Madden 11

Microsoft XBOX 360

Click HERE for screenshots. 

For the second year in a row, the opening movie in Madden 11 showcases the athlete featured on the cover.  If you are a Saints fan (and/or into Drew Brees), you are in for a real treat.  Personally, I don’t dislike him, but I was turned off by the fact that the opening goes out of its way to highlight the Patriots 4^th and 2 play against the Colts, which failed and triggered the downward spiral for the Pats 2009 season.  Anyway, the intro is alright- very dramatic with “Lord of the Rings” style music.  John Madden is once again MIA.

The single best element of the intro is the tremendous sound.  I’m not certain if previous Madden titles have had 5.1 surround before, but if they did, it is no where near as impressive as it is in Madden 11.  From the intro, through the menu screens, and throughout the actual games, the sound is tremendous and puts you right in the middle of the action (it feels 3-d). 

For the divisional playoff game, the Kansas City Chiefs came to Foxboro.  As the game got started, I was happy to hear that Gus Johnson was now the color commentator alongside Chris Collinsworth.  While some people find Johnson’s antics a bit too theatrical, I feel like he is a perfect fit for a videogame like this one.  He is spirited and adds a level of enthusiasm to the game’s commentary that has been missing for many (MANY) years. 

Before the game even started, the presentation had clearly been improved over Madden 10.  Little clips of the visiting team getting off the bus, or of fans tailgating in the stadium are a nice touch.  I was also impressed by the level of pre-game discussion from Collinsworth regarding the relationship between Tom Brady and Chiefs QB Matt Cassel, given that they were former teammates.  These are bits of dialogue that are in depth and specific to these two players – legitimate analysis.  Impressive.

When I got onto the field, I noticed that the graphics had somehow improved yet again over Madden 10.  Even more little details are included in the player models – not to mention the improved tackle animations and physics. 

One of the biggest “innovations” new for Madden 11 is one I never used.  “Gameflow” is intended to speed up the time it takes to play a game by having the CPU choose plays for you and letting you skip the whole process of sifting through the playbook between plays.  While you have a choice of creating your own custom playbook from which the CPU draws these plays from, I opted to go with “conventional” play calling.  I didn’t want to entrust the CPU with such an important (and enjoyable) strategic part of the game. 

Even with gameflow off, I still got commentary while on the field from my offensive and defensive coordinator.  This was OK and didn’t really bother me, but if it were gone, I doubt I would miss it.  He rarely adds much of value in his comments, but I suppose it does add another layer of audio on top of the crowd noise, player noise, and broadcast commentators (which contributes to the feeling of “being there”). 

The play dynamics have been tweaked a bit again this year, but I felt like most of these were subtle and good changes.  It is critical to follow your blockers on running plays and to not freelance as much (lest you get killed in the backfield).  As the first half cranked along, I was continuously wowed by the new player animations and how closely the players’ motions mirrored their real life counterparts.  Also, it seems as if many more player faces have been added - rather than just a few “stars”, I saw many players that looked freakishly like they do in reality. 

While this might be a bit superficial, this attention to detail and stunning presentation – both aurally and visually – got me really excited to play this game.  The fact that I was finally playing with a contemporary roster probably also fueled the feeling that I was really playing as the Patriots. 

I had a commanding 14-0 lead at halftime and was having fun.  In my notes I noted that while the stats weren’t very close, I was really enjoying “the show”.  This halftime show included impressive highlights from my game. 

I used the second half to milk the clock and closed out KC with a 21-0 victory.  In the end, I had the ball for 15 minutes vs. their 5 and had outgained them 320-162 yards.  The game was never very competitive, but I was smitten – it was SO PRETTY.  When I backed out of the game to the menu screen, I was further impressed by the live sports ticker on the bottom of the screen, discussing the events of the day, including Pittsburgh Steelers RB Rashard Mendenhall’s Twitter comments regarding the death of Osama bin Laden. 

The AFC Championship Game brought the Titans to town.  This game was much tighter than the first and began with a series of punts.  On one play, one of my defenders went down and moments later I was given the option of whether to risk putting him back in or substitute someone else on the fly.  It included details of the injury and the rough probability as to whether the player would be reinjured if he went back in.  Another great touch.

I couldn’t stop drooling over the graphics throughout the first half- so very many details that they got right.  This ogling might have detracted from my game, and I found myself losing 3-0 at halftime.  Statistically, I was doing poorly and probably should have been losing by more. 

My woes continued into the third, particularly when I challenged a completion made on the sidelines by them on 3^rd and 13.  I ended up losing the challenge (and a TO) and they were awarded the first down.  More time ticked off the clock before I finally forced them to punt.

My next drive was my only good one of the game.  On a key 3^rd and 6, I found rookie tight end Rob Gronkowski open in the flat.  He rumbled over a defender and stretched for a key first down (again, just like in real life).  I kept the drive going with a lot of runs from Benjarvis Green-Ellis (the Lawfirm) and eventually punched it in for the score, putting me up for the first time, 7-3 with 4 minutes left in the game.

They would have at least one more chance to score and win the game, so I tried to pull out all the stops with my defensive play calling to force a turnover (playing a deep zone and sending the LBs on the blitz).  This NEARLY worked as I forced a bad throw that went to Brandon Merriweather, but he dropped the ball (again, like in real life).  They managed to get a decent drive going, but it stalled out after they got into my territory and managed to connect on a long FG to put the score at 7-6 with 2:20 to go.

They still had all of their time outs, so I knew that I would need a couple of first downs to ice the game.  Fortunately, the decisive blow came on a 3^rd and 5 run up the gut from Sammy Morris, who took the ball 15 yards and allowed me to run out the clock.  That play was aptly labeled “the Doritos Play of the Game” in the postgame show.  This 7-6 win was a defensive chess match and my first great Madden game in awhile. 

The Super Bowl matchup featured the Bears vs. Patriots.  A rematch of Super Bowl XX, the Patriots first ever Super Bowl in reality (they lost 46-10).  The presentation for the big game is (appropriately) even better than it is normally.  The commentators chat excitedly about the Super Bowl as pre-game footage takes us “inside the locker rooms” of the teams about to go out and compete.  Even the menu screens have changed to reflect that this is the Super Bowl.  The 5.1 surround sound is awesome.

As the game got underway, I noticed waves of flash photography from the stands on opening kickoff. All of this added up to make me feel excited and almost nervous about the “scale” of the game. 

One of the keys to this game ended up being field position, and I dominated in this area from start to finish.  They got the ball first, but my D was amped up and harassed Bears QB Jay Cutler right out the gate, sacking him twice on the opening drive.  This drove the Bears backwards and after a short punt, gave me great position to start the game (on their 47 yard line).  I responded with a methodical 7 play drive that resulted in a TD to put me up 7-0.

On their second drive, the Bears attempted a reverse, but the play ended in disaster when their wideout fumbled the ball.  There was a “quicktime” event to recover the loose ball and I actually won (for the first time).  I must admit that I didn’t mind this gimmick so much when I actually recovered the ball.

This gave me great field position on the Bears 28 yard line, and a couple of plays later, I hit Wes Welker over the middle for the score.  With 22 seconds left in the 1^st quarter, I was up 14-0. 

The Bears finally started to show some life in the 2^nd quarter by getting their first defensive stop and getting going on offense.  The Bears surprised me by launching a methodical 70+ yard drive to my goal line.  Fortunately, 350 pound nose tackle Vince Wilfolk was having a hell of a game, throwing offensive linemen out of his way all day and beating the crap out of Cutler.  This culminated on a hit that knocked Cutler out of the game for a couple of series (sprained wrist) and helped to hold the Bears to a short FG after a tremendous drive.  This put the score at 14-3 rather than 14-7, and was a huge victory for the team going into halftime.  Their monster 16 play drive resulted in 3 points. 

Halfway through, I had a strong 2 score lead, but the Bears were starting to show some life.  I opened the second half with an impressive drive of my own, but unfortunately stalled out in the redzone and had to settle for 3, putting me up 17-3. 

The ensuing kickoff for the Bears proved to be disastrous for Chicago.  Their return man got hit hard and lost the ball, which bounced directly into the hands of one of my gunners.  Suddenly, I once again had great field position and a chance to put the game away late in the 3^rd quarter.  Two plays later, I found Brandon Tate wide open down the middle of the field and hit him in stride for the easy score.  With the score 24-3, the competitive phase of the game was over. 

The CPU basically threw in the towel at this point and didn’t make much of an effort to come back in the 4^th.  I was confused by the fact that it kept running the ball and draining the clock rather than trying to frantically move the ball downfield with long passes. 

For the 4^th quarter, I kicked back and just enjoyed the show.  Star Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher was having a monster game and was all over the place (as in real life) and Pats TE Rob Gronkowski was a one man wrecking crew, mowing down anyone who dared try to tackle him (also, as in real life).  A few vanilla drives later, I had managed to run the clock out and win the game, 24-3.

The Super Bowl celebration sequence that followed was undoubtedly the best ever in a Madden game (even surpassing Madden ’95).  Chris Collinsworth and Gus Johnson discussed the Patriots history and the significance of this win while the confetti rained down and relevant highlights from the game were shown through a filter to make them seem more historic.  This was followed by highlights from the Patriots victory parade in Boston before going on to the White House to meet President Obama.  Epic.

Ultimately, I had a lot of fun with Madden 11.  While only one of the three games I played was really competitive, the presentation so impressed me, that I was left eager to come back and play more.  Perhaps after doing that, I will see all kinds of flaws.  Based on this sample, however, Madden 11 struck me as exciting to play and, most importantly, fun.  

Madden 10

Microsoft XBOX 360

Click HERE for screenshots.

For the first time in Madden history, two different players – Larry Fitzgerald of the Cardinals and Troy Polamalu of the Steelers- are featured on the cover of Madden 10.  The game opens with a movie featuring both of them, complete with highlights and voiceovers.  Both of these athletes dominate the menu screens that follow.  John Madden is given one short line of dialogue in the sequence in which he says “I’ve seen a lotta games, but I have a feeling this one is going to be special.”  But is Madden right?  Is Madden 10 a special game?

Once again, I have to equivocate in my answer.  On the upside, the graphics are jaw dropping in Madden 10.  I continue to be amazed by the ways in which the graphics seem to get better and better every year using the same XBOX 360 hardware.  More than once while playing this game, I had to shake my head at how many details they got right – the player faces and movements are fantastic and the overall presentation of the game is the closest thing yet to watching the game on TV. 

How does gameplay measure up?  Well, based on my limited sample of another Patriots playoff run, it is less than perfect. 

I was excited to see that when I started Madden 10, the game appeared to have imported my “Madden IQ” from the end of Madden 09.  I thought that this marked a continued improvement over the difficulty concerns that I took issue with in Madden 06 to Madden 08.  Unfortunately, the continued “fine tuning” of this number did not seem to have much of a positive impact on my gameplay experience. 

The divisional matchup featured the Titans coming to New England.  It was a cold night game that reminded me of their frigid Jan 2004 playoff game.  You could see the players’ breath in the cold air and the field seemed to have been frosted.  As the game opened, fighter jets flew over the stadium as part of the pregame festivities.  (A neat idea, but for some reason the animation was very choppy.) 

I got very excited for the opening kickoff when I saw that the old-style play calling menus appeared to be back in the game.  Three plays were displayed at once and you had the option of picking them based on the button you pressed on the controller.  This enthusiasm was short lived though, for while this was an improvement over the previous 360 titles, it ended up being a bit of a tease.  The core of playcalling is the same as from the other 360 titles (you can choose by formation, by “asking madden”, or by “play type”), but it is marginally improved by the ability to highlight more than 1 play at a time. 

As the game got underway, I was awed by the stellar presentation.  The camera angles on the field, particularly between plays, feel cinematic and put you right on the field in the action.  The coaches that stalk the sidelines look disturbingly like their real-life counterparts (not Bill Belichick though, who is not part of the NFL Coaches Association).  I was also struck by the realism in the ways that the players moved.  Wes Welker ran and juked just like Wes Welker – Randy Moss looked and ran like Randy Moss.  Even their TD celebrations were identical to their signature celebrations in real life.  Amazing.

I scored on my opening drive with a pass from Brady to Moss and -in addition to being happy to see the Moss TD celebration – I was pleased to see the return of the drive summary.  Thank you!  I really like these EA, please stop taking it out of the game every other year. 

After the score put me up 7-0, I kicked the ball off and the Titans promptly returned it 100 yards for a score.  7-7. 

My ensuing drive involved a Tom Brady fumble in which a bunch of players piled on top of the ball.  This triggered a weird “mini-game” or “quick time event” in which different buttons lit up on-screen and I had to jab at them to recover the fumble.  I didn’t understand what was happening until it was too late, and the Titans got the ball back.  This was weird and I am not completely sold on the idea of bringing quick-time events into Madden games. 

After a nice defensive stop, I got the ball back and launched into a beautiful 6 play, 75 yard TD drive.  I was really feeling good about the game on this drive.  Everything made sense, I was reading the defense and picking it apart with Brady at the helm.   Pleased with my 14-7 lead, I kicked the ball off.  They once again, had a 100 yard TD return to tie the game 14-14.  This was ridiculous.  Twice in one game?  What bothered me was that I did not even come close to touching their return man on either play (a different returner each time).  My defenders were simply knocked down after the kick and the returner waltzed untouched into the endzone.  Twice.

Statistically, I was dominating the game at the half, but the score was tied 14-14 because of those two fluky plays.  The halftime show was pretty cool as it featured (mostly) relevant highlights from the game I was playing.  This “show” is slightly improved over the Madden 09 version.

As the 2^nd half got underway, I started to forget about the glitchy kickoff returns as I was once again mesmerized by the gorgeous graphics in the game.  I had a fantastic 14 play, 5 minute TD drive to put me up 21-14.  Lucky for me, I kicked the ball out the back of the endzone on the ensuing kickoff, and they had to take the touchback (likely sparing me another 100 yard TD return). 

With 2 minutes left in the game and down by 7, the CPU made an extremely questionable play call.  After failing to convert on 3^rd and 7, the CPU opted to punt the ball back to me on 4^th down.  This meant I just needed 1 first down to run out the clock and win the game.  This did not prove to be very difficult as I got the first down and the Titans suffered a rather inglorious end to their playoff run. 

In finishing off the 21-14 win, I knew that the score was a little skewed – I had dominated statistically for all but two key plays – but I was so enamored with the graphics and presentation, that I didn’t let it bother me too much. 

For the AFC Championship game at Pittsburgh, I was surprised to see that my Madden IQ had remained static- 500.  There was no adjustment meter showing where I had improved or regressed as there was following games in Madden 09.  I also didn’t see any signs of the “Madden Test” or the hologram helper. 

The game began with a nice introduction for Heinz Field and the lighting effects as the game got underway were great as the sun set into night in this late-afternoon game.  I got the ball first, but struggled against the Steelers D and had to punt.  In an eerie replay of the special teams woes I had experienced against the Titans, the Steelers had a terrific punt return and nearly scored.  A few plays later, they finished things off and raced out to a 7-0 lead.

I was able to respond to their score with an impressive 13 play, 80 yard drive to tie things up at 7.  After exchanging a few punts, the next key moment of the game came on a 2^nd and 10 when Brady dropped back to pass.  I saw two things developing as I scanned the field.  The first was Randy Moss about to break free down the right sideline.  The second was a blitzing linebacker coming from the blind side.  Rather than get rid of the ball immediately, I hesitated until Moss was open and threw the ball.  Brady barely got the pass away, but it was off target and incomplete.  Unfortunately, I had taken too long and Brady was hit hard in his lower back as he released the ball.  He was not getting up. 

The medical staff rushed onto the field and Brady ended up being carted off the field with a herniated disk.  Yikes. 

This meant that young, untested Kevin O’Connell would have to step in and save the day.  In reality, the Patriots cut O’Connell following the 2008 season, but in this simulated playoff, he was now the star.  I employed the same strategy that the Patriots did in real life when Bledsoe went down in 2001- lots of short, easy passes.  I used the run to set up the pass and O’Connell marched the team the rest of the way down the field to finish with a TD.  I was up 14-7, but then the news came that Brady was out for the next 12 weeks.  Even if I won the game, I would be going into the Super Bowl without my best player.

The Steelers opened the second half with a brilliant sustained drive that culminated with a score to tie the game 14-14 late in the 3^rd quarter.  Later in the 4^th, Kevin O’Connell rose to the occasion and converted a critical 3^rd and goal from the 12 with a TD pass to Randy Moss.  With 2 minutes left in the game, I had regained a 21-14 lead.

All I had to do was keep the Steelers out of the endzone and run out the clock.  I kicked off the ball, and they promptly returned it 100 yards for the score.  I was furious.  As was the case in the Titans game, my kick coverage simply dissolved and the returner walked 100 yards for the score.  The Patriots kick coverage has not been “great” the last couple years, but in my 16 + years of fandom, I can’t remember them ever surrendering three 100 yard returns in a two game span.  It was ridiculous and silly.

Regardless, the game was once again tied.  With the score 21-21, I had a chance late in regulation to tie the game with a long FG, but the kick came up a few yards short. 

I got the ball to start OT and launched into a conservative, grinding drive that would ensure no turnovers and seal ultimate victory.  Four minutes later, I booted through the game winning field goal to finish off the Steelers 24-21.  There was some modest celebration on the sideline as the “coach” (not BB) was doused in a Gatorade shower and Kevin O’Connell put on his AFC Champion baseball cap.  I was happy to have won, but aggravated by the 100 yard TD return.  The game never should have gone into OT. 

The Super Bowl was against the Arizona Cardinals.  So, once again, I was squaring off in a Championship game against the athlete on the cover of the game (this year 2x).  My Madden IQ had fallen 8 points to 492 following my OT win over the Steelers.  The Super Bowl was in the pouring rain.

I was confused when I saw that my starting QB was not Kevin O’Connell, but instead someone named Luke McCown.  McCown was never a Patriot in reality, but I think the CPU automatically signed him off the free agent market leading up to the big game.  I debated about putting O’Connell back in, but ended up going with McCown just for the hell of it.  Neither player was a real replacement for Brady.

The rain effects have been improved even more over previous years, with droplets sticking to the “camera” screen as you are playing.  This is done just right, so as not to be too distracting.  There was also a nice touch of having all of the players wear the Super Bowl XLIV patches on their jerseys. 

The Cardinals got the ball first and I held by breath on their ensuing kickoff return.  It was a great runback, but I managed to bring the return man down before he could score.  They started at the 50 yard line. 

The game began as a defensive chess match for field position.  The game remained scoreless after 1 quarter, with my defense (and the rain) shutting down their passing attack.  My lack of a viable QB kept me from getting much of anything going.

The first big play took place to open the 2^nd quarter when Wes Welker muffed a punt and after a pileup (another “quicktime event” game), the Saints recovered deep into my territory.  One play later, they scored to go up 7-0. 

When I got the ball back, I returned to my strategy of using the run to set up the pass and employing short passes.  This worked out beautifully on a screen pass to Welker, who broke a tackle and ran 40 yards for the score (redeeming his earlier fumble).  I was able to score once more before halftime and go into the locker room with a 14-7 lead. 

By the time the second half got underway, the field conditions had deteriorated and the players were soaked.  This was the gloomiest Super Bowl ever.  After a defensive stop, I decided to work on the clock by giving a lot of carries to my running backs.  This not only took 6 minutes off the clock, but ultimately resulted in a Fred Taylor TD.  With 2 minutes to go, I was up 21-7. 

The Cardinals went 4 and out on their next drive, giving me great field position.  I couldn’t quite run the clock out all the way, so I ended up putting up one more FG before the game ended with a 24-7 Patriots win. 

The Super Bowl celebration was the best it had been for a few years, with star players tackling each other to the ground in celebration, and big Vince Wilfolk dancing around wearing his Super Bowl cap.  McCown was named MVP, and the “coach” (who resembled a very old man) hoisted up the Lombardi trophy. 

When the game finished, I saw that my Madden IQ remained at 492.  My conclusion in finishing this game was that it wasn’t quite right- the graphics and presentation were spectacular, but the game play/difficulty curve were not quite where they needed to be.  The games I played were either not competitive or competitive only as a result of fluky plays.  Perhaps a larger sample is needed (and the settings need to be tweaked), but based on my snapshot of Madden 10, it still is not as good as Madden 2005 on the PS2 when it comes to game play.  

Madden 09

Microsoft XBOX 360

Click HERE for screenshots.

Madden 09 begins with an effort to address the main problem I have had with the last couple of Madden games on the XBOX 360 – the default difficulty is too damned easy.  The game starts with a holographic image of John Madden asking that you take a “madden test” to determine your “Madden IQ” which will then determine the game’s difficulty. 

It was great to see John Madden back in the game – he has been largely absent since Madden 2005 – so I was happy to take his little quiz.  After accepting his offer, I was transported into a “virtual reality” in which all of the players were holograms.  This is pretty weird, but I didn’t question it and took all four phases of the test – rush offense, pass offense, rush defense, pass defense. 

The results for these tests were all over the board for me.  I was rated as “All Pro” at rushing offense (nearly “All-Madden”) and “All-Madden” passing offense.  The latter rating had to do with a glitch where I could always hit an open TE short over the middle of the field and get 100% completions. 

In complete contrast, both my rushing and passing defensive tests went horribly.  I got a 0% against the run and something like a 15% against the pass.  This set my ratings on D to “Rookie”.  My initial Madden IQ was rated as 438. 

My first game was in the divisional round and featured the Chargers coming to town.  Would my “Madden IQ” impact the game play?  I’m pretty sure it did.  My very high offense ratings ramped up the CPU’s abilities on defense and made moving the ball downfield extremely difficult.  Conversely, my pitiful defensive rating bolstered my defense to the point where the Chargers never stood a chance to get things going. 

Subsequently, this playoff game was a very low scoring affair.  The presentation was pretty good – while I missed the cinematic player intros from Madden 08, I was thrilled to hear that there were once again commentators in the series and the generic “radio announcer” had been canned.  Unfortunately, the commentators are John Hammond and Chris Collinsworth, who are less than thrilling to listen too. 

This game was in a torrential rainstorm, and the graphical effects were damned impressive.  I felt like I was playing in the “Mudbowl” as player uniforms were covered in chunks of grass and mud and the field was chewed to shit.  This effect got more and more dramatic as the game wore on – well done EA. 

I’m not certain if this was due to the rain effects being so intense, but the animations ran a little slower than they did in Madden 08 (but not as bad as 07).  The biggest gripe I had was due to the frequency of dropped passes that I encountered.  Several times I had Moss open deep, Brady threw a perfect pass, and it inexplicably went through his hands.  Perhaps it was the rainy weather, but I think it had more to do with my “All-Madden” passing rating and the CPU trying to even the score. 

The hit animations also seem to have been tweaked for maximum violence, but this isn’t so over the top as to make it seem fake.  There were a couple of times where I ended up wincing at the intensity of these cyber blows, but sacking the QB could very gratifying. 

There are a number of other changes – there are now photographs for the starting lineups, presented in-game, just like on TV.  There is also something called “Backtrack” in which Chris Collinsworth breaks down plays where you screwed something up (generally interceptions).  There is even an option to “redo” the play – but I couldn’t view this as anything other than cheating and avoided it in my games. 

As the first half wore on, my lack of offensive productivity started to really wear on me and my frustration started to boil over.  After watching Randy Moss – who had incidentally shattered the TD receiving record in real life the year before – drop yet another wide open pass, I began to draw some comparisons to the dreadful Madden 2002, a game ruined for me by excessive dropped passes. 

At halftime, I was losing 6-0.  I was annoyed by the low camera angles on the field goals because I could not tell if the kick was good or not as the play happened on the field.  I had to wait until Collinsworth made the call.  This is a very simple thing that is inexcusable to get wrong at this stage in the franchise. 

At the end of the 3^rd quarter, I finally got on the board with a FG of my own, cutting the score to 6-3.  I hoped to win the game late in the 4^th, but was once again held to another FG and forced OT with the score 6-6. 

I got the ball back at the start of the extra period, and after having dropped the last 5 passes, Randy Moss inexplicably got the one that mattered most while double covered.  He elevated over the two DBs who had him blanketed and brought the ball down.  I was relieved to then kick the game winning FG and end this frustrating game, but there was definitely some irony that the one pass Moss caught all game was the one where he was actually well covered. 

Following the game, a screen popped up and my “Madden IQ” was adjusted.  While my total score went up to 455, my passing skills went down while my defensive ratings improved. 

Going into the AFC Championship game against Cleveland, I was curious as to how my adjusted Madden IQ would impact game play.  In short, it changed things dramatically.

In this game against the Browns, everything was clicking for me on offense, defense, and special teams.  I blasted the Browns for a 24-0 halftime lead.  I thought the game was in hand and prepared to coast to victory in the second half, but was mistaken.

The Browns opened the second half with a 1 play 80 yard TD drive.  Just seconds into the 3^rd, the score was 24-7.  I proceeded to milk the clock, taking 3 minutes off en route to a FG, putting me up a convincing 27-7.  I kicked the ball off to Cleveland and once again – in spite of my deep zone defense – they scored a 1 play 80 yard TD.  This seemed a bit wonky and kind of cheap, but the score was suddenly 27-14.  I got the ball back and tried to milk some more time off the clock, but my drive stalled and they got the ball back.  They ran the ball to the right side and their RB broke 4 tackles en route to the endzone.  1 play, 65 yards.  With 2 minutes to go, the score was 27-21. 

All of this was highly suspect to me- it seemed as if the game was rigged to keep the CPU competitive.  When I got the ball back, I was stuffed for a loss on 1^st and 2^nd down.  On a huge 3^rd and long, Randy Moss came up with the play of the game, breaking free to score a 60 yard TD.  This put the score at 34-21 with 1:47 to go and the game was effectively over.  Although the CPU managed to nearly score one more time, I held them to 4 and out at the goalline and preserved the 34-21 win. 

This was a wild game, but ultimately a fun one for me.  It got my heart rate up, but never made me furious (like Madden 2002 did constantly).  At the end of my second game, my Madden IQ was rescaled once again, and this time fell to 447.  This scaling was interesting to me, but I wasn’t sure how well it was working. 

The Super Bowl featured the Patriots vs. Cowboys.  I really did not know what to expect going in – a defensive struggle like my first game?  A shootout like the second?  What I got ended up being a blowout. 

Mike Vrabel picked off Tony Romo on the opening play and nearly took it back for the TD.  On 1^st and Goal, Maroney finished things off and rumbled into the endzone.  On the ensuing Cowboys drive, Romo was once again picked off and moments later Sammy Morris rumbled in for the score.  Less than a minute in, I was up 14-0 and Brady hadn’t thrown a single pass. 

After a couple of Cowboy first downs (thanks to Terrell Owens), they were forced to punt.  I opened the second quarter with a deep TD to Randy Moss.  On my next offensive drive, I ran the same play and had the same result.  TD Moss.  With 3 minutes left in the 1^st, the score was 28-0.

Dallas then more or less went into panic mode and gave up on the running game.  In spite of a number of nice plays by Owens, they were unable to get any points before the half and the score remained 28-0. 

My main complaint about the game to this point was that the commentators did very little to acknowledge that this game was the Super Bowl (in fact, I don’t think they mentioned it at all).  Some of the canned comments just didn’t make any sense as a result (“He is going to have a lot to study in the film room before next week’s game!”). 

I hoped to avoid any frantic comeback attempt by the Cowboys, so I did all I could to grind out the clock in the second half.  I was able to basically impose my will on the Dallas defense and ran out the entire 3^rd quarter in one drive (before punting). 

Not much happened in the forth quarter (other than some more great catches from T.O. that led to nowhere).  Late in the 4^th, Dallas put together a great drive that stalled out with consecutive sacks of Romo to end the game and preserve the 28-0 Patriots win.

The Super Bowl celebration was weak, just a few frames basically repeating the animations from the end of Madden 08.  This one was a bit shorter and lamer though.  I was also annoyed (and this happened in Madden 06 and 07 as well) by the fact that when you win the Super Bowl, the in-game monitors flash with the text “COWBOYS LOSE!  COWBOYS LOSE!!!!”  This is just weird and even a bit cruel.  Shouldn’t they be celebrating the new champion rather than taunting the loser? 

Eh- whatever.

In wrapping up, this particular game was never competitive, but boy were the graphics pretty.  On the whole, Madden 09 improves upon the already very impressive graphics from Madden 08.  I get the impression once again that this is a pretty good game, but I never really got to play it.  Following the game, my Madden IQ shot up to 500.  I suspect that if I played a bunch more games, my IQ would have evened out to the point where the difficulty level hit a sweet spot and all the games were appropriately competitive (win some/lose some).  But, alas, there are still two Madden games to be played, so that experiment will have to wait until another day.    

Madden 08

Microsoft XBOX 360

Click HERE for screenshots.

Madden 08 opens with the first memorable opening movie in many years for the Madden franchise.  Blending sounds and images from real-life NFL films footage with scenes from the game– all set to an epic sound track – this opening movie makes you want to strap on a helmet and hit somebody.  Can the game itself hold up to its great intro sequence? 

The answer is a qualified “I think so”.  The game is clearly a huge improvement over its immediate predecessor, Madden 07.  The graphics are crisper and brighter, and perhaps even more important- the animations are smooth as silk.  Madden 08 made me feel for the first time that I was TRULY playing a “next gen” Madden game that worked as it should- it also served as a jarring reminder as to how much choppier gameplay was in Madden 07.  My “initial reaction” notes are filled with the words “smoother” and “faster”, even in reference to the menu screens.

So what’s the problem?  Well, as I’ve written before, for the sake of consistency, I have been playing all of these Madden games with their default settings.  This means the “PRO” difficulty level, which for many years, meant “medium”.  However, for Madden 08 (and its predecessors on the XBOX 360), “PRO” seems to mean “easy”.  (Just a quick note, in spite of all my Madden playing, I consider myself to be an “average” player – any 10 year old could probably embarrass me on XBOX LIVE.)  Regardless, I found the “PRO” setting to be ridiculously easy and subsequently, none of the games I played were remotely competitive in Madden 08.  The graphics were sure pretty though. 

My first game featured the Pats hosting the Colts in the Divisional Playoff.  I was surprised to hear Marshall Faulk open the game with a prediction that the Pats would cream the Colts 20-9.  This was weird for a couple of reasons- first of all, I don’t recall seeing score predictions in any Madden game before this, and second, why Marshall Faulk?  Really?  As a Pats fan, he is pretty low on my list of favored announcers.  This said, I didn’t have to listen to him much, because once the game got underway, the game bounced back to the generic “radio announcer” that has been featured on the XBOX since Madden 06.  John Madden’s voice is sorely missed once again.

The game got started after some pretty slick player introductions that were cinematic and exciting.  Again, the animations were smooth and the graphics crisp as ever.  Complete with fireworks and the roar of the fans, I was fired up and ready to play. 

The controls in Madden 08 – in large part due to the very smooth animations – are fantastic.  I felt completely in control of my offense on my opening drive as Brady marched down the field, hooking up with Randy Moss and making it look good.  The first chink in the armor appeared at the end of the first half when the CPU started making bizarre play calls.  Rather than run out the clock to end the half, the CPU inexplicably punted the ball on 2^nd and 20.  I wasn’t expecting it and wasn’t able to turn it into additional points, but I’ve never seen that call in that situation (in reality or Madden).  The half ended with the Pats up 14-0.

At halftime, I was treated to highlights from the game- these were captured replays of big plays from the game.  I really liked this and the presentation was slick.  It has come a long way from the “halftime highlight shows” of Madden ‘91 through ’93. 

The second half allowed me to continue my dominance, but again, there were some funny quirks.  The Colts would jump offsides frequently when I called a hard count and faked the snap.  It happened so often, that it felt like a cheat (I think this had to do with my being a “LEVEL 1” player or something – see my Madden 07 review for a discussion of that).  This quirk was outweighed by the stunning presentation of the game though- the field quality degraded as the game went on, player uniforms got dirty- it all looked fantastic. 

All of this distracted me from the fact that the game itself was damned boring and I coasted to a 21-0 win.  My defense shut them down completely and the outcome of the game was never in question.

The AFC Championship game featured the Patriots hosting the Ravens.  Marshall Faulk predicted a 21-3 Patriots route before the game before he disappeared for the next hour. 

Again, I enjoyed watching the intro sequence and was bowled over by the great graphics and animations.  However, as far as gameplay was concerned, I began to feel like the game was rigged somewhat in my favor.  On every close play – a tight pass, a run close to the marker, whatever – the outcome would always be good for the Pats.  It was a bit like Pleasantville – just thread that needle, Brady will get it there!  He always does!

I knew things were a bit stacked when Lawrence Maroney broke an 80 yard run from scrimmage for a score – something that never happened in reality (except for one time in a freak snowstorm against the Titans).  While the Ravens had a few nice drives, they couldn’t put points up and I took a 14-3 lead into the half. 

The second half was pretty boring and after a 50 yard TD return on an interception, I won the game 28-9.  Marshall Faulk’s voice came back to tell me something about my “ring progress” (?) and the game was over.  The game wasn’t ever close, but I had fun because the controls, presentation and animation were so damned good. 

In reality, Super Bowl XLII was a devastating loss for the Patriots.  In Madden 08, it was simply another Patriots blowout victory.  For the third straight year, my Super Bowl matchup featured the Pats against the Seahawks.  Were the Seahawks ever really that good or was one of the Madden programmers a Seahawks fan? 

Regardless, the game got off to a slow start and the score was just 3-0 Pats midway through the second quarter.  For a brief moment I thought the game would be competitive, but I was quickly proven wrong.  The Seahawks appeared to be driving on me, but I managed a pick-six from Asante Samuel (a 90 yard TD return!).  On my next offensive drive, Brady threaded the needle (he always does) for a nice TD.  Suddenly I was up 17-0 at halftime and the route was on.

The second half was more or less a repeat of the first half.  I shut the Seahawk offense down completely, tacked on a FG and two more TDs (both long INT returns for TDs) and closed out the game 34-0.  There was a modest victory sequence (a couple of frames of players celebrating and Tom Brady raising his arms to the heavens). 

This Super Bowl game more or less summed up my experience with Madden 08.  The graphics and presentation were fantastic- without a doubt the best yet in a Madden game.  They got all the details right and the game ran perfectly.  However, the game was too damned easy on the default settings and there were too many “big plays” for TDs.  

Madden 07

Microsoft XBOX 360

Click HERE for screenshots. 

Madden 07 improves upon its predecessor on the XBOX 360, but still leaves quite a bit to be desired.  My initial impressions upon starting the game are that the menu interface is similar to 06 – crisp and easy to read.  However, I was confused by the fact that the controls on the menu screen seemed choppy and not very smooth.  This isn’t anywhere near as bad as it was in Madden ’99, but is still worth noting.  These menus also seem overly complicated to me, with layers upon layers of different menu trees to sort through.  The music is once again angsty and terrible. 

For my Wildcard matchup, the Pats hosted the Kansas City Chiefs.  I could see that a number of my complaints from 06 were to be repeated here- Tom Brady looks like a huge brute, the pre-game intro is very choppy, and Madden is once again absent as a commentator and replaced by a generic radio voice.  On the upside, they managed to fix the ridiculous camera angles so that the defaults are usable, and a number of little graphical improvements have been implemented (improved grass texture, the helmets sparkle, etc.) 

The opening play of the game sums up my entire experience playing Madden 07.  I generally open games with a conservative call in an effort to settle into the controls and whatnot.  I opted this time for an inside run to the left with Corey Dillon.  I snapped the ball and Dillon ran untouched for an 80 yard TD.  Wow- those were some easy points.  It could have been an anomaly, or so I thought, given that long runs do sometimes happen to start a game (see Pats vs. Ravens in 2009 playoffs). 

However, on the Chief’s very first offensive play, they threw an interception that I returned 25 yards for a TD.  On two plays, I was winning 14-0.  Less than 1 minute had passed on the game clock.  These two plays proved to be the rule rather than the exception as I raced to a 27-0 lead at the half.  In my notes, I wrote: “I’m not really doing anything well, it is just the CPU giving me all these turnovers and big plays”.  The only positive comment I had written down was that they had reinstated the “end of quarter” and “2 minute warning” screens, which were oddly missing from Madden 06.

My lead hit 34-0 going into the 4^th when I focused on just trying to run the clock out.  The anemic Chiefs offense showed a little something at the very end and managed to surprise me with a couple of quick scores, but the game was long over at that stage.  My comments following this 34-14 domination were as follows: “I don’t feel like I’m really in control, more like a spectator” and “This game is boring as shit.”  There were 8 turnovers in the game, which is a ridiculously high number.  It also took just over an hour in real time.

The divisional matchup was in Pittsburgh.  This game was surprisingly competitive following the blow out against KC.  With the score tied at 3 into the second quarter, the game’s AI got a little bit weird.  I dropped back with Brady and saw that Deion Branch had a half step on the Steelers CB and was streaking down the right sideline.  Brady let the ball fly and inexplicably, the cornerback peeled away and started running away from Branch rather than move in to bat the ball away.  As a result, Branch was left wide open and hauled in a 70 yard TD catch.  This play was weird for two reasons- one was the AI misfire, but the other was that Brady threw the ball 75 yards in the air.  He has a strong arm, but 75 yards is kind of nuts.  I managed a couple more field goals and took a 16-3 lead into halftime. 

The second half featured a decent attempt by the computer to come back.  They narrowed the lead to 16-6 by the end of the 3^rd and were able to score a TD with 4 minutes left in the game, which made it 16-13.  For some reason, at this point, the game started to have frame rate issues.  It wasn’t consistent, but for some plays, the game would slow to a crawl, adding an unexpected layer of difficulty to the experience. 

Regardless, the attempted comeback ended as I was able to run out the clock and preserve the 16-13 win.  All in all, it was a pretty good game and the first competitive one I had had in awhile.  Was this the start of a positive trend?

The answer turned out to be “no”.  The AFC Championship game in San Diego started out promising, with my posting a modest 10-0 lead at the half.  Although it was a bit fluky - there were 4 turnovers – the game was at least competitive.  The second half was a different story. 

While my defense continued its domination, I sprang to life on offense.  A major difference was that I finally started to implement the “dual analog stick” controls whereby the right analog stick is used for jukes and “highlights” while running and as a “hit stick” on D.  While I know that this has been around for a few years by this point, I had never really used it before.  Once I started to use these controls as they were intended, my offense exploded in a way reminiscent of the 2007 Patriots (before the devastating loss in the Super Bowl).  I put up another 28 points to close out the game with a 38-0 win. 

The game was a shellacking and felt like it could have been 70-0.  It reminded me of my Super Bowl game back in Madden ’96 vs. the 49ers.  Once again, there were 9 turnovers in the game- an unusually high number.  I had five interceptions on defense.  This was pretty silly, but at least I was wrapping my head around all the controls. 

Super Bowl XLI featured the Patriots vs. the Seahawks.  As had been the case in Madden 2003, 2004,  and 2005, I was playing in a championship game against the player featured on the cover art- RB Shawn Alexander.  I took a moment to revel in how great the stadium/field graphics looked.  The field was decked out for the big game and looked fantastic. 

My praise for this particular game ends about there.  As was the case in the Wildcard game and the Championship, the Super Bowl was a one-sided romp.  I opened the game with an 80 yard TD run by Corey Dillon.  I raced to a 14-0 lead before Seattle managed to score a FG late in the second. 

With the score 14-3, I thought the momentum might swing away from me when it was ruled that Corey Dillon had fumbled the ball on a run up the middle of the field.  I challenged the play, and for the first time ever in a Madden game, I won the challenge and the ruling was overturned.  Rather than giving Seattle great field position and a chance to pull within 4 points, I kept the ball and ended up scoring again.  The score was 21-3 at the half. 

Just moments into the 3^rd quarter, I scored again to make it 28-3.  In spite of my efforts to run out the clock at that stage, I tacked on two more TDs by the time it was over and won 42-10.  My notes included “I have learned the controls and am apparently unstoppable” and “this is pretty boring”.  After the final gun sounded, I was rewarded with nothing.  There was no Super Bowl celebration whatsoever, just the typical “end of game” screen.  Jeez.

The final statistics were pretty warped- Corey Dillon finished with 208 yards rushing and 5 TDs.  I noticed while playing Madden 07 that there was something called a “Madden level” that I think has something to do with a scaling difficulty.  I started at a level 1 when I played the Wild Card game vs. the Chiefs and after I won the Super Bowl, I was told I had reached level 5.  If this leveling system is indeed intended to make the games harder as you “get better”, it didn’t work very well as I won both my first game and last game in equally dominating fashion. 

I imagine that this issue had more to do with the difficulty setting- “pro”.  I didn’t switch this to “all-pro” for the sake of continuity.  In all of these Madden reviews I have played through the Super Bowl using the default settings, so I didn’t want to change it up here.  Based on that scale though, Madden 07 is way too easy and as a result, a forgettable installment in the Madden franchise.  

Madden 06

Microsoft XBOX 360

Click HERE for screenshots. 

The first foray by the Madden franchise into the world of “HD Gaming” on the XBOX 360 is uneven and in many ways a step backwards from the previous three games released on the less powerful PlayStation 2 hardware. 

The first thing I noticed about the game was a positive though- the font used on the menu screens (and throughout the game) is crystal clear.  This might sound like a trivial matter, but it really bothered me how difficult it could be to read text on the screen at times in the Madden franchise.  Now, after 16+ years, they finally figured out how to display a crisp readable font.  Thank you HD.

As I began my wildcard matchup against the Steelers, I immediately felt that something was wrong.  Something important seemed missing as the players were introduced and kicked the ball off.  Then I realized- there is NO JOHN MADDEN COMMENTARY in this game.  In fact, with the exception of an “ask Madden” option in the play-calling screen (see below), John Madden is completely missing from Madden 06.  While I will concede that I have criticized Madden’s role in the game in the past, playing a Madden game with no John Madden felt surreal and left a huge vacuum in the game’s presentation.  Instead, we are left with an exceedingly generic one-man “radio broadcast” in which some unknown dude quietly tells you the down and distance.  “You don’t know what you got til it’s gone.” L

The graphics have undeniably been jacked up for Madden 06 on the XBOX 360 – the HD presentation makes everything sharper.  EA Sports has imported player faces for key players, so they vaguely resemble their real-life counterparts.  This works better for some Patriot players than others (Richard Seymour looks great, Tom Brady looks a bit brutish).  The player models are OK, but I thought that at times players looked like monsters and the proportions were a little too exaggerated.  I also thought that the models had a bit of a plastic sheen to them (almost like the ken-doll look of Madden 2001).  Players shouldn’t glisten from head to toe the way they do in Madden 06. 

Play calling has been revamped dramatically and I found this infuriating.  Play calling has been more or less identical since Madden ’91.  Sure, the presentation has changed a little bit over the years, but the core mechanics are always the same- pick a formation, pick a play.  Three plays are always highlighted at once and chosen by pressing the corresponding button.  I never thought too hard about this mechanic because it always made sense- put simply, it WORKED. 

However, in Madden 06, you are given a variety of options for how to go about calling a play.  You can go by formation, play type, “ask coach”, “ask Madden”, by player position, or choose by “recently run plays”.  When you go by formation, rather than giving you the base formation and then being able to scroll to variations (i.e. Shotgun>Shotgun trips right, Shotgun 5 wide, etc.), they give you every formation under the sun all at once (goal line, I-form, I-form 2 TE, Shotgun, Shotgun trips-right, Weak I 3 wr, etc.).  They can’t fit it all on one screen, so you have to scroll around to find the right one.  This was a clusterfuck of options that was more or less unsorted.  Making matters worse, is that rather than highlighting 3 plays at a time (which saves time), you only can highlight one.  SO, if you need to pick an option at the bottom of the list, you have to frantically scroll around until you highlight precisely the correct formation (and then play) that you need.  On offense, you have a 40 second play clock, but on defense, you usually have about 10 seconds to sort through hundreds, if not thousands, of possible plays. 

They offer the “ask coach” or “ask Madden” options to simplify this, but I didn’t care much for this either.  This would cough up 5 vanilla plays to choose from depending on the down and distance situation.  Basically, you have a choice between frantically sifting through 1000 plays or choosing between 5 boring ones. 

I compromised by playing vanilla “ask coach/Madden” defense while mixing things up a bit more on offense.  By sorting offensive play calling by “play type”, I was able to call plays classified as “inside runs” or “regular passes” or whatever.  While this was better than the vanilla “ask coach” options, I still was left wondering what was so bad about the old method?  It had worked well for 15 fucking years. 

Back to the action, I immediately was struck by how crappy the camera angle was on the field.  It was basically at field level, making it extremely difficult to see what the hell was going on.  I went to the (sparse) options screen to change the angle, but alas, there was no option to adjust the camera!  This seemed like a glaring omission to me, and after some research I was able to determine that by pressing the “right trigger” on the XBOX controller, you could zoom all the way out with the camera.  While this was a bit further away than I would have preferred, at least it gave me the chance to see where players were lining up on the field and a chance to read the defense.  Once again, Madden 06 presents you with two extreme choices- either position the camera on the ground, or in the blimp.  (I also found it annoying that I had to press “right trigger” for EVERY PLAY – there was no way I could find to fix that setting, at least not from the “in game” options screen.) 

The control scheme has also been completely re-done for Madden 06.  Some of the default settings are simply bizarre.  For example, while the left analog stick lets you steer the selected player on defense and on running plays (and after passes are completed), it will not allow the QB to scramble in the pocket.  Instead, it will cause the QB to stop in his tracks and “pump-fake”.  To move the QB in the pocket, use the d-pad.  Why the hell would you assign the analog stick to “pump-fake” when a simple button would do?  I had to remember before each passing play (after I hit the right trigger to fix the camera) to move my thumb off the analog stick and onto the d-pad (but not on runs).  It just feels like they are being obtuse for the sake of being obtuse.

Back to my wildcard game against the Steelers, I had managed a weak 6-0 at the half.  I made note of the fact that there is no longer any notification when a quarter ends or when the 2 minute warning happens.  Pay attention to the little clock on the screen, because the CPU sure as hell isn’t going to mention it.  Also, why does Madden insist on periodically taking away drive summaries from their games?  I find them useful and that they add to the narrative of the game.  There are none in Madden 06 – not mid-drive or after a score.  I couldn’t find one even in the convoluted “game stats” section (which you access by clicking the right analog stick when you are on a specific screen). 

The camera is particularly useless on punt returns, putting it at such a low angle that you have no idea where the ball is going to land or where your returner is- he is often completely off camera as the ball is coming down. 

In the second half, I extended my lead to 13-0, but the CPU responded with a fluky hail-mary TD play of 80 yards.  I countered with a TD of my own after a decent drive to put the score at 20-7.  Weirdly enough, the CPU had a second fluky 80 yard TD pass and the game ended with the score 20-14.  I basically shut them down all day, but they had two big plays which made the score seem close. 

The divisional round was against the Ravens.  In this game I noticed how wonky the physics seemed to be at times in the game.  Players would whiff on tackles in an unrealistic way (like they are going for a flag rather than a player).  I raced to a 14-0 lead in this game before a fumble resulted in a Ravens score.  I responded right before halftime and the score stood at 21-7 Pats. 

In the second half, I fumbled on my opening drive and once again they converted it into points, putting the score at 21-10.  On their next drive, I picked them off, but inexplicably fumbled the ball a split second later.  They scored and got a 2-point conversion.  Suddenly my commanding 14 point lead was reduced to 3.  With the score 21-18, the CPU more or less gave up as I tacked on a late TD and won 28-18.  For the second straight game, I had led throughout and held off a half-hearted comeback by the CPU.  Both games had also taken over an hour in real time.

The AFC Championship game against the Colts was even less competitive as I won handily 27-13.  The most noteworthy event in this game was the glitch that surfaced late in the 4^th quarter when the CPU attempted to run a “no-huddle” offense.  While scrambling to the line, their fullback got “stuck” to a wide receiver and the players seemed “glued” to each other.  In spite of the fullback’s best efforts to “detach”, 20 seconds were run off the clock before the QB snapped the ball.  Weird. 

Going into “Super Bowl XL” against the Seahawks, there were some recurring themes in my notes.  Comments like: “this game makes me feel cold and alone” and “this game was slow and boring” and “the game feels far away to me, in spite of the polished graphics” or simply “this isn’t all that much fun”. 

For “Super Bowl XL”, there were virtually no changes in presentation from the previous games (except the Super Bowl logo in the endzone and at the 50).  The game itself followed a similar script to the others- I raced out to a nice lead (21-7), the CPU appeared to threaten to come back (21-14), but it was never really close and I won handily (28-14).  The game took over an hour of real time.  My “reward” for winning the game was a big fat pile of nothing.  No fireworks, no Gatorade shower, no trophy, no acknowledgement whatsoever. 

In summary, in spite of the pretty graphics, Madden 06 strikes me as a very THIN game that just barely works at all.  I don’t use most of the features in Madden games, so the fact that I noticed that so much is missing is alarming.  This feels like a rushed product with too many poor design choices for me to recommend it to anyone.  Madden 2005 on the PS2 is a much better product- I'll take slightly less flashy graphics and great gameplay over this any day of the week.   

Madden 2005

SONY PlayStation 2

Click HERE for screenshots. 

Right out the gates, I liked Madden 2005.  The days of the “madden rap” might be gone, but they finally managed to hit the right notes for the title screens and menus.  The music was catchy and the menu screens featured a nice blend of photographs and video clips of your favorite team’s stars in action.  The “PDA” radio that is on the franchise screen shows that the game is a bit dated, for the most part Madden 2005 is a solid game that left me with little to complain about. 

Diving straight to the action, my wildcard matchup was the Patriots at the Raiders.  The on-field player models have been tweaked again since 2004, this time giving them a slightly more “muscle-bound” appearance, somewhat reminiscent of NFL Blitz (but not as fat looking). 

As was the case in making the jump from Madden 2003 to Madden 2004, the subsequent jump from 2004 to 2005 shows a number of little tweaks and improvements to make the experience a bit smoother and more streamlined.  I loved the “on field drive summaries” that would pop up under the box score information, just like on TV. 

As I played through the first half of my matchup against the Raiders, there was not a whole lot to make note of because everything simply worked as it should.  The controls were great and the physics made sense to me.  Things were going well, and I managed to take a 17-6 lead at halftime. 

The “halftime” show featured some cheerleaders with weird faces and ridiculously big CGI breasts dancing around.  That was a bit silly, but moments later, I was back to the action. 

Again, there are just a number of little improvements over Madden 2004, but they did not re-invent the wheel here.  They knew they had a good product and improved upon it.  The kicking meter is a bit better, for example.  In any case, I ended up crushing the Raiders and having fun with it, winning 24-6.  One of the most decisive wins I had had in awhile.  By the time this game had been released, the Pats were 2x Super Bowl Champions (in reality) and the Madden player ratings were finally starting to reflect the team’s greatness. 

The divisional round was at Indy, and my impressions from the Raider game held true here.  Again, there are some minor improvements- the Peyton Manning player model looks a lot like Peyton Manning.  Details like the way he flaps around his arms and changes plays at the line pre-snap. 

Once again, I raced out to a convincing lead- after a pick-6 late in the first half, I ended up with ahead 17-3 at halftime.  It was fun- the game play was fantastic and my strategies were all clicking.  The more I looked at the player models, the more I realized that they had really been improved over the last couple years (and come a really long way since the first PS2 Madden game, 2001). 

The game was never really all that close and I finished with a 34-10 win.  It was fun, but I was starting to question whether the Pats were really that good or if the game was a bit easier than previous years. 

The AFC Championship game was the Ravens at the Pats.  For the third straight year, I was going up against the player on the cover of the box deep into the playoffs (Ray Lewis).  Given how good the Ravens defense was at that point (and that Madden 2005 was marketed as “the year of defense” or something), I guess it should have come as no surprise that points were hard to come by in this game.

After the first quarter, I hadn’t managed a single first down on offense.  The game featured a lot of hard hits and neither team could get anything going.  Midway through the second quarter, I took a shot with a 54 yard FG attempt and somehow made it.  I think it might have been the longest field goal ever for me in Madden. 

On my next offensive series, Brady threw a dangerous pass over the middle that somehow got through double coverage and was caught by Deion Branch.  This set me up for a short TD run by Corey Dillon.  Up 10-0, I picked off the Ravens QB at the end of the half, setting up a last second field goal.

I felt lucky to have my 13-0 lead, as those points had come mostly as a result of a couple of good plays.  Other than that, I was basically useless on offense.  Fortunately, my defense was having a great game, and the Ravens offense was even more anemic than mine. 

After a scoreless third quarter, the complexion of the game suddenly changed when Brady threw a bad interception (to Ray Lewis) with 3 minutes left in the game.  A couple of plays later, the Ravens scored, and all of a sudden, the score was 13-7. 

I knew I had to run out the clock to seal the victory.  Fortunately, after starting the game 0 for 7 on third down conversions, I was able to ice the game after a clutch 3^rd and long catch by Daniel Graham in the middle of the field.  In a game dominated by the defense (I had 5 sacks!), I had eked out a 13-7 win. 

All of this set up the Super Bowl, featuring the Patriots against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  For some reason, I thought this game would be a cakewalk, but I was wrong.  Brad Johnson was red-hot to start the game, hitting on his first 10 passes.  After an impressive opening drive, my defense woke up just in time to force a FG, putting the Bucs up 3-0. 

I responded with a great opening drive that ended in disaster when Brady threw a bad interception in the redzone.  Johnson resumed where he had left off and marched right down the field again- all the way to the goal line.  Once again though, my D awoke at the critical time and managed to force a second FG.  I probably should have been losing 14-0 at this point, but instead it was a much more manageable 6-0, Bucs.

My offense finally got it done on the next drive, with Brady throwing a beautiful pass to David Givens in the back corner of the endzone to cap off a 9 play 76 yard drive.  This gave me a tenuous 7-6 lead at halftime.  The first half was eventful, featuring a number of protracted drives, but not many points.

Although I was winning by a point, it did not feel that way.  I buckled down in the second half and resolved to score some more points, which did not come easily.  I managed to kick a long field goal before the play of the game took place. 

After playing an amazing first half, Bucs QB Brad Johnson threw his first bad pass of the day when he misread my zone defense and Asante Samuel picked him off.  After some dazzling moves, Samuel went 45 yards downfield for the score and blew the game open. 

I had scored 17 unanswered points and that was all that I needed.  After a frantic drive by the Bucs that stalled out and resulted in 0 points, I ran the clock out with Corey Dillon to preserve the 17-6 Super Bowl victory. 

For the first time in ages, there was actually a decent Super Bowl celebration, with players dousing Bill Belichick in a Gatorade bath and carrying him off the field on their shoulders.  Fireworks lit up the sky and the Lombardi trophy was enthusiastically lifted overhead. 

I viewed this celebration as a fitting end to Madden on the PS2 before the rise of the “next-gen” consoles.  I like to view Madden 2003, 2004 and 2005 as a trilogy of great Madden games, where each improved on its predecessor.  While I know that they continue to make Madden games on the PS2 (and apparently Madden 06 on the PS2 is great), I am making the jump to the XBOX 360 for my next review.  For better or for worse, I am fast arriving at the “current generation” of HD Madden titles.