Madden NFL 2004
EA’s cash cow gets a whole lot fatter and prettier…
Tags: Madden NFL Football 2004 Categories: PS2 Reviews, Reviews
Posted by Travis on Aug 29th, 2003
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Madden NFL Football 2004 (title page) | |||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Action | No | ||
Every year people line up at their favorite video game retailer looking to be the first to score the newest John Madden Football so they can practice and get good enough to shamelessly mock and torment their friends while playing. Every year since 1989, EA has had a cash cow which has been milked so continuously that all sports games released are measured against this cannon of excellence.
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This year’s tour-de-force is not only the crown jewel of football games, but it builds on last year’s version with not only greatly improved graphics and franchise features, but also online play, much improved AI (something that was needed for about the last 5 years before that) and actual pass defense. So this year they had a lot to work with…
To start with, the major features included in this year’s version are the owner mode, the playmaker mode and much improved online play. All of these features are integral and absolutely needed, with maybe only the playmaker mode being average. The playmaker mode allows the player to change your top receiver’s routes mid-play while scrambling around in order to free up the receiver. The problem being the top receiver is often no where near the actual play and can often leave the player a little frustrated.
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In order to allow for much better viewing of the field while scrambling, new moving camera angles allow for better angles and much easier command of a scrambling QB (yes Mike Vick is by far the most abused player in this game).
Overall the graphics are another major step up, with the new play calling system getting a special notice. While selecting plays, highlights and replays are shown in the middle of the screen with the plays on the top and bottom. The overall effects and sounds mix like a real game telecast and make the whole experience that much more life like.
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The next major new feature is the owner mode, which allows the player to take the role of owner, complete with managing team finances, building, relocating or upgrading the stadium, hiring coaching staffs and signing the players, which now includes prorated contracts and signing bonuses. The standard franchise mode is included also, but the owner mode is much more complete and pretty well done. It’s now important to manage your advertising and training staff money against coach’s salaries.
You control how much a hot dog cots, how much each seat cost and how much you charge for parking. You can even give away cheap peaces of plastic to get your not so loyal fans to come to your games. You actually need to resign certain players to longer and high contracts just to lower this year’s cap number just like the real game (thanks Carmen Policy).
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Another part of the owner/franchise modes is the inclusions of the training camp games from Madden 2003. This time you are using the skill games to get stat points for your players, and gambling those points against your ability to complete the same tests against harder challenges. This adds a much more player controlled feel to the long term success of the team and favorite players.
The online mode, which is exclusive to the PS2, is redone this year with better stat tracking, the ability to use a USB headset to smack talk, and better controls against cheaters.
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That being said it is still possible to cheat, and if you quit instead of finish a game, it doesn’t count against you or for the other player (which means all those fools that I beat mercilessly won’t let me keep my real record, bastards!). EA has made all of their sports titles online features exclusive to the PS2, but does give each other version something exclusive also.
Overall the improvements in this year’s Madden are enough to keep any fan interested and is by far the best work put out by EA games. All the old features are kept or improved, the new features work seamlessly to greatly give a much fuller experience, and the smack talking and friend humiliating will continue, at least until Madden 2005.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
|
Owner mode New playcalling interface Greatly improved offensive line AI |
9.6 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
Online cheaters Some bugs in Owner/Franchise mode |
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| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
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Taking a long standing great series, and putting out the best sports game ever wins you some kudos, and another year of people lining up just to get the newest rosters... |
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Tags: Madden NFL Football 2004
Posted by Travis on Aug 29th, 2003 and is filed under PS2 Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
