Madden NFL 2005 (PS2)

This is definately the best Madden game so far.
I have been a regular 'Maddener' for probably 12 years or so, I have seen all the progressions the game has made. After all this time I was expecting a very similar game to 2004 with a few tweeks here and there, I was not expecting the advances they have made to be so big!
I love the new defensive back awareness, this was always a problem on 2004, it was easy to score points (on all dificulty levels) but one play later and you had given up a 85 yard touchdown reception. The new defensive back awareness makes this a very rare occasion now, the only way this comes about is a receivers blazing speed compared to the CB/S (e.g. Randy Moss (sp99) on Ahmed Plummer sp(87)!).
The Hit-Stick is a very nice addition to the game, it gives me a sense of 'power' when blitzing with Roy Williams. Obviously I don't try this very often on RB's like Jamal Lewis or Jerome Bettis due to the fact that its like trying to stop a tank with a Lada its not happening, but when you see a free run at Tiki Barber or Wawrick Dunn you flick that right analog stick and just 'lower the boom' onto them its great! This also comes in handy when a receiver comes across the middle into one of my Safties zones again once the ball has been caught flick the Stick and 'BOOM' an incompletion on 3rd and 7!
The offence has become harder (finally) I still score 50+ points sometimes (no not on rookie but on All-Pro/All-Madden (just moved the level up after the 1st year)) but not as much the reason? The need for a much mor balanced attack, no-more can you rush for 350 yards with Jamal Lewis keeping the ball out of Kyle Boller's hands as much as possble, no-more can you just throw for 500 yards with Peyton Manning/Marc Bulger a balanced attack is key, yeah obviously you do play teams where the above two points don't apply (rushing on the Eagles is easy but passing not so, and passing on the chiefs is a breeze but rushing a tad harder, you can pretty much kill the Cardinals in any way due to them being horribly bad).
The big two problems I see on this game are:
- Defending the rush is a bit to easy compared to that of 2004.
Now for the biggy.
- Progression!
The idea of progression through the season is a good one however very poorly implemented. I have just finished a season with the 49ers, I had traded with the bills to get J.P. Losman (QB) as my starter as he is a rookie and has lots of potential. He was rated 78 before the start of the year, he is now rated 88! This has happened across the board meaning that my once awful 49er team will be the best on paper in two years time, meaning the game becomes easy and trading away all my best players to make the game a challenge again.
On the whole though this game is so good and the Collectors Edition (only available in the USA) is better (Yes I own an American PS2 and got the Collectors Edition).
Definately a must for all Madden fans!

I had never before played or even considered playing an NFL game. I rented NFL street as part of a 3 for the price of 2 offer at blockbuster. I was really amazed how good the game of American football was. I decided to buy NFL but I couldn't find it anywhere, so I bought Madden NFL 2005.

I was at first confuse because there were so many plays to be used. However once I had picked it up I found it was amazing. Madden 2005 offers a lot to the gamer. Firstly it has numerous modes.

Franchise - this is the main mode where you pick a team and take them to superbowl glory, you can trade players, sign free agents, upgrade your stadium, relocate the team and call them what you want, win numerous awards for your players, train your players, go through the off season and even play the Pro-bowl in Hawaii. In addition to all of the team management there are the local newspapers and e-mail's. The papers tell you whose injured and how long for, who beat who in the playoffs, whose got the best record in the league and all of the other stuff papers tell you. The mails are from your team, your players will complain about not starting, your board will say how well you are doing, you will praised by the coaches and presidents of the team and much, much more. There is also the radio station. It goes on in the background of the menu, not the fixtures list. The presenter holds little quizzes that people phone into and most of the time get wrong, he talks about the good teams and the bad teams and the player of the week.

Tournament - Set up a tournament where you can face all of the teams in the NFL not just those in your league.

Mini games - Like practice for you. There are four levels to each that get harder as you go along. It is also quite funny to just hit one bloke over and over again in tackling.

Madden 101 - You get to see how each play works and then try it yourself, it's very time consuming.

After the modes there are the madden cards. These are just basically cheat cards. When you buy one or win one you can use them in your matches to either make the other team worse or better, your team worse or better or certain players better, there are also special cheat cards that affect the game.

Then there's is the game itself.

Graphics - The graphics are amazing, the players look real, the stadiums look real, the men sitting on the benches in the cut scenes look real. All of the stadiums look like the proper version but it's a shame you can't build like it instead of just the simple stadium. If you can't see what I'm on about look at one of the ends on the Buccaneers ground when you are kicking and you will see the pirates boat in great detail.

Sound - The sound is amazing, the players grunt when they are hit, there is a big slap if they are hit hard, the commentators are good but get very repetitive after a while. I think the best bit about the sound is the crowd, when reading reviews it sounds no where near as good as the sound in NCAA football 2005, and it's not but I love it when it's fourth down and you bring out your defence and the other team brings out their offence and the crowd goes wild, it's amazing.

Gameplay - The gameplay is great, although it could be better. The good parts are the ability to pick any play you want and throw to who ever you want or give to your RB wherever you want. The ability to control the kicks, so the pressures on you when your losing and you need a field goal. (Watch out for what happens in this situation.) Also the ability to call in other players when you are running using the right analogue stick and tell them what to do e.g. block or just run beside you. Another good thing is the hitstick. Run at someone and hit tap the right analogue stick towards them and watch them be flattened! The bad bits are that when you shrug off a tackle you just get blocked by other defenders that don't tackle you for a while, meaning you can't move but you have enough time to get a few yards. Another downfall is that in ESPN all of the teams play differently like they would in real life. But here they don't. Half of the teams you can hammer and not worry about and the other half all score touchdowns in the same way, which is unrealistic and annoying, because once you can beat one team and sussed out their tactics you can beat anyone.

Lifespan - This game has a great lifespan. There are lots of modes, tonnes of teams (legend teams and a few European teams), there are quite a few other things that I haven't talked about either.

Customisation - This game is great for this. You can create your own team, create your own stadium, create your own player, create your own fan and create your own team kit and field layout. Granted all of these come with not many options but are still great fun to mess around with. They also add life to the game, bored of playing as a normal team play as your own and see how good they are.

Graphics - 20/20
Sound - 17/20
Gameplay - 15/20
Lifespan - 20/20
Customisation - 18/20
OVERALL - 90/100

This game is worth any amount of money in my mind, so if you can I would strongly recommend that you buy it, you will definitely not be disappointed!

As a recently indtroduced fan to American sports, I was slightly worried that Madden NFL 2005 would be a bit complicated and hard to pick up and play. However, from the moment I started my first match it was clear that my worries were unfounded.

Both the offensive and Defencive plays are clearly labelled with diagrams of how they work so even if you don't know your monster blitz from your HB plunge you can still select the right play at the right time. The graphics and animations are all smooth and colourful with no lag just as you go to make that killer play to clinch the game. All the teams are here with lovingly recreated uniforms and stadia. The great thing about this title is that its as deep as you want. Whether you're into customising your uniforms and updating all the teams rosters, or just playing a few games now and then, Madden has just the right game mode for you.

However, there are a few minor niggles now and than. Menus can take a while to load and the opposition will delay the play for as long as they can in the dying moments of the match to preserve their lead. This, and missing extra points, can be frustrating at times.

On the whole this a great fun to play and you'll be an expert in no time.