Madden NFL Football 2005

The man makes 20 million a year for yelling “boom” at everything, got to love it

Tags: Categories: Game Cube Reviews, PS2 Reviews, Reviews, Xbox Reviews

Posted by Andrew on Sep 12th, 2004

Title Players
Madden NFL Football 2005 (title page) 1 - 2
Developer Publisher Genre Online
Sports No


Ever want to see a 24 year old man hop around and make high pitch screaming sounds like a 12 year old girl at a pop concert? Just watch the doors of your favorite video game retailer the day that Madden comes out, EVERY YEAR!!!! It really is sick and demented masochistic streaks that makes gamer after gamer go out and purchase the title every year, knowing that there are only going to be a few minor changes; in the end, it’s the football season, and not the game that makes us “geek up”. But hey, at least I’m not the only one… right?


At E3 2004, Microsoft and EA made their long rumored announcement of a joint union so that EA games could finally be available on the Xbox Live network. Midway and Acclaim (may they rest in piece) responded to the rumors by canceling their game divisions (for the most part, see HITZ: Loaded). Sega and ESPN cut the price of their games by 60%, and the world stood on end. Madden, the best selling console game, EVERY YEAR, was now going to be a viable and commercially successful Xbox title, instead of what amounted to a PS2 exclusive for online play. As a former video game retail manager, let me assure you, that before this year, 3 copies of PS2 madden sold for every copy on another system. Madden has always run better on a PS2, the controls were smoother, and because of the design of the game, the graphics were not noticeably superior on the other two platforms. Times have changed, not only does Madden 2005 run terrific on the Xbox, but the GameCube version has come out of no where to be the best looking and most responsive of the three versions.


The first thing to be noticed, on all Madden releases this year, are the changes to the gameplay. EA has added a number of small revisions and additions to the game, in hopes of increasing realism, but unfortunately, they didn’t really add much. Players can now change the role of any player with the playmaker controls, assign a linebacker to blitz before the snap, or change the direction of a running play to match the defense. This latter change really does add to the game, but the rest of the controls are little more then moving the route audibles to the other positions on the field. The AI of the linebackers and the defensive lineman is improved, and the defensive backs now read zones much smoother and quicker. Receivers make poor decisions, however, on option routes, which have returned, and fullback blocking has taken a massive step backwards. The AI of the entire blocking schemes has taken a small step back over 2003, but still remains a strong point, as lineman will react to 1, 2 or 3 technique and stunts differently and with intelligence, unlike Madden’s competition.


Graphically, the game has a number of improvements over the past year’s game. On the PS2 side, the game has a number of new shoestring and arm tackles, as well as new running back animations. Defenders will also now jump over players or fallen officials, instead of blindly running into them. On the Xbox and most importantly the GameCube side, the game now looks very different depending on the console. It has always seemed that Madden was just a PS2 title ported over to the other two consoles, but now the Xbox version looks much crisper and has much better lighting effects, not to mention proper progressive scan filling the entire width of a widescreen TV. The GameCube version not only has the same improvements, but runs smoother and has the most responsive controls. While the control on the Xbox is still stiff, it is improved, and the PS2 still has the same level of responsiveness. The GameCube definitely had improved the most in all aspects of the game especially the level of response. Past GameCube versions suffered from noticeable button delay, meaning that you were playing blind, unable to instantly respond to oncoming defenders, but this year is much improved.


On the topic of controls, the game has made some small changes. The hurdle button has been replaced with a tuck button, meaning that for harder impacts or to avoid a fumble, it has a new feature. There is also the addition of playmaker controls, so that hard hits are no longer done by simply bursting into the opposition, but by flicking the control to set off the hit, but if you miss now, you are on the ground and the opposition is luckily to gain a large chunk of yardage. The hits that are inflicted look incredible though, but when you do miss, John is there to describe how the need for hard hits is what has destroyed the overall effectiveness of the league.


Of course John Madden and Al Michaels are back to provide commentary. While a large portion of the commentary is just rehashed, they now have a large enough selection to have at least 3 comments for most of the key players in the league, and enough general comments that it actually sounds like the player they are describing. The game play sounds are almost identical. As usual, EA did a great job with the musical selection for the game, and a number of new artists, such as Franz Ferdinand belt out great music between games.


The franchise mode has been reworked slightly to give more realism and depth. For example the Training Camp mini-games (basically Mini-Camp in Franchise mode) are what you use to give your players some progression in their talent set. This allows you finite control on how your player progresses, and easily allows for rookies to become stars (stars receive an “Icon” status, which basically changes every year to say who the current league stars are) in only a few years, which is good, because the normal player progression, is just too slow and not realistic. EA expects you to work for your “Icons”.


EA Tiburon has added quite a bit of depth to the franchise mode also. There is the EA Sports Radio Show with Tony Bruno, the addition of USA Today and actual local newspapers to go deeper into what’s going on with the NFL as a whole and your own team, an expanded draft engine, more streamlined GM options. The Tony Bruno radio show is a pretty good addition, although I know many out there are wishing it was a bit more dynamic than it is. The cool thing about it in my mind is that if there are any big trades that happen Bruno will talk about it on his show. I think it’s amazing to fathom how many avenues they thought of when creating these sound sections for Bruno.


The addition of the USA Today and local newspapers is much like the addition of Sports Illustrated in the NCAA Football series, but it is used for a much “closer to home” look at your team. In the local papers you will find out such things as: how your players are feeling; what the overall morale of the team is, etc. You click on a headline, read the news story and then you have the option of doing something about it in a simple menu. Just brings an extra level of interactivity to the game. This is also important when trying to control the moral of your players, which comes into play this year. Player morale is essentially a representation of how your player is feeling. A player who is down in the dumps usually won’t play up to his potential, so as a GM you need to keep track of all the factors that might make a player blue and either take care of him or replace him. The factors that will affect your players are realistic and can lead to common real-life issues. For example, a player with low morale won’t start fights within the organization and create media controversies ala Terrell Owens that will bring down the morale of the entire team. Morale is based off of player and public opinion and winning streaks, and can effect individual and team play. Its important now to pay attention to who is doing what, because a star player in a funk can devastate your super bowl chances.


The NFL draft has also been given a bit of a boost. You can keep tabs on 15 players that you are interested in pursuing and the draft plays out a lot more like the regular NFL draft. Each team is put on the clock and the wheeling and dealing begins. You even get crowd reactions from choices made by the teams. There is also opponent trading of draft picks to move up or down in the draft, something that was noticeably absent from previous versions. It’s all very well put together and gives you the atmosphere of actually being at the draft.


Not to leave them feeling left out, EA remembered that Madden has been a major part of Sony’s third party lineup for some time. PlayStation 2 owners have the benefit of being able to purchase the ultimate version of Madden. The Collector’s Edition. A limited property, the CE is filled with some cool stuff, especially made for die-hard Madden fanatics. The biggest part is the three bonus games: Madden Retro, Madden Classic, and Madden Vintage, based on old Madden games of the past (Madden 93 represents the 16-bit era, Madden 98 represents the pre-polygon PSX era, and Madden 2000/2001/2002 represents the late PSX era). These come with all the current teams and players, only in the classic style. Unfortunately, you can only play basic games for 1-2 players. There’s no season mode or anything of that sort, unfortunately. Thus, while they’re cool for a few games, there’s little reason to play them unless you’re really “jonesing” for an old-school game of Madden.


Other additions in the Collectors Edition include game challenges and historic games. These let you re-enact some awesome past moments in the history of the NFL. Be it changing history or keeping it accurate. They start out pretty simple, but eventually you move up to “The Drive” which is incredibly challenging against all-Madden AI. However, beating these are well worth the time. You are awarded with tons of points for buying Madden Cards to round out the collection. For those of you who excel in jeopardy you can play Madden Trivia which can be used as a multiplayer game. All in all, not a bad batch of extras for the $10 upgrade compared to the stand-alone game. Plus you get a cool slipcase package and in a very nice touch, every loading screen on the CE mentions an old Madden game with the new features included each year. It’s great for Madden buffs.


No matter what EA does, it knows that it is going to have a top seller, because Madden football has established itself at that level. The graphics engine is a bit old, and needs to be reworked, and the addition of home field advantage and crowd interaction, such as with NCAA Football should have also found there way into this title. While not the absolutely greatest year as far as upgrades, Madden 2004 still finds itself as the top dog of football games. SEGA may be trying to narrow the gap, and there massive price drop was enough to keep them even in the market share, but in the end, MADDEN WILL STAY KING, and the addition of Xbox Live only doubly insures it. I have owned every version of Madden since its inception in 1989, and I will continue to own every one, just like every other red blooded sports fan, until they stop making them.

What Works Score
+ Xbox LIVE support
+ Hit Stick
+ Collector's Edition
+ New Franchise additions 		8.8
What Doesn't
- Lack of inclusion of the key additions from NCAA 2005
- Downgrade of lineblocking A.I.
- Graphics engine is overdue for rehaul
Under the Shrink-wrap
While the game has its story, the real story is that Ray Lewis is doomed to get injured early in the year. Long live the EA curse.
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