Ign's review of Madden

[SeasonTicketHolder]

Long review, got a score of 9.5, which is higher than ESPN.

http://ps2.ign.com/articles/536/536289p1.html

[MTK]

This sums up the difference between the 2K series and Madden perfectly

The game might lack the presentation, the visual eye candy of ESPN 2K5, but more than makes up for it in the one area that counts the most, the reason you buy a game... gameplay.

This season, ESPN might have plenty of sizzle, but Madden is still the steak.

[SeasonTicketHolder]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

This sums up the difference between the 2K series and Madden perfectly

Yeah, I agree.

[SKINSnCANES]

I like this clip he had at teh end of the article:



In the end, it's a great year to be a football fan. With ESPN and Madden, you have two phenomenal games in their own right, each offering things the other doesn't. I love certain aspects about ESPN, the presentation, VIP, the highlights, but when it comes down to it, the things I like best about Madden are its franchise mode and, most importantly, its gameplay. And in the end, isn't that what it's all about?

If you have $70.00, buy a copy of each game and be thankful for owning both. If you only have $20.00, beg someone for $30.00 more and buy yourself a copy of Madden. It's a close call, but someone has to win, just ask the Panthers.

[skinsfanthru&thru]

I'll wait until I actually get to try madden out, I'll wait to say which one has better gameplay. and it will be hard to beat espn 2k5 even though madden is deeper in its franchise mode to an extent. Playing the actual game means the most to me and all the extra stuff is just bonus stuff. with espn 2k5 being better than madden 2004 and very few upgrades in madden this year, I just don't see the extra franchise stuff in madden being worth $30. It's easy to say madden's the best when its pretty much been the only football game around worth buying for the last 15 years, but its looking more and more like that can't be said for once this year.

[SKINSnCANES]

what are you talking about with theribeing very few upgrades in madden this year?!?!? And if gameplay is what you want and dont care about the bonus stuff then you theres no reason in my opinion to want 2k5, becuase thats all it has going is the presentation and graphics. The movement is unnatural in 2k5. Plus madden will be the only one with realistic game play, a first for a football game. No more just throwing the bomb, and throwing off of one foot and having a perfect spiral. Im tempted to just start playing the nwe madden on the all madden level becuase of how real they say it is. It will be hard at first but it'll just make me a better player in the long run. 2k5 is cheaper, but if you acutally play the game for more then head to head purposes the 'bonus stuff' is worth 30 dolalrs to make it mroe realistic. I would consider bonus stuff to be the VIP room in 2k5, yea its cool to see waht youve done, but what does buying bobble heads have to do with gameplay or trades or anything like that.

[SeasonTicketHolder]

I agree. I bought ESPN for 16 bucks last week hoping maybe they improved the gameplay. No, they still waddle when they run and look like gorillas. The presentation is great, but gameplay is definitely the most important thing. Madden has always been the best in that area.

[SKINSnCANES]

I almost regreat buying espn now. I really wanted a football game to play, soI spent 20 bucks on somethign I played, what, 11 games on...and probably wotn ever play it again...

[SeasonTicketHolder]

lol, I feel your pain. I think I played maybe 3 full games.

[illdefined]

guys, really. we have Madden '04. how really different will '05 be? if you didnt have any 2K before, now you have the best one and for $20. as tweaked as Madden is, you can always impress your friends with the presentation and awesome real tackles of ESPN

[skinsfanthru&thru]

I don't back down from saying there r few improvements in this years madden over last years cuz the only things different is it leans more onto the defensive side this game, the radio show(which talks more about the rest of the league than the team being used), and the lighting, just don't do it for me. I think espn looks a heck of a lot more fluid and natural than madden, but maybe there's a big difference between what Ps2 users and X-Box users see.
The only really kewl thing about the new madden from what I've seen and read is the create a fan feature.

[MTK]

Very few upgrades? What about these?

-Defensive hot routes and defensive playmaker

-Improved AI (As the review says, "2005's AI is by far the slickest, smartest AI of any football game ever put to polygons, period, and the main reason why Madden is once again the single most dominant force in sports video games.")

-The hit stick

-Change your offensive formation at the line

-Black routes, or QB containment on defense, and orange routes, or option routes on offense

-Completely revamped draft

-Computer initiated trading (during the draft too)

-Player morale that effects your ability to re-sign guys

-Player ratings change throughout the season

These are just a few, I'm not sure what you mean when you say few upgrades. The IGN review is chuck full of new stuff for '05.

[skinsfanthru&thru]

to me its the same game with new rosters. most of that stuff either isn't that big enough of an adjustment for me to spend $50 on another football game or was something that needed to be fixed anyways ie the draft and trading(which r already pretty good in espn 2k5). I'll take gang tackling over a suped up hit and I've yet to play a madden game with anything in the way of great AI. And I'm saying all this stuff and being such a loud voice against madden this year after having played and sometimes bought practically every madden that has come out. My point of view is why should I spend $50 on a game thats a somewhat revamped version of last years when I could put that money towards another game or 2 or a new skins jersey? Oh and for those who weren't happy with their Espn 2k5 that haven't ordered madden yet could trade it in for $10 towards madden at eb.

[MTK]

Seems like you're writing off the game before you've even played it.

But hey, to each his own. I think it's great there's two great football titles available, the competition only benefits us in the end as both companies try to out do each other.

[SKINSnCANES]

Originally Posted by skinsfanthru&thru

to me its the same game with new rosters. most of that stuff either isn't that big enough of an adjustment for me to spend $50 on another football game or was something that needed to be fixed anyways ie the draft and trading(which r already pretty good in espn 2k5). I'll take gang tackling over a suped up hit and I've yet to play a madden game with anything in the way of great AI. And I'm saying all this stuff and being such a loud voice against madden this year after having played and sometimes bought practically every madden that has come out. My point of view is why should I spend $50 on a game thats a somewhat revamped version of last years when I could put that money towards another game or 2 or a new skins jersey? Oh and for those who weren't happy with their Espn 2k5 that haven't ordered madden yet could trade it in for $10 towards madden at eb.

Skisnfan, if you dont like madden, its no hair off my back. But none of your reasoning makes sense, other than the price. For years Madden was a roster update, id say basically up until last year. ANd if you have purchased a ton of 'roster updates' it maeks sense that you woudl be mad at this point. But because of the competition they have acutally done a ton to upgrade the game this year.

But if youre happy with espn, theres nothing wrong with getting a skins jersey or somethign like that. Ive been waiting for years for a lot of this changes to be made becuase of how serious I am about playing madden.

As a side note though, had madden not done any of these upgrades, id still buy it just for the new roster and having portis. lol. It would be boring after a few weeks becuase id be able to dominate on all madden, but alteast id have portis. It made me really happy when they said that all madden was so realistic that its really hard to play at. To me the only thing that was hard about all madden was teh stupid kicking...that sucked...