure how all of this, as well as fan reaction to your team's performance is suppose to impact the games you play in the future. But, I do like how the chemistry of the team itself does effect your overall team's play. That thing should be exploited by EA in the future.

The graphics (getting back to eyecandy) is really good. There are been a lot of comparisons between Madden's Graphics and ESPN's graphics for 2005. If it is exterior art like the stadiums, cheerleaders, players sitting on the sidelines, ESPN wins. If it's still-shots and photos, Television graphics and stat placements, on-the-field player movements and look, Madden barely wins that comparison. I would lean towards ESPN's graphics overall because their players do not look as blocky as Madden's players do. However, Madden's animation of the players is much, much better than ESPN's.

The biggest (and mostly untrumpeted) change in Madden 2005 (and all EA sports games in general) is a better online experience as well as a premium service that you can register for online. While the EA Sports Bio is free, and will somehow still help you get stuff you can't get without purchasing all of the games and spend as much time as you can possibly with or without ruining your collegiate academic career or your job, or social life, the premium service is not. Part of the premium service will allow you to play in online-tournaments, much like the Madden 2005 tour will do in finding the players who are the best of the best at their games. (It was on the tour last year where the EA Sports folks discovered that 8-minute scores were "too high." I can't see how the scores will actually be lower this year because player vs. player games are much more complicated than player vs. computer games will ever be.) Other things include seeing your score on-line versus other across the nation, the opportunity to be apart of an on-line "league", and the ability to see how you and others rate on things like, how long does it take for you to quit the game if it's not going your way. There are other features that maybe added later on. Oh, and they've finally have it so that you can play on-line on the X-Box. I hope you have another telephone line, you're going to need it.

So, in summary, how does the Madden 2005 version compare with history and the competition? Very favorably. Now since the main competition is from ESPN, this version of Madden seems to be far more focused. While there wasn't anything from the 2004 version that was removed for the 2005, the changes while substantial aren't completely out of the blue either. There are a few things that I don't like about Madden: the wooden expressions that the voice-overs say and perhaps the drive for so much realism in the game, all that's missing is another voice-over saying how this game is copyrighted for the private use of their audience by the NFL. (That's probably next, also.) But I think too often, we look for the perfect game and not an enjoyable game. This is neither the perfect game or the best football game ever. I found Madden 2005 to be very enjoyable, even if I don't choose to go for the online features.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/08/04