Madden 2004

SONY Playstation 2

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Madden 2004 picks up the ball where Madden 2003 left off and manages to push it a little bit further downfield.  The jump is nowhere near as dramatic as it was from Madden 2002 to Madden 2003, but it is always better to see a bit of progress rather than regression, which seems to happen all too often in the Madden franchise.

I should note that there are tons of features available by stage of the Madden franchise- training camps, franchise team options spanning dozens of seasons that include the ability to draft, trade and manage players while accounting for the salary cap – the list goes on and on.  There is also no end to the levels of customization you can add to the difficulty curve- even in a granular sense- like how often DBs will pick off a pass rather than bat it down or how frequently a running back will fumble the ball.  You can create your own teams, players, logos, blah blah blah.  As has been the case in ALL of these reviews, I just go with whatever the default setting is and review the game based on that.  I don’t have time for all that other stuff with 21 (and counting) Madden games to get through.

SO, that said, back to #14 on the list, Madden 2004.  In my first game- the Divisional Round of the playoffs- the Steelers came to New England to face the Pats.  The player models have been tweaked a little bit from Madden 2003 to 2004 in that they are now a bit bigger and less lanky.  I was not a huge fan of the font used on the play calling screen as it looked a bit blurry to me.  It wasn’t crippling- I could read it, but it could have been a little easier on the eyes.  They do spice up the play calling screen by having “live video” on the field in the middle 1/3^rd of the screen while you pick your play on the bottom 1/3^rd and the opposition has the top 1/3^rd.  The presentation is fancy, but still, it would be nice to have a clear font that is easily read when decoding play diagrams.

Once the action on the field got underway, I immediately noticed a number of tweaks and improvements to player animations and physics.  For the most part, these were not really game changing, but nice little enhancements that made the plays seem more realistic and less, well, “Madden-like”. 

In spite of these improvements, I got off to a rocky start and was losing 10-3 at the half of my game.  My lone good drive was dashed by a clipping penalty called on one of my offensive linemen.  I also kept dropping sure-fire interceptions while playing defense, which was irritating.  At this early stage though, I could not yet determine if it was a game-flaw or if I was just unlucky. 

I managed to turn the game around in the 4^th quarter.  After struggling offensively for most of the game, I mixed up my play calling and sent speedy Bethel Johnson streaking down the field from the near slot position.  After side stepping a blitz, I found him wide open for a hugely gratifying TD pass.  With the game tied, I immediately stepped up on defense and picked off a Tommy Maddox pass at the 40 yard line.  Rather than go down immediately, I began a very long return that somehow ended with me in the endzone (after some nifty running by Eugene Wilson).  The back to back TDs put me up 17-10, and changed the complexion of the rest of the game.  I managed one more interception late in the game that led to an easy TD to make the final score 24-10.  It was fun, and I had won pretty convincingly. 

The second game was against the Raiders in Oakland for the AFC Championship.  This game turned out to be one for the ages- after taking note of the improved coaching likenesses on the sidelines, things got underway and Oakland struck immediately with a systematic opening TD drive.  I kept trying to mix up my defensive play calling, but nothing worked and I was down 7-0 early.  I responded with a great opening drive of my own, but it stalled at the Oakland 2 yard line, and rather than chance it, I took the points with the FG.  7-3 in the first.

They did a great job with the sound effects for Oakland’s stadium and fans- the vibe was intimidating somehow and everything seemed louder and more intense because it was the Championship game.  On Oakland’s second drive, QB Rich Gannon somehow escaped what should have been a sack and managed to complete 55 yard pass over the middle that resulted in a TD (it was reminiscent of the infamous catch by David Tyree in the Patriots/Giants Super Bowl).  I was pissed (especially because it reminded me of that play) and also losing 14-3.  Before the half ended, I got a nice drive going and once again had a 4^th and short situation while within Field Goal range.  This time, I got greedy, went for it, and failed to convert.  The score remained 14-3 going into halftime.  ALWAYS TAKE THE POINTS!

In reviewing the halftime stats, it was evident that I was getting killed by the Raiders in every category.  The game wasn’t even as close as the score indicated, so I had a lot of work to do if I was going to pull it out. 

I came out firing and scored a TD after an impressive drive, but they immediately responded with a FG.  At the end of the 3^rd, I had pulled to 17-10.  I got the ball back with a chance to tie the game and immediately threw a terrible interception.  A few plays later, they scored, putting me down 24-10 with 3 minutes to go.  The game should have been over at that point, but I kept fighting. 

Knowing I had to score twice quickly, I got off to a great start and punched the ball in the end zone with 1:54 left in the game, making the score 24-17.  I still had three time outs, but rather than kick it deep, I took a chance by trying an onside kick.  In playing through the first 14 Madden games in the franchise over the last 8 months, I think I have only attempted something like 2 onside kicks.  Neither of them had worked.  I took a deep breath, lined up the kicking meter and kicked the ball off with a short, low, awkward angle.  As it reached the Raiders’ line of receivers, they got entangled with each other, giving me just enough time to dive on the loose ball.  Patriots recover!

At this point, my heart was racing a bit because I suddenly had a chance to tie the game when moments before defeat seemed certain.  Just 5 plays later, I threw the game tying TD with just under 1 minute to go.  The drive was vintage Tom Brady, but I did worry about having left too much time on the clock for Rich Gannon, with the score tied at 24.  

The Raiders did manage to pull off a few plays and creep close to field goal range.  At this point, I saw the first chink in the armor of the CPU’s AI.  With the clock running down and one time out remaining, the Raiders had a chance to win the game with a long FG as the clock expired.  However, they seemed to “forget” they had the T.O. and the closing seconds of regulation ticked away harmlessly, forcing OT. 

This was a curious glitch, and I probably should have lost the game.  Was it bad coding or was the coaching staff of the Raiders just dazed and disoriented after having surrendered 14 unanswered points in the last 2 minutes of the game?  Either way, the game was in OT.

After a few nerve-wracking drives that ended in punts, my big opportunity came when their punt returner muffed his fair catch and I recovered the ball deep into Raider territory.  Not wanting to take any chances, I kicked the game winning FG and won 27-24.  “AFC Champion” flashed on the screen and I breathed a deep sigh of relief- the game had taken nearly an hour of real time and I was exhausted. 

Following the game, I was told I had won some “Madden cards” that would grant me special wishes or something the next time I played if I “activated” the cards.  I have no idea what this means, but it seemed pretty gimmicky and I never used it.

The next matchup was Super Bowl XXXVIII, which the Patriots won in real life against the Panthers.  In my simulated season, the matchup pitted the Patriots vs. the Michael Vick led Atlanta Falcons.  For the second straight year, I was playing against the athlete featured on the cover of the Madden game I was playing (last year I played the Marshall Faulk led Rams).  My opening drive looked like it was going to be a great one, but stalled out in the redzone and I was forced to kick a FG after a 9 play, 50 yard drive.  After forcing a quick 3 and out, my second drive was very similar to the first one and I once again had to settle for a FG deep into Falcon territory.

A few minutes into the 2^nd quarter, I experienced another drive that stalled deep into Falcon territory and extended the lead to 9-0.  I was dominating the game statistically, but had a weak lead on the scoreboard.  After they closed the lead to 9-3, I finally managed to punch in a TD and took a 16-3 lead late in the 2^nd.  I managed to eke out one more FG before the half and take a 19-3 lead into halftime.  The score should have been more like 35-3, but I was pretty confident that a 16 point lead would be enough to close out the Falcons and win the game. 

Sensing that they were down and in trouble, the Falcons opened up the playbook in the second half and Michael Vick started to take command of the game.  After having contained him pretty well in the first half, Vick started running all over the field and improvising plays that I simply could not keep up with.  They opened the half with a 14 play, 80 yard TD drive and then scored a second TD almost immediately thereafter, following a Tom Brady interception.  Suddenly, my lead had shrunk to just two points and the score was 19-17. 

With the momentum swinging hard against me, I put together one of my best Madden drives in a pivotal situation.  I took the clock just inside 2 minutes before scoring a TD to put me up 26-17.  The Falcons weren’t dead yet, however, and on their ensuing drive, Vick once again improvised and picked apart my defense, scoring a quick TD with :51 left in the game, making the score 26-24. 

With no time outs, the Falcons tried for the onside kick, but failed to convert.  I simply kneeled out the rest of the clock and took home the Lombardi trophy once again, final score: Patriots 26, Falcons 24. 

Madden 2004 is a very good game that I view as a patched up, improved version of Madden 2003 (which I loved).  While the strides aren’t as marked as the jump from 2002 to 2003, it still offers some better animations and some nominal gameplay improvements over its immediate predecessor.  It is clear that by this point, the series has really hit its stride on the PlayStation 2.