"Everything about this game screams "rush job""

I bought this game simply because I'm a football fan and it was, at the time, the only game in town. I didn't expect much, so I was pleasantly surprised when I turned it on and found a passable exterior, with "favorite team" selection, season mode, practice, and exhibition games. Then I actually started playing it.

Graphics: 4/10

The menu screens don't really have anything noticeably pretty about them, and are generally unimpressive, yet somehow they manage to drop in framerate quite frequently. Apparently EA didn't spend too much time modeling on this game, because there are three models of player: thin, medium, and fat. They almost look like they could have been pulled from an early PS1 game, due to the fact that they all look blocky and just generally unrefined. Oh, and did I mention that there's only one stadium available to play in? What's up with that? Plus, there are several unforgivable graphical glitches such as the in-game stat boxes showing up as gibberish because all five rows of text are layered on top of one another. This is a fairly common error too. Apparently nobody playtested this one.

Sound: 3/10
Hoo boy. The music at the menu is the same 40 second clip repeated over and over again. In game, I have the sound turned off most of the time, because the "crowd noise" sounds awful. The announcers don't say anything most of the time. When they do, it's one of the same few canned clips (there are less than 10 total I think). And furthermore, what they say is usually totally moronic and has nothing to do with the play. (Example: At the end of a kickoff return, "And it results in a first down." Well, yeah... and the point is? When doesn't it result in a first down?)

Gameplay: 6/10
I'm going to split this category up into two sections.
Outside of the game: 4/10
Where do I start? There is a season mode, but it only goes one season. At the end of the season, you have to delete it and start a new one. Perhaps the biggest flaw in the whole game is the inability to save modified rosters. Try to move Muhsin Muhammad to the Bears, for example, and he'll remain on their roster... until you turn the game off, at which point everything resets back to default.
In game: 7/10
I have two major complaints about this. Most of the time, it plays a pretty good game of football, except for:

- Passing seems like total luck as to whether you make the pass or not. Since every receiver will always - always - be in at least 1 on 1 coverage, it's a 50% chance at best that they catch the ball. Usually, you'll be throwing into two or three man coverage. This results in some very very statistically weird lines for QBs at the end of the game. ("6 for 24, 350 yards, 3 TDs, 3 INTs")

- Toss plays are absolutely broken. Even on All Pro or All Madden difficulty, you will get 5 yards out of a toss play every time. Once the AI picks up on it, all you have to do is toss it to the other side. Quentin Griffin (the default Broncos starter) should not be gaining 824 rushing yards and 14 TDs in a single game.

Multiplayer: n/a/10

I don't have a friend with the game and thus have been unable to play it.

Replay Value: 5/10

Collecting the Madden cards adds a small amount of replay. Other than that, the only reason you'll be coming back to it is for quick football fixes.

Buy or Rent?
Neither. Get the far superior '06 version. (Or whatever the current version is at the time you read this.)

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 01/18/06