Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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120 of 146 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
I suspected this..., August 9, 2005
Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars
I'm disappointed to say that I'm not surprised. As soon as EA signs an exclusive license deal with the NFL, they get lazy in their product. Sure, the new quarterback feature adds another level of realism, but it was poorly implemented and needs a lot of work to bring it to where it should be.
Pros:
- The new quarterbacking system (thankfully it can be turned off) is a pretty cool idea. Gone are the days when you can simply drop your quarterback 10+ yards behind the line of scrimmage and heave bombs to receivers you can't even see. Defenders will now read your line of sight, allowing you to 'look off' a defender, or throw easy interceptions because you telegraphed your pass by not looking to other receivers. I think this will be really cool when some of the bugs are worked out. It's just clunky and you have far too many controller operations to pull off in a short amount of time. Expect to be sacked 5 fold until you get comfortable with it.
- The Superstar mode. The ability to create a player, follow and shape his career. Hire and fire your agent , determine your player's genetic makeup, score a part in a movie.
- That's it...that's all that new in this freakin' game.
Cons:
This is where it get's fun...
- Absolutely no change in presentation. The game looks and plays (other than the quarterback mode, which thanfully can be disabled) exactly as 2005. The only changes seem to be updated rosters and player ratings. A huge disappointment considering they have exclusive rights to the ESPN presentation formerly held by NFL2K. The commentary even seems to be identical.
- Superstar mode kind of sucks. Decisions you make seem to have little or no impact to your players ratings. There just seems to be no logic in how different choices (and outcomes) affect your player. This mode, while cool in theory, really was not played out well.
- In the quarterback mode, if you throw a pass to a receiver not in your line of sight, you'll throw the most ridiculous 'dead duck' that you'll ever see. These guys are NFL quarterbacks...I've see children that can throw a tighter spiral.
- The online mode has a painful registration process. You basically have to pay $2 to keep ESPN from spamming your email. Infuriating.
Bottom Line:
Not only did EA get lazy as a result of the lack of competition in NFL video games (lack, how about none), but they bumped the price of the games back up to $50. Save yourself the money and rent first. I'll stick with 2005...
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fun and Realistic, August 11, 2005
Durability:4.0 out of 5 stars Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars Educational:1.0 out of 5 stars
The thing you've probably heard of the most is QB Vision which really makes the game more realistic. In the NFL a QB can't be looking one way...pass in the opposite direction and expect to land a 50yd completion. It's not hard...you just press two buttons to throw to the guy you want to and you can lead the pass, throw it high, low, or behind the guy. Plus, you can turn it off if you don't enjoy using it(if you use the tutorial you'll get the hang of it).
Then there's Superstar Mode were you create a player based on your parents and go through an NFL career. You start with living in an apartment and can move up to a mansion. The first thing you have to do after making your player is to get interviewed about your personality, then you take an IQ test which is pretty stupid because your not gonna find rocket scientists playin the game(one of the questoins was in like Spanish and another was a word I've never heard of). After that you get drafted, usually the third round. During this whole process you pick an agent who's gonna suck but it'll be the best you can get. You go to practices, you can get tattoos, haircuts, pretty much control your life. You can even be in movies. After a while practices get boring but they boost your players stats and are worth it.
There are new offensive controls like Truck Stick which allows you to plow through defenders but slows you down and there's more depth in audibles. On defense they have switched the change players buttons but you'll find that out soon enough and there's defensve hot routes. There is a better soundtrack and the details have imroved a little, but tatoos get smeared sometimes on created players so it looks like they spilled junk on their arms. Rosters have change as well as players abilities but a lot of things are similar to '05. Overall, it's really fun and detailed with some upgrades but still more room for improvment. Don't worry about QB Vision and what other people say they just don't understand what it's like to be a QB like I do and they're lazy.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Big Picture, August 15, 2005
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
If it's not broken, don't fix it. For all of you who claim to be long time Madden fans, what do you think is truly wrong with this game? If you liked last years, you should like this years. Yes, it has the QB Vision which makes the game more complicated. Oh boo hoo, now you can't win game 105-0 in 5 min quarters anymore. Now the game is realistic. While it is only high school football, I've played and know that the game is more complicated then dropping back 10 yards and throwing it crossfield to your fullback running a fly pattern. This game actually requires a football IQ to step-up.
It is a game for the hardcore football fan, not the arcade style fan. If you want to run up the score, go play NFL Street or something like that. This is a true to life game, a simulation. What EA really did with this game is attempt to cut-down on the loopholes that made the game unrealistic in the past. The people who complain now are the same ones who used to use the Vikings and scramble with Culpepper for an hour, send Michael Bennett on a fly pattern, and lineup Randy Moss as a tight end. This is designed to restrict you from being too unrealistic.
I saw a complaint about not having all the penalties built into the game. How many times do you have opponents running receivers out of bounds and then coming back in to catch a pass? And yeah, you can't throw past the line of scrimmage, you tuck it in instead...but who cares? If you threw it past the line of scrimmage, it would be a penalty anyway. They save your ass a couple of yards.
Football is a complicated game and EA still has not come close to bringing all of its intricacies into play yet...but they are getting closer. Eventually those penalties will be included...eventually there will be runningback vision.
Imagine that, if you had to look off defenders and give legit shoulderfakes and sidesteps to get through a hole. Imagine when having a runningback like LaDainian Tomlinson who wears a visor over his eyes is an advantage because your opponent can't read your eyes as quickly or as well. These are features that should come in the future to provide realism.
I am disappointed that EA bought the rights for all of the NFL. Not because they got lazy with Madden, but because all of the unrealistic players have been sucked into Madden now. It was better when they all played ESPN. I played both games last year. While ESPN was flashier, it was not as deep as Madden, and if you want the closest thing to reality - you want Madden. Football is not easy, Madden shouldn't be either.
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