Madden NFL 2005

Added January 6th, 2005 by Kisan Parikh

Introduction:

The Madden series has dominated all competition in football video games for many years. Madden 2005 was supposed to bring in the normal high dollars, but this time ESPN put a ton of effort into their lower priced game. Perhaps because of this competition Madden didn’t dominate, but is it still a good game? Madden 2005's advertising slogan to this day has been “Fear the D". EA boasts that they have a revolutionary defensive system which features the momentum changing hit stick. While I can agree with them that they have made improvements to the defense, I think that there is a lot more that needed to be improved upon.

Gameplay:

As far as gameplay goes, Madden 2005 showed great advances in improving the defensive system. You can now take complete control of the defensive side of the ball because of the new features. One of the new additions is the defensive hot route system. Now you can change individual player assignments by highlighting the player and tapping the right joystick in the desired direction. This allows you to change coverage assignments, push linebackers back, bring in a safety blitz, change your linemen’s attack, and much more. Along with the coverage and line audibles, this all adds up to a much more manageable defense. Another great addition to the game is the defensive hit stick. You can just tap the right control stick in the direction of the ball carrier and bury him. This feature leads to many more fumbles and dropped passes, but you must be careful when you use it. If you miss the player with the hit stick, you completely miss the tackle. This helps balance the game a bit, but offensive showdowns happen a bit too often.

The offense is pretty much the same from the year before. Any seasoned Madden gamer can pick this years game up quite easily on the offensive side of the ball. There are some subtle changes like the inclusion of formation shifts. Basically, you can move your running back out of the backfield, stack a side with receivers, and generally micromanage your offense pretty effectively. The difficulty modes are set up pretty nicely. People new to the Madden franchise will find the game more enjoyable on the easier mode, and the veterans will find much to like about the harder difficulties.

When it comes to the franchise mode, I feel that Madden has done a superb job of making this one of the most fun and interactive yet. This time around there has been an overhaul of last year’s tedious system. Storyline Central is the new way to keep track of what is going on with the NFL. You can view local newspapers as well as keep track of player moral. Through the email system, your players will either complain or express their happiness based on what is going on in that season. Morale is controlled by a few factors including playing time, position changes, and the loss of big name teammates. The morale of a player affects both his performance on field and his willingness to negotiate. The draft has also been improved from last year’s version. This time around you can scout up to 15 players in advance. You get reports of the player’s vertical jump, 40 time, interview impressions, and more. During the draft, you can then trade picks as you try to acquire your desired prospect. Besides the draft, the off season hasn’t changed much. Aside from the great franchise mode, you are offered with a brand new mini-camp feature. In this mode you are allowed to play mini-games with a limited amount of players to build their ratings. This is a great way to simulate training camp, and most of the mini-games are very fun.

Overall, I feel that Madden offers superb gameplay in both franchise mode and in-game. It definitely has the fun factor that a sports game needs, and Madden 2005 also has a lot for football enthusiasts who love to get into the play calling and strategy. The franchise mode offers a ton of options and features to keep you coming back for more.

Graphics:

Over the years, Madden has never shown any drastic improvements in the graphics department. Each year the game could never shed the stiff, unimpressive look that had become a standard in the series. This year, I was hoping that this wouldn’t be the case. Unfortunately, EA did not fix this issue, and the game has the same basic look as Madden 2004. This means that yet again, Madden offers consumers with the same solid graphics that don’t really amaze anyone.

This is not to say that they didn’t make changes. They did go ahead and tweak the tackling animations a bit, and they also added a few details. These details range from blood on the jersey to body build. This isn’t enough to help make the game look better on the grand scheme of things, because the players still have the same generic look to them. Certain players are recognizable, but for the most part, you cannot differentiate between players. The animation changes, as well as some menu changes, offered some steps in the right direction, but I think they need to show a lot more graphical enhancements next year.

Audio:

Madden’s audio is outstanding for the most part. EA always does a great job of putting together a AAA soundtrack to keep the menus interesting. As far as in game sounds go, everything sounds as close to real as any game yet. Sure John Madden’s voice gets awful repetitive, especially for those who have been long time Madden fans, but besides that the only other problem is the referee being inaudible after some reviewed plays.

Controls:

The controls all work in perfect conjunction with one another. The basic layout become natural, and learning the audibles will become second nature. EA has been at this for a long time now, and they have football controls down pat. If you want a football game that is easy to pick up and play, as far as realistic football games go, look no further.

Replay:

Madden 2005 offers many ways to enjoy the game. As well as franchise mode (featuring practice mode) and exhibition, Madden also offers mini-games this year. These mini-games are simple, but still manage to offer an entertaining alternative to the main game. Another new mode is Create-a-Fan mode. Using this, you are able to design anything from a normal fan to a crazy one. This feature isn’t really needed, but it still is a cool little diversion. On Xbox Live, Madden 2005 performs fantastically and I experienced smooth gameplay in each game. You are offered all the standard features that you would expect such as Optimatch and Quickmatch, and are so able to find a human opponent quickly. Overall I think Madden 2005 has much replay value, simply because it offers so many different modes of play that keep you interested.

Summary:

I think Madden is a great game, but it doesn’t really outshine Sega’s ESPN NFL 2k5. Long time Madden fans should be pretty satisfied with this game, but it feels more evolutionary then revolutionary. The defensive improvements are a step in the right direction, but there needs to be more work on making the game more balanced. I also think that Madden 2005 has much farther to go in graphics, as there was very little change from 2004 to 2005. All in all, this game is good, but there is just not enough there to call it great.