"Looking for a fun football game that will last? This is for you."

I've wanted to get a football game for a few years, but none of them really gave me that feel of a winner. Though this year of Madden seemed to be perfect for my need to have everything so realistic and in order.

Franchise Mode: 8/10

This part isn't as good as it's hyped up to be. The pricing of food, parking and stadium tickets, and other various things are cool at first, but loose their effect in say, a season. The real cool thing about this mode is the upgrades you can do on the stadium, and how they really effect the stadium. Like, grass that will keep snow from sticking on it, hologram goalposts. Cool additions like that which really make me happy, but wouldn't really make the game any better to people who don't care about trivial things like that. You just into the gameplay? Well lets go on then.

Graphics: 8/10

This game will look like your playing a real game...at times...The player models are horrible. Not that it matters since it's a football game and they have helmets on. The stadium for Heinz Field is done really really well. I can't say about the other fields since I've never been to another one...also the ref's scare the crap out of me. The monotone! The evil! Overall, it's the best looking football game I've seen so far. But not the best looking graphics.

Music/Sound: 9/10

This game is really good with it's music play list. Well I needed to keep half of them off to keep me from killing myself. (I despise rap...) But they made it up with songs from AFI, Adema, Gob, and Alien Ant Farm. A great thing is you can turn off certain songs if you don't like them. The crowd really sounds like a crowd...but sometimes cheers at awkward times. Like when a penalty against the home team is called. Little sounds like tackles and people on the team saying stuff before the snap are all done really well.

Gameplay: 9/10

The gameplay is almost perfect. The Playmaker control was again, not as good as hyped. It's very hard to use the C-Stick and the other stick at the same time and actualy play good. In fact, I find myself rarely using it besides on defense to change my safety's coverage before the snap. Well, you can't really explain how a football game plays...so on to the controls!

Controls: 7/10

It's just pure freaking evil at first. It's impossible to toss away the ball. I've tried to at least 40 times. You either pump fake, or pull the ball down and run. Both ways you will most likely end up getting sacked. I can say that, but it does get more familiar the more you play. So, as bad as it seems at first, you will get used to this.

Overall: 9/10

Rent or Buy: I would say buy if you like football or played any Madden game before and liked it. Rent if your not sure or a big football fan. Also, this game will last. I got this game when it first came out, and that was about...5 months ago. I still play this game often.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/28/04, Updated 04/29/04