Customer Reviews

Madden NFL 2005

5 star:		(82)
4 star:		(34)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

As I said in the title, this is not a review. I just want to save like-minded people some time, and summarize what makes 2005 different from the 2004 title. While this isn't platform specific, the biggest upgrade this year is for the Xbox, as EA and Microsoft have finally settled, and online play has finally arrived via XBLive. I'd like to not assign stars at all, but Amazon doesn't allow for pre-release non-reviews. So I'm assigning 5 stars based on Madden 2004, and the promise of the following new features. It is not meant to be commentary about the 2005 title.
I've done this for NCAA 2005 as well, but decided to adapt it for Madden as well. Everything in here is Madden-specific.

GENERAL GAMEPLAY IMPROVEMENTS:
- The hit stick: The Hit Stick is a brand-new control innovation whereby players can attempt to lay a big hit on their opponent by flicking the right stick. They are risky, as a mis-timed hit can be devastating to your defense, but it can all pay off with a huge hit and a fumble or dropped pass.
- Reworked DB play/pass defense: Rebuilt from the ground up, with a focus on man-to-man coverage. Good DBs will now blanket their receivers better than ever before, and "shut down" corners will now play as such.
- All alternate team jerseys are now available.
- Updated player models for more intense realism.
- Reworked stadiums, fans, and environmental graphics.
- New running animations. "Over 1000 new animations added."

FRANCHISE MODE IMPROVEMENTS:
- Restricted Free Agents - Allow your young guys to test Restricted Free Agency.
- Preseason Position Battles - Let two players who are similar in talent battle it out for the starting job.
- Player Personalities - Players react to everything that happens to them and if things get really bad for them, they demand a trade. If you're not throwing the ball to your star receiver, you'll hear about it.
- Franchise Tags - Tag players who refuse to re-sign with your team.
- New Realistic Off-season Free Agency - Players no longer only care about money. They now look at your team, the players you have, your team prestige and lots of other factors.
- Weekly Game-plan - Your coordinators provide you with a game-plan each week that contains keys to stop your upcoming opponents.
- NFL Icons - They've acknowledged the stars in the NFL and they become Icons in your Franchise. These players influence free agents and affect morale if something happens to them.
- Practice in Franchise - You can now practice with your current franchise team.
- Improved Team Management - Teams intelligently manage their rosters now. They cut dead weight and sign regular season free agents.
- Name Team Captains - You can now name your team captains every year in Franchise.
- Rivalries - Rivalries are a new addition to Franchise this year.
- Team Prestige - A new aspect of Franchise is prestige. Turn a perennial loser around to become a true powerhouse.
- In-Season Player Progression - Players now progress based on how well they're doing during the season. Breakout players are rewarded for their performance.
- Improved Draft - A ticker, announcer and trading during the draft highlight our draft improvements.
- Change Player Positions - You can change the positions of players in Franchise every season now.
- Storyline Central is a new addition to Franchise Mode this year that focuses on every story that is at the forefront in the NFL. The stories around your team now impact your team. If the rookie RB is pushing the veteran for playing time but not getting it, his morale will drop and it will affect his performance. You hear about the stories three different ways.
1) Newspaper. Every team in Franchise has a newspaper from their local city that discusses only the stories that pertain to that team. We also feature USA Today, which is the franchise's national newspaper. In USA Today, the most important stories from the entire NFL appear.
2) EA Sports Radio. They've added sports talk radio to Franchise, where host Tony Bruno breaks down the week's biggest stories. Each week's show includes call-ins, coach and player interviews, trivia questions and from time to time, Tony will rant about important issues in the NFL.
3) Email. Every week on your PDA, you'll receive emails about everything going on with your team. You will receive emails from players, coaches, general managers, the PR department, etc.
- Create-a-fan: Create your own dedicated crazy fans. To be included during game-time celebratory animations.

ONLINE PLAY IMPROVEMENTS:
- Opponent scouting: They've added a new scouting report that allows you to check any player's (online) tendencies. You can look at their favorite playbook and formation, as well as look at how much they no-huddle, call hot routes, and audible. It's meant to try and cut down on the number of games wasted to opposition that cheats or otherwise plays in a manner you're not interested in.
- Quick tournaments: 4 or 8 player tournaments built right into the online system.
- Even team mode: An option that will allow an even playing field, regardless of the 'real world' strengths and weaknesses of two programs/teams.
- Improved leaderboards.
- "Rushing Attack" mini-game, as defined above.
- EA Messenger: Track dozens of friends online.

That's all I've come across so far, but it's a factual aggregation of information, all directly from the source. Either Electronic Arts, and/or Phil Frazier the line producer via an interview on EASports, much of the info is paraphrased or even partially or wholly quoted. None of this comes through third parties, or speculation. Given that, this looks to be one of the biggest leaps forward this franchise has enjoyed in some time. Particularly for Xbox fans as they finally get online play, but really for everyone. But enough, I now return you to your regularly scheduled, "tHiS gAMe iz dA bOMb!" 'reviews'.

ok people....let's clarify something, I am not here to bash anyone's game. I am simply writing a review with my honest opinion. Upon doing so, I will be comparing Madden to NFL 2K5 since everyone seems to think ESPN has knocked MADDEN off the top. here we go..........

First, both games are VERY good. No questions reagrding that. Simply a fact! I firmly believe that ESPN got more hype because of the price and the pre-realease, if you will. For the price, the game is excellent. Simply because we all want to spend less.

ESPN gets kudos for the graphics of the overall game. Madden could take a few pointers from this aspect of ESPN. Some of Madden's players look like they have their shirts on too tight (literally). The players look more realsitic in Madden than they ever have. But, ESPN has great graphics with life-like looking players.

Graphics winner: ESPN

Next is presentation. The presentation of ESPN simply beats Madden hands down. The fact that you can watch ESPN and the highlights of the games is very nice to add to a game for football lovers. Madden really has added nothing to compete with this until this 2005 release. The Bruno show has a nice little touch to this game, it's more personal with interviews with actual players and their real voices, real call-ins from listeners to the show, and Bruno even talks about your teams progress and news around the league. This helped Madden out in a large way, BUT, ESPN still comes out victorious. The little things ESPN added such as measuring for close first downs, panning over to the bench seeing the player talk on the phone to the upstairs booth, and a player holding a number one up and saying "hi, mom!", is a nice touch, but not mandatory. But the whole watching ESPN as if it were the show itself and the highlights, news, injuries, signings, and scores with stats shown as they are on the real show, is simply the best feature ESPN has to offer and is the main reason for my choice on the presentation.

Presentation winner: ESPN

Next is gameplay. One word...MADDEN! ESPN cannot contend with the gameplay of Madden. It just can't be done. When you think Madden, you think football! Why? Because the man KNOWS football. The passing is very good, the running is decent, and the added new feature of kicking a game winning field goal is at its finest. ESPN's kicking is horid. One swing up the bar and your kick is off, not to mention the arrow for your direction moves while you are kicking the ball, which is quite absurd. Madden offers the 3 action sequence for kicking, which is a lot better and more realistic. Hit X to start it, hit X to get high power, hit X again to get accuracy. In the game winning field goal of Madden, your view is directly behind the kicker, your heart pounds (the controller beats for you) and you hear a heartbeat for it, then you kick as you normally do and the entire play then is in all slow motion. Very nice feature they added there. The passing game is better because when you drill a pass, it is literally drilled as it should be. ESPN has a small drilling of the ball, but still seems to float longer. Rushing is pretty equal for both games. The defense options alone for Madden are out of this world. You have the new hit-stick which can lay your opponent out on the grass. Plus all the additional options for coverage and linebacker assignments and front line assignments makes playing defense so much more fun and realistic. The punt returning and kick returning are much better in Madden. ESPN only lets you get about 5 yards on a punt return and an average kick return on kickoffs, I have yet to break one! Madden is more realistic because if you follow correct blocks, it can spring you...you know, like REAL football. Now the movements of the players are a bit more realistic on ESPN versus Madden. The crowd has better scenes in ESPN, but Madden has create-a-fan, which I think is better, even though the scene shots aren't all that great. When it comes to maintaining a team, they are both identical. ESPN does have the historic games mode where you can play actual games like "The Ice Bowl", "The Catch", etc., but Madden has something similar on the collector's edition. The only thing with ESPN having this is that it was a clear rip off from EA Sports College Football. One thing I did like about the punting on ESPN was the skycam view. Madden really needs to adopt this. Not that it is a neccesity, but a nice add-on. ESPN has it where you can actually train during the week before a game, lifting weights, watching game film, etc. Madden has the classic rushing attack, precision passing, etc., which gives ESPN a better heads up on this as well. My question is: Do you really want to play a game to be watching sportscenter and having your player lift weights? That's just a little much for a video game. This is why I give Madden the overall victory here. Madden is more about gameplay than features and presentation. Granted, if the two company's were to team up on this, they would make one heck of a game. But, as a true football fan, I understand that it's more about the actual game of football than the little extras that can be added to fool those into thinking that a game is better. ESPN is a great game, especially for the price, but Madden wins this hands down. As I said previously, I believe the hype for ESPN came solely from the price of the game. If you release ESPN the SAME DAY as Madden and make it $50, it wouldn't even be thought of. ESPN did market it well in bringing it out earlier and lowering the price. But, sorry ESPN.....Madden gets my vote.

Final Round results: Madden with a late round T.K.O.

Oh and P.S.- Madden has NFL STREET in the special features section, which allows you to play the actual game, not in its entirety, but enough to tide you over until NFL STREET 2 comes out!

From Madden 2003 to Madden 2004 I felt like very little changed, and in 2004 we got Franchise Mode. That was fun with all its bells and whistles, but for those of us who only buy one game a year, and play it anxiously for 12 months and awaiting the next installment, it truly only provided for about 9 months worth of fun.
So here I was awaiting 2005. With all its bells and whistles, and claims of a better defense, I was excited.
The first thing that truly rocks about the defense is the ability to pick the defense for each player. I am a huge Bengals fan and was able to hold Ricky Williams to 8 yards of rushing in Miami, and I attribute that to this new defensive mode. Now, that is kinda unrealistic, but at the same time its great for me!!!
The hit stick is a lot more easier said than done. Half the time I found myself completely missing the guy I was trying to hit, or I would crush him, yet he still wouldn't fumble. Here and there you get lucky and nail em at the right time and the ball flies out, but its not that often.
The graphics are better, and the definition and body tone is good, however the players often times run through each other on the cut screens. That looks very Madden 2001 ish, but that's okay as long as it doesn't happen in the gameplay.
I love the storyline mode. That is very cool The email's from players are fun, and the Newspaper articles are awesome. The radio show is cool.
The biggest dissapointment has to be with the music. Usually there are a few decent songs chosen, but this year it just sucks! Way too many cheesy punk/pop songs, and rap songs. Wouldn't that be great if in 2006 they stuck to one style, and made it like a classic rock lineup?
Lastly, hopefully next year they will change the cut screen at the end of the game. That has been the same for 2 years now!

This game definately has its high points, especially all the audible calls at the line of scrimmage. You now can dictate anything you want any player to do on defense with the playmaker function. For instance, if you come out in a man-to-man passing formation you can tell your safeties and cornerbacks to align themselfs with their players that they are covering and to either give them room or play them close. Also with the playmaker fuction you can tell any player what to do on defense. Say you think the QB is a threat to run, you can change your highlighed player from their original defensive movement to a QB spy zone, a blitz, a flat zone (for short coverage), or a zone. This really can hurt or help you espically when you dont make the right play call. Now in 2005 the defense is MUCH harder. In 2004 I used to be able to score a touchdown whenever I wanted, but now I struggle to get a new set of downs. I think that this gives the game a lot more realistic feel. But when you play (espically when you are away) there is this drone of the fans constantly cheering. You dont get the ups and downs of crowd roars like in previous versions. Also, in franchise mode the trade mode is messed up. You cant do equal trades because of the teams intrest level, even if the the other team clearly wins the trade. I tried to trade a 92 HB, a 90 QB, and a first round pick for a 95 HB and was rejected. But what really bugged me was the downgrade of graphics. When I compared 2005 with 2004 i noticed that the graphics in 2004 were smoother and the field looked more realistic. Overall, Madden 2005 is a good game with a lot of great features, espically in the collectors editon. But if your looking to save money and still get a great game, Madden 2004 and ESPN Football 2K5 are great games with almost all of the features of Madden 2005. Madden 2005 is still the best game and highest quality game on the market and some new features really make it a fun game to play

Much hype has been coming in to the game considering the cover man if the Defensive Player of the Year, Ray Lewis. This game has improved on the fairly decent 2004 version and has a variety of improvements and is something I am now addicted to. I am playing this on the PS2 online at the moment, and I love it! The story modes are great and so many customizations are to be made and the possibilities are endless! Here are the improvements::

*****Here are the GENERAL GAMEPLAY IMPROVEMENTS as said by Madden officials :*****

- The hit stick: The Hit Stick is a brand-new control innovation whereby players can attempt to lay a big hit on their opponent by flicking the right stick. They are risky, as a mis-timed hit can be devastating to your defense, but it can all pay off with a huge hit and a fumble or dropped pass.
- Reworked DB play/pass defense: Rebuilt from the ground up, with a focus on man-to-man coverage. Good DBs will now blanket their receivers better than ever before, and "shut down" corners will now play as such.
- All alternate team jerseys are now available.
- Updated player models for more intense realism.
- Reworked stadiums, fans, and environmental graphics.
- New running animations. "Over 1000 new animations added."

*****here are the FRANCHISE MODE IMPROVEMENTS which I havent tried out yet but seem great by the descriptions :*****

- Restricted Free Agents - Allow your young guys to test Restricted Free Agency.
- Preseason Position Battles - Let two players who are similar in talent battle it out for the starting job.
- Player Personalities - Players react to everything that happens to them and if things get really bad for them, they demand a trade. If you're not throwing the ball to your star receiver, you'll hear about it.
- Franchise Tags - Tag players who refuse to re-sign with your team.
- New Realistic Off-season Free Agency - Players no longer only care about money. They now look at your team, the players you have, your team prestige and lots of other factors.
- Weekly Game-plan - Your coordinators provide you with a game-plan each week that contains keys to stop your upcoming opponents.
- NFL Icons - They've acknowledged the stars in the NFL and they become Icons in your Franchise. These players influence free agents and affect morale if something happens to them.
- Practice in Franchise - You can now practice with your current franchise team.
- Improved Team Management - Teams intelligently manage their rosters now. They cut dead weight and sign regular season free agents.
- Name Team Captains - You can now name your team captains every year in Franchise.
- Rivalries - Rivalries are a new addition to Franchise this year.
- Team Prestige - A new aspect of Franchise is prestige. Turn a perennial loser around to become a true powerhouse.
- In-Season Player Progression - Players now progress based on how well they're doing during the season. Breakout players are rewarded for their performance.
- Improved Draft - A ticker, announcer and trading during the draft highlight our draft improvements.
- Change Player Positions - You can change the positions of players in Franchise every season now.
- Storyline Central is a new addition to Franchise Mode this year that focuses on every story that is at the forefront in the NFL. The stories around your team now impact your team. If the rookie RB is pushing the veteran for playing time but not getting it, his morale will drop and it will affect his performance. You hear about the stories three different ways.
1) Newspaper. Every team in Franchise has a newspaper from their local city that discusses only the stories that pertain to that team. We also feature USA Today, which is the franchise's national newspaper. In USA Today, the most important stories from the entire NFL appear.
2) EA Sports Radio. They've added sports talk radio to Franchise, where host Tony Bruno breaks down the week's biggest stories. Each week's show includes call-ins, coach and player interviews, trivia questions and from time to time, Tony will rant about important issues in the NFL.
3) Email. Every week on your PDA, you'll receive emails about everything going on with your team. You will receive emails from players, coaches, general managers, the PR department, etc.
- Create-a-fan: Create your own dedicated crazy fans. To be included during game-time celebratory animations.

*****here are the ONLINE PLAY IMPROVEMENTS which I am currently experiencing first hand:*****

- Opponent scouting: They've added a new scouting report that allows you to check any player's (online) tendencies. You can look at their favorite playbook and formation, as well as look at how much they no-huddle, call hot routes, and audible. It's meant to try and cut down on the number of games wasted to opposition that cheats or otherwise plays in a manner you're not interested in.
- Quick tournaments: 4 or 8 player tournaments built right into the online system.
- Even team mode: An option that will allow an even playing field, regardless of the 'real world' strengths and weaknesses of two programs/teams.
- Improved leaderboards.
- "Rushing Attack" mini-game, as defined above.
- EA Messenger: Track dozens of friends online.


I just love this game and you too will appreciate it if you try it out either through BlockBuster or by purchasing it here at Amazon. Trust me, you will love it.

Here we go again. Time to sink your hard-earned money in another installment of the Madden series. But hey, I'm not complaining. I love football till it hurts and the Madden games have proven year after year to be nothing short of spectacular. But this year is little different. With no competition other than ESPN 2K5, the Madden series is beginning to show its age. Granted I love the addition of the defensive hot routes and the much hyped Hit Stick, however, Madden 2005 at it's core is basically the same game as last year. Could this year mark the passing of the torch?

Madden 2004 was all about offense. With the introduction of Playmaker control and the ability to adjust receiver hot routes on the fly, it was easy to rack up 30, 40, 50 points in a game, especially with a stud quarterback. Let's face it. Coverboy Vick was nearly unstoppable and it wasn't uncommon to see the Atlanta Falcons win Super Bowl after Super Bowl on franchise mode. This year, the tables have turned. The emphasis is now on defense. The sheer amount of flexibility allowed is mind-boggling. Other than controlling your defensive backs, linebackers, and defensive linemen as a group, you can now control each player individually. For instance, you can have one cornerback play man coverage while the other plays zone. Maybe you don't feel too hot about your cornerback's ability to cover a particular wide receiver. No problem. You can direct one of your safeties to help out in double coverage. On short passing plays, you can have your weakside linebacker play zone coverage while your middle linebacker blitzes the quarterback. You can also have one of your defensive ends rush to the outside while the other rushes to the inside. The scenarios are endless. Strategists will have a field day with this new feature. Also new this year is the Hit Stick. I know... It sounds gimmicky, but it's actually quite effective and most importantly, fun. While simply tapping the right analog stick in any direction, your defensive player will unleash a vicious, bone-rattling tackle on your opponent (the tackle animations are great). Time it just right and the ball carrier might develop a sudden case of fumble-itis or be knocked out till the middle of next week. Thankfully, you can't overly abuse the Hit Stick. For it to be truly effective, your player needs to have a nice momentum going (about five yards). Tap it too late and your defensive player will be grasping at air while your opponent cruises for a touchdown. Simply put, it's all about timing and positioning, as it is in a real game.

The franchise mode has been given a nice facelift. New this year is sports radio host Tony Bruno who adds little snippets of commentary and information between games in the form of a radio show. He'll go off on some spiel about who's playing well or not, rumors, transactions, and bits of trivia. A nice touch is the actual use of coach and player voices during interviews and having angry fans call in to trash their team when they're not playing well. Another addition is the Storyline mode. Players now have individual personalities which are based on a morale meter. Bench a starter, and his morale will plummet. Promote him to team captain and his morale will sky-rocket. Annoy a player like perennial whiner, Terrell Owens, and he'll demand a trade. Who thought running a franchise would be so rewarding and yet, such a headache? I also enjoyed the ability to now make trades during the draft. For instance, you can package several role players and a third round draft pick to another team in exchange for their first round pick. Similarly, teams will also offer trades to you in return. Other than these new features, the franchise mode is basically the same. As owner, you can still set concession, parking and advertising prices or move the team to a city with a bigger market.

The graphics have been given a nice boost. The players are more detailed, with nice musculature and better shadowing, though they look a little too much like steroid freaks. Replays are nice as they provide various angles of the action. A nice touch is that they look scratchy and grainy like those old NFL films from yesteryear. Weather is now a factor as you'll often see clouds dot the playing field or rain storms appear without warning during a game. Regardless, Madden still doesn't hold a candle to ESPN 2k5 which set the bar for detail and realism this year.

I like Madden 2005 a lot. The series is a great investment year after year and they always add a nice wrinkle or two to make it stand out. I love the defensive flexibility, Hit Stick, and nice franchise features, but doggone it, I still find myself gravitating towards ESPN 2k5. The look, the presentation, and overall feel of that game is just too hard to ignore. Face it. Madden is beginning to show it's age. The graphics are nice, but dated and the overall gameplay is about the same, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Granted, Madden 2005 is a nice alternative, but I don't really see myself playing the game as much until I'm sick and tired of playing ESPN 2k5.

I admit it, I have something of an ulterior motive in rating this game so low. It's a good football game, really it is. However, after playing EA Sports titles for the past decade, I've discovered a football game I like much better. Unfortunately, because of EA and the NFL's greed, exclusive rights to NFL licensed products has been granted...meaning we will not get an ESPN NFL 2K6 game. Hence, I will no longer be playing EA titles. For any serious gamers out there that welcome competition among our titles, thus ensuring that the best products are available, join my in my boycott. Like I said earlier, I prefer the bulk of EA's sports titles to the ESPN brand. However, I think their NHL and NFL products are surperior to EAs. But I'll no longer have a choice in NFL products. I'm not happy with either EA or the NFL.

Once again, Madden NFL has risen above the competition and has become the best football game of the year. After a great 2004 game, they came out with an even better 2005 game. The defensive controls are sick. You have so many options although I could never activate a double team on one receiver. You can change their assignments and put your player in better position. So if you have a sorry corner against Randy Moss, you could still change the coverage. Also, the hit stick is gangsta. Whenever you want to teach the quarterback a lessonn for scrambling out of the pocket, you can hit him hard and cause a fumble,however I didn;t like them taking away Playmaker mode during the snap. Franchise is even better. Now you have NFL Icons on your roster that gives your team prestige. You now receive emails from players, coaches, and other departments. You can read the headlines, or even listen to Tony Bruno on the radio, although he does get repetitive. Owner mode is still their, but now you can sign restricted free agents. The soundtrack is great, and you can even play NFL Street on the game. If you ask me, the game gets 100000000000000000000000000 stars. I borrowed it, and I almost never gave it back. I know I will get this game. With this years Madden, it can be considered as the greatest game franchise of all time.

ok first off the people who gave this one star reviews are 10 year old kids who dont know how to tie up their own cleats.
Im not gonna compare it to 2k5 im just going to flat out review it.
Well maddens gameplay has always been outstanding, and this year it only gets better with focus on improving defense, which is great in 2004 i was tired of ai just plain sucking on defense. its franchise mode is so in depth its crazy. crazy fun. the batch of new rookies are outstanding too. the only thing i found irritating was that ricky williams was still in the game(not their fault, they couldnt recall however many games they made just to take him out.) the teams seem to be stackeed either way (really really good or really really bad), true to the nfl as opposed to last years teams overalls all being from 80-87
overall its a very fun game well worth the purchase. now im off to play madden

I've been playing this year's version of Madden nonstop for about two months now and indeed it is a very great game. Everyone already knows this. But this review is for me to rant my dislikes of the game. Although the defense has been completely revamped sometimes it seems as if the game is cheating. Let me explain...the linebackers in this game are among the greatest ever. They blanket fast wide receivers, cut on a dime, have DB like motions, excellent hand eye coordination, read routes in zone all dat, tackle everything etc. But it gets to the point where they are breaking on outs WAY WAY TOO FAST. They'll get out there and cover the out route on a receiver like they were Deion Sanders. Sometimes they'll run the route for the receiver even breaking at the same time or even before the receiver does. Ok that's not that unrealistic but then they won't JUST knock it down, they'll cut the corner (like they have DB speed!) jump ten feet in the air and pick it off. And when they catch they're already 5 yards away from the reciever! Sometimes I had a LB cover my slot receiver on a fly with no safety help and a play action. Unrealistic. That's strictly for the DB's. And when you do run it the lb's are in the backfield before you can hand it off but when you pass they all in the passing lanes.

And speaking of Dbs, their play is amazing. DB's break on the ball incredibly fast...not unrealistic yet...but when you throw in a pump fake they don't even bite...and if you think you have your receiver open deep? Forget about it...no matter the speed of your receiver the DB is always running step for step and they will, while runnin full speed trying to keep up, jump a 45 inch vertical flail around and knock the ball ( 100% of the time is underthrown by a human) down in single coverage. If it is a safety overtop forget about it because he's never late breaking to that and almost always will knock it down or pick it off no matter if there's a post coming at him. And if you do throw the post he's all over that as well knocking it down.

And another thing when it's pass the D Line handles your o line tossing them around like ragdolls penetrating 3 yards in the backfield as soon as the ball is snapped forcing you to throw quick or scramble. And if they blitz outside expect your tackle to be dumber than a box of rocks and let NOT ONLY ONE BUT TWO defenders run right by him and won't even attempt to lunge or nothing and let them kill my qb all game. One thing that has been left out is that forward motion of the arm when the QB is hit and fumbles. If your QB gets hit while throwing it's almost always ruled a fumble and they scoop it up score. Your O Line, knowing that they let somebody through, won't come back and try to block the man so when it is a fumble they don't even know what's going on. One time I got sacked and fumbled, ball was on the ground for like 2 or 3 seconds and not one O linemen turned around. The QB was just laying there like a fool and didn't even attempt to get the ball back knowing that he just dropped it. At least try to trip em up or something. And guess what they ended up running for a touchdown. And when you do throw the whole secondary and LB's show up for the tackle..swarming. If the computer gets hit while throwing the pass will still be completed 80% of the time. No break on the ball by your DB.

This wouldn't be so bad if your team did the same thing. But unfortunately they do not. You wanna man up a receiver with Chris McCallister? No way. Try to bump that receiver and he gives my CB a move and more often than not catches a slant or he gets beat deep even with the safety over the top he outruns everyone. If you Try to manually control the CB and do as the computer does and jump ten feet high, and they'll just put their hand up still allowing them to catch it. Sometimes they go up to bump a receiver and the receiver runs right around them. That's not that bad...you can't get hands on them every play but the separation is like 5 or 6 yards when they miss and the computer ALWAYS hits the man that misses the bump. It's crazy. Playing regular man with no variation causes your corner back to get torched underneath but they are pretty good at not getting beat deep. Playing off man is death unless they got a long way to go in a very short period of time. So man isn't working let's go to a zone.

Zone coverages more often than not work. But if you get a play action expect your cover 3 corner to commit the number one cardinal rule in defensive back history; he'll get beat deep in cover 3. Doesn't matter how fast your CB is the WR will eat up his cushion and will be next to him before he even turns to run and by that time the WR is already by him. The safety done bit on something and the computer more often than not throws a perfect pass right over the WR's shoulders catching it in full stride and making your CB look stupid. I've had this happen to me numerous times with like 10 seconds to go in the half, and they score on that BS. Part of the reason your DB's and LB's don't break on the ball like the computer's is because the D Line is gettin mudded every play. Their O line will pick up every blitz on all madden and will sometimes even pancake the blitzer and go pick up someone else. On the run they're pushing the line of scrimmage up three yards at the snap of the ball. I mean they are getting blown off the ball...no penetration.

And if you think your LB's will look up receivers and jump routes forget it. You selling yourself wolf tickets. They will let a WR run through three zones across the field and catch the ball right in front of them. They usually drop to certain depths so when there's no underneath threat shouldn't they be looking for the deep in as the computer does? Well...they SHOULD. I find the computer catching 16 yard routes that would more often than not get PICKED when I run the same play. And again no break on ball by safeties. And in cover 2 the WR will run a 7 route and the safety won't move off the hash! What's going on?!?! Even with all that the game is very fun to play. I can't put it down...even though the game cheats it doesn't cheat so much to make you wanna throw a controller if ya feel me. I mean they'll do a play and you'll think to yourself "The game is cheating!" , but then you realize in the NFL people make spectacular plays or screw up and blow a coverage every now & then and the offense happens to exploit it, or they miss tackles. Or they watched that film and they know that route and that reciever's tendencies. So all in all...Madden is still madden...great gameplay, franchise mode, and head to head competition. Fluid controls and good animations and graphics. To me, it's better than ESPN football but hey that's just one man's opinion.

*****additions******

DB's break on the ball TOO FREAKING FAST!!!!!!!! One time I had a fly route and a post corner on the same side and the DB, with his back turned, somehow with his spidey-sense, sensed that the ball was being thrown to the post corner. He stopped on a dime, left the man he was guarding broke on the post corner and picked it off...almost took it to the crib. and the DB wasn't no Chris McCalister or Champ Bailey or Deion Sanders or Patrick Surtain or Will Allen...it was just some nobody. Everything is knocked down or picked off even when it's completely apparent that the receiver is open. DB's on deep balls jump (on time) before they even turn their head around and even before the reciever jumps and knocks the ball down. On top of that your receiver rarely even jumps...he just puts his hand up like the ball will magically fall into his hands. Even when you manually take control of the reciever the DB out jumps him while running full speed and not even looking at the ball. I've played cornerback and I know that you CANNOT jump that high unless you stop and plant and at least have an idea on where the ball is. You can't run full speed, jump ten feet in the air without looking for the ball AND knock it down 90% of the time and you don't even see the ball. You just can't do it. When have you ever seen a cornerback just out jump a receiver while looking at the ball let alone while he's trying to catch up to the receiver? That's right never. But when the computer throws a fade on your guy he doesn't even put his hand up and gets burnt on a straight fly and the receiver is not Moss. When have you seen man to man CB just simply get ran right past and burnt by five yards by a WR who is not faster or better than him? That's what happened to me. Chris McCalister on Hines Ward...he should be locked down. QB throwing perfect passes. Linebackers freakin manned up with a reciever (with no safety help overtop) on the post corner and jump 1000 feet in the air and break up the pass. And to make it so bad the QB underthrows it even when you step into the throw and the blitz is minimal.

And speaking of blitzing...I may blitz seven people and just so happens everyone gets picked up. Once I blitzed 7, and the QB had time to PUMP FAKE and still get the throw off and complete the pass! What is that? But the computer might blitz three or four and the tackle won't even attempt to lunge at the Defensive End... it's really pitiful sometimes. And on running plays often not one but two blockers will run right by the guy that makes the tackle like they didn't even see him and on stretch plays the MLB will run right through the A gap untouched and tackle me the same time I get the ball (more than a couple times a game). I was playing the Steelers on all madden on 15 minute quarters to learn a new playbook and in the first quarter I was sacked 12 times and threw 6 interceptions and they had 6 tackles for loss. Jamal Lewis had like 90 yards on 15 carries and they still didn't even bite on the play action. That's just BS. And speaking of BS...how does a corner playing man to man bite on a play action? Someone please enlighten me. And on a play action how is my RB gettin tackled 8 yards down the field and no Pass Interference is called? And out routes are pretty much useless because the defensive players break on the ball too fast. Once I was on the goaline and ran a play action pass to Todd Heap, and the Steelers fourth string defensive end dropped in coverage but bit on the play action. Clearly beat, I lob the ball to Todd Heap in the corner of the endzone and amazingly the fourth string D. End ( rating is like 70) jumps off one foot and knocks a fade down in the corner of the endzone. That's when I just turned the game off. It made me mad to no end (it was fourth down!) yall wouldn't understand how mad that made me---cursing at the tv and everything! (This was today by the way) And when you do finally deliver the ball what do they do? They drop it (most likely a first down pass)! Most of the time without getting hit. But Burress comes through on a slant and stiff arms Ray Lewis and drags Boulware three yards down the field. WTF?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? They had Duce Staley break THREE yes THREE hit sticks in one play from first Ray Lewis (impossible!), then Ed Reed (a pro bowler), THEN anthony weaver and was finally ankle tackled by willie Demps. Sorry but Duce staley is not that good anymore.

And speaking of broken tackles...expect at least one person on your kickoff team to miss a tackle and everybody else get blocked. But when they kickoff to you, your lone returner is left to fend off five defenders cus nobody on your team tried to block. And if they do happen to block and all you need is that one missed tackle...forget it your guy's goin down. In all my games of Madden 05 I have returned not ONE kickoff or punt (against the computer). I can barely average 18 yards a return. That's unnrealistic. I'll still play the game tomorrow though...what a game what a game.