Ah, you can always smell football season when it comes.  Hot dogs are on the grill, cold drinks are on ice and those gridiron heroes are ready for another rousing season of NFL football--it’s almost enough to bring tears of joy to a fan’s eyes.  Yet it also means gamers will again have to make a few choices from the long line-up of football titles.  Among them, NFL GameDay 2004 is here yet again--this time it has a few surprises up its sleeve.  Are we ready for some football?  You better believe we are.

Last year’s NFL GameDay left much to be desired and was swallowed whole by the leading competition that is Madden and ESPN.  Yet like any good coach, 989 Sports got back up from this hard beating and returned to the drawing board to redesign many of the things that went wrong last season.  The result is a game that has been tightened in all the right places, a dynamic online mode and the use of a USB headset for voice recognition during the single player mode.  Now, if you can stop drooling for a bit, we’ll jump right into the review.

Plenty of the same modes are back, which might be seen as a sort of a disappointment by those gamers that have turned to the Madden titles.   There’s Seasons mode, Preseason, Tournament, Practice, General Manager and Franchise Management.  In the Franchise Management mode you can create your own team and even edit the playbook or set up new rosters.  You can also take the game online using either Broadband or dial-up.  The online mode is everything a sports fan dreamed it would be with its downloadable content and ultra smooth action.  This is a prime example of how to do online gaming on the PS2.

Features such as the Max Block move give your players a better edge and allow more protection for your quarterback.  It’s things like this that have improved the game to tighten both the defense and offense.  And, instead of calling the plays manually, you can now do it through an USB headset (the one that comes included with SOCOM will do just nicely).  The voice recognition feature works rather well, although there are times when the voice recognition doesn’t quite understand some commands.  Still this feature is a wonderful addition and is quite welcome in the football genre.

The game’s problems are quite noticeable and gamers will find that one particular problem centers around the running game that requires gamers to really know their football . . . well enough that it will alienate those gamers that only have a passing interest in the game.  Unless you know how to really call some plays, the other team’ll flatten you so many times that it’ll leave a gamer frustrated.  The playbook is also not what a football fan might call quite on the full side, but compared to last year’s game; the changes are good enough even though fans would have appreciated more options.

Visually, gamers will not be swept away by the visual improvements but its adequate enough that gamers will recognize favorite arenas.  Still you’ll find some arenas look a bit plain when the camera pans across the stadiums and the plain-looking fans.  The character models have been improved enough that you can see the light on their helmets and their movements are more realistic.  Yet there are moments in the game where you’ll notice a number of rarities such as unusual joints and cheerleaders that look rather blockish.  In short, the graphics really aren’t that good but still better than last year.

Thankfully the sound has been handled far better than the visuals and you’ll be treated to a number of heavy-hitting tunes from Audioslave, Disturbed and even Papa Roach.  You’ll also find a number of sounds such as the fans chanting and the cheerleaders performing a cheer in the background.  Your players will also make loud comments and praise a fellow teammate for a particularly good play.  The play-by-play by Dick Enberg and color commentary by Dan Fouts is accurate but lack real emotion.  The sideline reporter is a nice touch, though. 

While it’s unable to unseat the Madden games from its well earned throne, NFL GameDay 2004 shows a lot of potential and delivers a more than decent game worthy of the sport itself.  Despite some visual improvements and noticeable tightening of the defensive moves, there are still a number of things in the gameplay that would have made for a better football experience.  Yet diehard football fans might just overlook the game’s small weaknesses due to the great online mode and--wait for it--voice recognition feature.  Grab this game and some friends for some really fun PS2 football. 

Gameplay: 7.6
The defensive plays have been greatly improved from last year’s game and even the offensive side of it brings a few new things to the table.  Although the game modes lack more depth, many of the modes feel the effects of the improvements made for this year’s game.  Practice mode, for example, feels more complete and does a better job of allowing you to experiment with the playbook.  It also allows you to taste different positions and hone your kicking game.

Graphics: 7.2
A slight improvement from last year’s game, but not by very much.  The stadiums look accurate and look nice when they’re packed with waving fans, but gamers can’t help but notice a few plain areas in each stadium.  The player models are a lot better too, this time, and they move fluidly and realistically.  Yet there is still a wee bit of a collision detection problem when it comes to tackles and many players seem to suffer from some unusual joint abnormalities.

Sound: 8.0
The announcing team does an average job of calling the plays but they are able to make some really on-the-spot play-by-play comments.  Yet there is no real emotion in their comments, thus making for some dry remarks.  The ambience sound, though, is done rather wonderfully.  Aside from the crowd chants, cheers and thunderous clapping, you can hear the players’ reactions out on the field.  And it’s always great to hear the ref’s voice echo throughout the packed stadium just like the real thing.  There are also a number of hard-hitting tunes by artists such as Fear Factory and Disturbed that set the right mood.

Difficulty: Medium
The game also ups the difficulty settings for some really challenging match-ups that will have your team really working hard in the Seasons mode.  The computer-controlled opponents also make smarter defensive positioning preferences and will have you seriously rethinking your every move before executing them.  You also have to bear some unusually frequent interceptions that might get on a player’s nerves.

Concept: 8.5
It’s clear that 989 Sports is listening to the fans and to those gamers that bought a PS2 Network Adaptor in the year when gamers were looking for some online football competition.  Not only does this game deliver that solid online experience (both for Broadband and dial-up) but it also includes the ability to use a USB headset for a voice recognition feature in the single player offline mode.  No doubt that this voice recognition feature will find itself in other future games.

Multiplayer: 9.0
One of the best online modes to be found in a sports title to date, GameDay 2004 hits all the right marks when it comes to online gaming.  Aside from the cool downloadable rosters, the Game Room window shows how a menu should be presented and does away with much of the clutter seen in other online sports titles.  You can chat with gamers using an in-game keyboard or your USB keyboard and challenge gamers on the board.  Yet what makes this online feature particularly enticing is the fact that whether its using Broadband or Dial-up, the game runs ultra smoothly.  There are also contests to compete in and there’s even a ticker in the bottom of the screen that updates gamers with real-life scores of actual games.

Overall: 8.2
While not quite the ultimate in pigskin action, NFL GameDay 2004 is still fun enough to keep fans more than busy.  Things like the interface design and other small rough spots throughout the game will turn off those gamers spoiled by the near perfection that is Madden NFL 2004 and ESPN NFL Football.  Yet I defy any PS2 sports fan not to fall in love with the game’s online features that even allow voice recognition using a USB headset--yes, you will love it, trust me.