GENRE
	Sports
	DEVELOPER
	Tiburon
	PUBLISHER
	Electronic Arts
	NUMBER OF PLAYERS
	1-4
	CONNECTIVITY
	yes
	BUY NOW AT

Quality is like a magnet to the game-buying public and Madden has been “attracting” millions of gamers hard-earned dollars for years. I thought that last year’s installation on the Madden Franchises was one of the deepest and most excellent video games I’ve ever played, that is, until the the sequel came out.

Most notable in this years’ installment of Madden is the incredibly intuitive playmaker control, the newfound depth of the owner mode and the newly improved GBA connectivity. In addition, there are more animations, team specific playbooks, and just so much damned goodness I might as well get this review rolling right now!

visuals

First and foremost, in case you’ve been living under a rock, Madden has the most convincing hit detection, stunning animations and outright pizzazz of any sports games on the market. It’s a beauty to behold and the details, functionality, and overall excellence of the graphics have only been augmented this year.

Madden’s stunning graphics have become more functional this year with the addition of a lean for the scrambling QB. When you break right the camera will tilt to the opposite direction give you a wider field of vision. I would’ve liked to see the camera pull back a little further because you still have an obstructed wing on your plays. I guess that one way you could look at that is that a quarterback really does have a blind wing when scrambling. Just ask Joe Montana when he had his elbow smashed to bits on a blindsider from behind.

The instant replays in between play selections are now integrated into the play-calling menu, a feature I appreciate. It gives the menu much more of a symbiotic feel in the game, rather than being foreign and disjointed. Also, I like the fact that, as always, the plays are easy to read and the coaches cam is easy to follow both on defense and offense. What I don’t like is the new letterings on the players when you call up the coaches cam. I found the yellow letters much simpler to pick up. Now when I call up the coaches cam, the letter assignments tend to obstruct my view of the defense at the line of scrimmage. Particularly on a “trips” play near the line. This is a good example of too much tinkering.

One small note: when the “defelection” animation kicks in where the ball squirms around…the tension to catch that thing feels just like the real NFL. Believe me, DB’s will catch your deflected misses, so don’t press Y unless you know that you’re going to come down with it.

Overall though, Madden once again is visually incredible. The menus are simple and intuitive, the stadiums are gorgeous, and the on-field action is superb. Nice work.

audio

EA Sport Trax (sounds like a yeast infection treatment) rolls on this year with some great tunes from Bust A Rhymes and others. The soundtrack to Madden is diverse and well rounded.

What I definitely like this year is the inclusion of player audio on the field. Now you can hear players calling “you ain’t got nuthin’”. It definitely gives the game more life. EA must still work on this element though, with more crowd interaction, calls from the coaches, and more on field chatter. Audio sells the realism of the game.

gameplay

During the years where Madden wasn’t the sharpest looking or sounding game, gameplay sold this title to the #1 spot. Well now this bad boy is Sofia Vergara nude, in the kitchen making you pasta and chilling your beer for you while filing your taxes. Looks, and more importantly action, set this bad boy apart.

Most notable in the game play department is the introduction of the playmaker feature. This all works through the C stick and it works incredibly well. If I’m in the I formation and about to run a “Henry Slash” to the right of the center, I just tap the C stick to the left and the whole play is reversed. These playmaker options work particularly well because the playbooks are team specific. So a scrambler like Michael Vick can take advantage of the Falcon playbook. No more tinkering with a million buttons. Also, on a scramble, the C Stick will alter the wideout’s route to whatever you select. When running, you’ll get to lead a blocker to the hole that you want as well. All of this happens on the fly.

The sacrifice for the Playmaker on the GameCube is that you now have to use R and Z button to call up the coaches cam with diagrams. Also, when running the stiff arm (a very useful move) is assigned to the Z button. ANYTHING mapped to that Z button sucks because the button itself is so poorly placed that it just isn’t functional. Now that isn’t EA’s fault, and truthfully they did the best they could with Miyamoto’s inferior button layout.

A few other game play notes. During the play calling screen you can switch packages to jumbo, triple wideout, double HB’s in the backfield, and even spell your running back for a play or two all by the touch of a button. Just look to the left of the play call and switch in the units that you want. How amazing is that? Such a complicated strategy in real football is handled so ergonomically. Well done.

The mini-camp where you test your skills has been improved as well. You can chew up hours on this feature. As well, the situational game play feels excellent as well with new situations. Don’t forget the Madden play cards that you earn and the chance to increase your overall stature via the EA sports bio option. When I booted my copy of Madden it automatically gave me several cards for my accomplishments in NCAA Football 2004. Very cool.

Of course, the biggest off field option is the owner mode. You can set everything from hot dog prices to the price of skyboxes. Also, you can even redesign your stadium or move your team to Toronto where it belongs. This mode will have detail freaks drooling like a rabid dog for weeks.

While you can’t go online, you can connect your GBA for connectivity which allows you to work with suggested plays from your GBA. Think of it as an extension of the Ask Madden feature in the play call screen. Also, you’ll have a scoreboard on the GBA. I find the whole GBA connect thing to be a real gimmick that’s Nintendo’s answer for wussing out on the much more expensive route for online play. It hasn’t been implemented creatively since Rayman 3/Splinter Cell because it’s a silly idea. Once again though, EA did the best with what Nintendo gave them.

multiplayer

This game is the king for sports fanatics. Now with the AI being so tightly refined, you really do have to run a precision route as a receiver if your want your buddy, the QB, to hit you for a gain. It’s a ton of fun with football savvy players. If you have any sports rookies, break out the Super Monkey Ball for them and tell them to give you fifty push ups!

overall

Practice makes perfect and EA Sports is bloody well as near as it gets. All of the AI holes, specific playbooks and overall tight feeling of the game comes across as a polished and excellent version of the best sports game out there. Unfortunately, I wish that this game had two things that aren’t EA’s fault. An online option and a controller that actually doesn’t suck. The Z button makes my big hands feel awkward and I’d be itching to get online and play some tournaments.

9.9/10