Madden NFL 2004

After playing NCAA Football 2004, I thought that there was no way any football game released this year would be better than that game, and was I ever wrong! From the minute I booted up my Playstation 2, I was amazed to see what Tiburon did to their most acclaimed franchise! Madden 2004 is not only one of the best games I have played all year, but it is the best football game I have ever played. All of the newest additions to this year’s game makes the whole game feel extremely real! If you love games, and especially football, buy this game immediately!

To me the Madden franchise is one of the best football games in existence! The time and effort that Tiburon puts into each new game definitely shows and is always well worth paying for the new version each year. This year everything is improved upon from last year, the addictive training camp; madden cards. Tiburon was not happy just improving upon the things in last year’s game; they have included new features that expand upon the game ten-fold!

The Franchise mode in this game has been expounded on and it truly shows. There are a few new options that bring this game a whole new level closer to reality. The first thing that you will notice when you start a new franchise is the “owner mode” but I will get more into that later. Once you finish setting up what team you want to manage and all of the options, you are taken to a training camp. This allows players to accumulate more points and become better players during the season. Just like the previous game, players can make every decision from rosters, general management, job openings, and even the playbook.

The Owner’s mode in this game is something that needed to be in this type of game ages ago! The goal in this mode is to take complete control of all of the financial aspects that are accrued while owning a football team. It is now more important than ever to win the Super Bowl as many times as possible, because it keeps the fans happy, which brings in more money for you. When training camp is over this is where this mode really takes off. You must tweak the prices of the tickets, food, merchandise, parking, and advertising. The hard thing about this is trying to figure out the prices where all your fans feel comfortable paying. The better your team does, the higher you can raise prices, and you will get more money. It is all about trying to keep the fan support as high as possible.

During the off-season there are other options the Owners can do. They can get a new coaching staff, set prices on everything, and the best thing you can do has to do with the stadium. You renovate, rename, or move the team and build a new stadium. You want to keep the fans happy by making all the changes to the stadium, but on the other hand you don’t want to spend so much to make the prices of everything sky rocket to pay for the stadium. The goal is to maximize the capacity of your stadium and try to bring in more profits. This new mode brings Madden 2004 to a whole new level, it is just outstanding!

Another new aspect that Tiburon has included in Madden 2004 is the playmaker control that makes this game better than ever! You can do these right before or after the snap. Players will be able to slightly adjust their offense or defense plays to keep the opposite team on their toes at all times! Including this new option brings so much to this football game, you will soon wonder how you played without it!

EA has thrown in an extra incentive for owning NCAA Football 2004. Once you play through a season of Madden, after the Pro Bowl, you can import the Draft Class from your memory card, and all of the players are imported into Madden when the off-season begins. It is little things like this that shows that EA is always thinking about adding extra value to their games, and to reward loyalty to the EA brand!

The other new thing that EA has implemented into all of their sports games is the EA Sports Bio. The idea is that the higher points and the better that you do in the game, players will be rewarded with new stadiums, teams, and other goodies that makes the game even better. You might be thinking, ok, other games have stuff like this in them, but that is not the only thing that it does. If you have any other EA branded game you have the potential to unlock a lot of other goodies just from this game. This shows that EA is really caring for its customer loyalty by providing extra incentives to stay with the EA brand of sports games.

The Playstation 2 version of Madden 2004 is the only one to feature online play, and it is extremely better than last year’s version. After a while, a lot of players found cheats and ruined the entire online experience for everyone. This year EA has implemented a few new safeguards, such as the “Fair Play” to help deter cheating. The online mode plays really smoothly. I have a broadband connection and played against someone who has a dialup and not once did we have any lag while playing. As with NCAA Football 2004, there is an “EA Messenger”, which allows players to get buddies, store them, and see when they are online. Also included is “EA Sports Talk”, this means that if you have a headset you can talk smack with other players from around the U.S. while playing a game.

Madden 2004 is rated E for Everyone. It requires up to 1.5 MB on your memory card and can play up to 1-8 players (via multitap). To play online you must have the Network card and broadband or dialup. It is also is compatible with AOL Dial-Up.

Gameplay: 9.8
The gameplay is extremely tight and well done in this game! All of the players react to the slightest touch of the controller and that is the way it should be! All of the new features included in this version make it better than ever, the new Owner’s mode, and the playmaker control, bring this game even closer to the real thing. You can play Madden 2004 for months on end, before you even scratch the surface on what this game has to offer.

Graphics: 9.6
Madden 2004 features more detail, and even a slightly higher polygonal count on all of the players. There are a ton of new player animations, this makes the players react in a more realistic way when they are getting tackled, running, or doing anything else. Also the stadiums are more detailed including more sideline and stadium animation. What is nice is that certain players now have their trademark hairstyles, tattoos, or other signifying marks that completes their “look”.

Sound: 8.5
The game makes full use of Dolby Digital surround sound, so if you have a setup that allow it, it is well worth it! One thing that needs serious work is the commentary in this game. It is not bad, but it sounds exactly like the previous game. It seems like John Madden is saying the exact same lines that he has in every single game that features his voice. He is in some serious need of new dialog. Al Michaels does a good job, but at times seems like he is forced in his lines, in other words it doesn’t feel natural.

Besides the commentary, I loved the soundtrack that is featured in this game! It features a ton of singles from bands whose new albums have yet to be released, such as Blink 182 and Alien Ant Farm. There are also a variety of different songs ranging from rock to rap, so there is something for everyone to like in this game. If you don’t like a certain song you can even prevent it from ever playing.

Difficulty: Medium
Depending on the mode that you are playing in, the game can either be extremely hard or easy. Even though the AI has been made better this year, nothing can truly beat playing against a friend.

Concept: 9.3
Madden 2004 has a ton of new features that make it better than ever! The Owner’s mode is something that needed to be included in this game years ago. You wouldn’t believe how much fun, and at times frustrating (trying to please the fans is harder than you would think), this mode actually is. Tiburon continues to amaze me with all of the ideas that they put in each game, which makes the football experience better than ever!

Multiplayer: 9.8
Playing with a friend has never been this fun before in a football game! The online mode that is included is nothing short of “sweetness.” Tiburon has listened to the complaints about cheating in last year’s version, and they have taken steps to help prevent it.

Overall: 9.7
BEST FOOTBALL GAME EVER! There is nothing more that has to be said. Madden 2004 is the best football game that has graced my Playstation 2. If you are a fan of football games pick this up, as you will not regret it!