Madden NFL 2001

by EA

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00004UE0G
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: August 23, 2000
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23,624 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #10 in Video Games > PC Games > Sports > Football
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Those who claim the only things that are certain are death and taxes have never heard of the EA Sports Madden football line. Yep, it's that time of the year again, and Madden 2001 is here with a vengeance.

There aren't as many new features in this year's version as there were last time around, but many things have been tightened up and tweaked. The animation is better, computer opponents are more apt to mix up their passing and running plays, and the computer also seems to have a better awareness of the clock.

Madden 2001 requires an obscenely powerful PC to run at full speed with all the graphics options cranked to the stops. Our 400 MHz Pentium III test machine with a 32 MB GeForce DDR card was producing a football slide show until we turned some of the effects down (and in some cases off). For those lucky souls with the right hardware, prepare to see playing fields and uniforms that degrade over time, perhaps the most detailed player models ever put in a football game, and even footprints on the field. On the audio side, we recommend cranking up the excellent crowd noises and turning off the idiotic and repetitive play-by-play from Madden and Summerall.

We were disappointed with the play editor, which looked like it was ported directly from an inferior console version of the game. In fact, the entire interface appeared to be hijacked from a console, as it isn't PC friendly at all. It's the game that counts, though, and Madden 2001--like its predecessors--serves up some of the best football action to be had on a PC. New online leagues and other multiplayer options added this year sweeten the deal. --T. Byrl Baker

Pros:

• Amazing graphics and animations
• New online options
• The computer opponent has improved

Cons:

• Steep system requirements if you want maximum detail
• Color commentary is awful

Product Description

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fun game despite problems, November 21, 2000

By 

Tim (State College, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Madden NFL 2001 (CD-ROM)

To tell you the truth, I think a lot of these people who criticize this game are too picky about every little aspect (graphics, how badly the computer cheats, etc.). I think this game kicks a lot of butt and is the best football game on the PC currently. The online play has gotten a heck of a lot better (and more fun) since Madden 2000. The players look nicer and the sidelines seem more detailed. What suprises me is how nobody's complaining about the ... kicking game! It is next to impossible just to make a 43-yard kick (unless you have Sebastian Janikowski or Jason Elam as your kicker), in real life no kicker would ever start if all the time his 43-yard kicks ended up SHORT! EA needs to come out with a patch to correct this BIG TIME. Other than that though, I enjoyed this game and think you oughta buy it at your nearest retailer.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pretty but unpolished, September 5, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Madden NFL 2001 (CD-ROM)

The Madden series has always been a personal favorite and this year's installment has the best graphics I've ever seen in a computer game...MOST of the time. I've been playing for about two days and I'm having continual graphics problems unless I turn them ALL the way up, in which case gameplay suffers because I ONLY have a PII-366 w/ 128 megs of RAM and an 8 meg 3D card. Problems include striped helmets (green and white with some orange regardless of team), players walking through each other, an ambulance with no wheels, and occasionally invisible players. It's kinda disturbing to see a uniform out there running around with no player inside it! On the other hand, game play is pretty good although predictable. If EA fixes the bugs, this will be a great game.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Possibly the BEST football game out, February 8, 2001

By 

C. Johnson (Lawrenceville, GA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Madden NFL 2001 (CD-ROM)

Lets face it many of us are very upset with EA about the problems they seem to be having releasing Live 2001 on time. But I have to give them credit where credit is due. Madden 2001 is possibly the BEST football game to date for any console. I am not a very dedicated football fanatic, but this game is slowly changing that. The graphics on this game are excellent, and they even rival those of the PS2 version. The movements are fluid and are not robotic and choopy. Each football stadium is done almost perfectly. Even Raiders' stadium has an inprint of the Oakland A's baseball field. The game play is probally the best it has ever been. It seems much easier to control and a lot more realistic than ever. Yes, it still gets frustrating when your receiver can't seem to catch a pass with noone on him, and then the computer's receivers catch passes with double coverage. But this does not happen very often as it has in past Madden games. The anouncers add a little bit more depth to the game eventhough their comments often repeat during the same game. If you don't pay close attention to them, the fact that they are commenting on the game plays well bring you closer to the game. I can now go into some of the minor faults of this game. In addition to the commentators repeating themselves often, Leslie Viscer at the halftime reports ALWAYS has something to say about halftime adjustments, and that gets old very fast. But I guess some talking is better than no talking at all. Also sometimes, the receivers seem not to WANT to catch the ball even when their wide open. However, that doesnt happen very frequently, and the whole gaming experience won't be a frustrating nightmare as in past Madden games. Another frustrating this is that their is no way to restart a season game from the beginning if you want to start over. Everyimte you exit out of the game before the regulation time is complete, the game AUTOMATICALLY saves, which sucks. However you can always turn the power off on your computer during gameplay, but I wouldnt recommend doign this very often. One final point about the game save feature, even after you win a game you have to leave it up to the computer to save your game, their is no save option where you can actually manually save your progress. You have to depend on the computer to do it for you. (I really got screwed by the computer. I beat the seahawks 39 - 3. However when I came back to the game the next day. I found out the for some reason the computer did not save my game and I had to play the seahawks again. VERY FRUSTRATING). If you win a game then I would suggest advancing to the next week, and starting your next game, and after the coin toss. exit the game and the computer will automatically save that game and all your previous games as well. If you don't do this, you have to hope that the computer saves your game. Also, you can't switch teams or have another player take over the computer control during gameplay and this sucks as well. I feel that you should have more control in this game and thats probally one of its worst features. But other than that I think that you will be very pleased with this game's graphics as well as gameplay. I was very nervous about getting this game, due to my past madden experiences, but I got a very good deal on this game, and I am very satified with this game.