football

ok first of all i actually own this game. Most these reviews are from people who dont even have this game yet. First thing to understand when buying this game is that its Madden.... its what you expect from Madden. The camera angle, controls, game play, and graphics for the most part are the same as last year and the year before. But thats not a bad thing. Madden has become the ultimate football video game and I dont think those area need changes. As long as we got updates rosters, the rookies, and a few new features Im happy. So here is the overall review... the gameplay and controls are prettymuch the same. Dont expect anything new in this department. The main changes come in the owner mode. The first change is this time when signing players you can give out signing bonuses. This is nice cuz you can lower your players salary and increase his bonus to benefit yourself. Also, players will renogotiate contracts to save you money to allow you to keep other players. The bad part is it is considered a "holdout" but they will sometimes agree to less money than they orignally made. Also after the end of your first season you can sign coaches and coodinators... pretty cool,, other teams will even try to hire your coodinators on as their head coaches if you do good enough. The main new feature is you can set your ticket prices, concession prices, advertising and all the junk a real GM/owner does. the better your team does the more tickets you sell but when you riase prices too high it lowers sales its pretty cool, fun to play with. after a few seasons if you have the money you can build a new stadium and customize it yourself, renovate an existing stadium or move cities. Ok, another new feature is you can do "training camp" before every pre season... this involves about 10 drills. you can pick one player to do each drill and if they do it well enough you get to add points on to their attributes. This is awesome cuz you can takerookies you just drafted and earn them points and get them ready for the season. Or you can take younger 2nd and 3rd year guys and boost their ratings since you just lost one of your starting vets to free agency and you need the young kid to step up and start the next season. its pretty sweet.

ok so all in all if you are expecint huge changes to the gameplay you wont like it. Madden has become classic and as the phrase goes "dont fix it unless its broke" Madden is a classi game series and they didnt try to "fix" gameplay controls or graphics cuz there was nothing wrong with it in the first place. When you buy this game you have no need to even read the instructions cuz the same buttons do the same things as every year,,, but thats not a bad thing cuz the game kicks A$$ every year. The changes are updated rosters, and the things i mentioned above which really only effect the owner mode. If you are someone who just buys the game the play friends in and mess around with then you arent gettin anything new. If you are like me and go DEEP into owner mode (in 2003 madden i played like 12 seasons deep) then youll love the new features. its a great game

After a some what dissapointing Madden 2002, Madden 2003 was a vast improvement and Madden 2004 makes a similar improvement. A few changes a very evident just in the game play and graphics. 1) running the football up the middle is much easier (note: its not easy, its just a lot easier to see the hole because in 2003 one could hardly see the hole); 2) when the QB scrambles the screen follows him across the field but also shows downfield players meaning its easier to choose whether to run or pass; 3) the annoying one handed grabs have been eliminated; 4) the throwing, running, and kicking motions are much more realistic.
The owner's mode and playmaker feauture are the two most publicized changes and I am very impressed by both. Owner's mode involves setting ticket prices and trying to promote fan attendance... it treats a football teram as a business, when the team wins more fans attend, an unsuccessful team may not want to spend as much on stadium features or even on salaries. Owner's mode let's team's hire and fire coaches , as certain coaches can provide more assistence in different parts of a team. The playmakers mode is probably the single greatest update for this year: By allowing a running play to be set the other way or letting a defense react quicker to a run, the game approaches the realism of an NFL gameplay more and more, which should be the goal of all sports games- realism. In a world where other football games encourange violence and big hits Madden forces fundamental football.

Madden '04 is great! The franchise mode with the owner mode part is cool. Set your ticket price, food, etc. This is great for the people that really like the aspects of managing a real team. Even move it to Alaska! Bad part is that u could get a carrer ending injury to a player like Culpepper. It's optional though. You kinda get tired with Madden's repeated commentary. One problem is that Rookie is too easy, but the next level is hard. Play maker control is GREAT! YOu get points for achievements, which eventually lead up to cool cheats. Couple of lineup issues, but this game is great. Excellent graphics of stadiums,