After playing NCAA
Football 2004, I thought that there was no way any football game released this
year would be better than that game, and was I ever wrong! From the minute I
booted up my Playstation 2, I was amazed to see what Tiburon did to their most
acclaimed franchise! Madden 2004 is not only one of the best games I have played
all year, but it is the best football game I have ever played. All of the newest
additions to this year’s game makes the whole game feel extremely real! If you
love games, and especially football, buy this game immediately!
To me the Madden franchise is one of the best football games in existence! The
time and effort that Tiburon puts into each new game definitely shows and is
always well worth paying for the new version each year. This year everything is
improved upon from last year, the addictive training camp; madden cards. Tiburon
was not happy just improving upon the things in last year’s game; they have
included new features that expand upon the game ten-fold!
The Franchise mode in this game has been expounded on and it truly shows. There
are a few new options that bring this game a whole new level closer to reality.
The first thing that you will notice when you start a new franchise is the
“owner mode” but I will get more into that later. Once you finish setting up
what team you want to manage and all of the options, you are taken to a training
camp. This allows players to accumulate more points and become better players
during the season. Just like the previous game, players can make every decision
from rosters, general management, job openings, and even the playbook.
The Owner’s mode in this game is something that needed to be in this type of
game ages ago! The goal in this mode is to take complete control of all of the
financial aspects that are accrued while owning a football team. It is now more
important than ever to win the Super Bowl as many times as possible, because it
keeps the fans happy, which brings in more money for you. When training camp is
over this is where this mode really takes off. You must tweak the prices of the
tickets, food, merchandise, parking, and advertising. The hard thing about this
is trying to figure out the prices where all your fans feel comfortable paying.
The better your team does, the higher you can raise prices, and you will get
more money. It is all about trying to keep the fan support as high as possible.
During the off-season there are other options the Owners can do. They can get a
new coaching staff, set prices on everything, and the best thing you can do has
to do with the stadium. You renovate, rename, or move the team and build a new
stadium. You want to keep the fans happy by making all the changes to the
stadium, but on the other hand you don’t want to spend so much to make the
prices of everything sky rocket to pay for the stadium. The goal is to maximize
the capacity of your stadium and try to bring in more profits. This new mode
brings Madden 2004 to a whole new level, it is just outstanding!
Another new aspect that Tiburon has included in Madden 2004 is the playmaker
control that makes this game better than ever! You can do these right before or
after the snap. Players will be able to slightly adjust their offense or defense
plays to keep the opposite team on their toes at all times! Including this new
option brings so much to this football game, you will soon wonder how you played
without it!
EA has thrown in an extra incentive for owning NCAA Football 2004. Once you play
through a season of Madden, after the Pro Bowl, you can import the Draft Class
from your memory card, and all of the players are imported into Madden when the
off-season begins. It is little things like this that shows that EA is always
thinking about adding extra value to their games, and to reward loyalty to the
EA brand!
The other new thing that EA has implemented into all of their sports games is
the EA Sports Bio. The idea is that the higher points and the better that you do
in the game, players will be rewarded with new stadiums, teams, and other
goodies that makes the game even better. You might be thinking, ok, other games
have stuff like this in them, but that is not the only thing that it does. If
you have any other EA branded game you have the potential to unlock a lot of
other goodies just from this game. This shows that EA is really caring for its
customer loyalty by providing extra incentives to stay with the EA brand of
sports games.
The Playstation 2 version of Madden 2004 is the only one to feature online play,
and it is extremely better than last year’s version. After a while, a lot of
players found cheats and ruined the entire online experience for everyone. This
year EA has implemented a few new safeguards, such as the “Fair Play” to help
deter cheating. The online mode plays really smoothly. I have a broadband
connection and played against someone who has a dialup and not once did we have
any lag while playing. As with NCAA Football 2004, there is an “EA Messenger”,
which allows players to get buddies, store them, and see when they are online.
Also included is “EA Sports Talk”, this means that if you have a headset you can
talk smack with other players from around the U.S. while playing a game.
Madden 2004 is rated E for Everyone. It requires up to 1.5 MB on your memory
card and can play up to 1-8 players (via multitap). To play online you must have
the Network card and broadband or dialup. It is also is compatible with AOL
Dial-Up.
Gameplay: 9.8
The gameplay is
extremely tight and well done in this game! All of the players react to the
slightest touch of the controller and that is the way it should be! All of the
new features included in this version make it better than ever, the new Owner’s
mode, and the playmaker control, bring this game even closer to the real thing.
You can play Madden 2004 for months on end, before you even scratch the surface
on what this game has to offer.
Graphics: 9.6
Madden 2004 features more detail, and even a slightly higher polygonal count on
all of the players. There are a ton of new player animations, this makes the
players react in a more realistic way when they are getting tackled, running, or
doing anything else. Also the stadiums are more detailed including more sideline
and stadium animation. What is nice is that certain players now have their
trademark hairstyles, tattoos, or other signifying marks that completes their
“look”.
Sound: 8.5
The game makes full use of Dolby Digital surround sound, so if you have a setup
that allow it, it is well worth it! One thing that needs serious work is the
commentary in this game. It is not bad, but it sounds exactly like the previous
game. It seems like John Madden is saying the exact same lines that he has in
every single game that features his voice. He is in some serious need of new
dialog. Al Michaels does a good job, but at times seems like he is forced in his
lines, in other words it doesn’t feel natural.
Besides the commentary, I loved the soundtrack that is featured in this game! It
features a ton of singles from bands whose new albums have yet to be released,
such as Blink 182 and Alien Ant Farm. There are also a variety of different
songs ranging from rock to rap, so there is something for everyone to like in
this game. If you don’t like a certain song you can even prevent it from ever
playing.
Difficulty: Medium
Depending on the mode that you are playing in, the game can either be extremely
hard or easy. Even though the AI has been made better this year, nothing can
truly beat playing against a friend.
Concept: 9.3
Madden 2004 has a ton of new features that make it better than ever! The Owner’s
mode is something that needed to be included in this game years ago. You
wouldn’t believe how much fun, and at times frustrating (trying to please the
fans is harder than you would think), this mode actually is. Tiburon continues
to amaze me with all of the ideas that they put in each game, which makes the
football experience better than ever!
Multiplayer: 9.8
Playing with a friend has never been this fun before in a football game! The
online mode that is included is nothing short of “sweetness.” Tiburon has
listened to the complaints about cheating in last year’s version, and they have
taken steps to help prevent it.
Overall: 9.7
BEST FOOTBALL GAME EVER! There is nothing more that has to be said. Madden 2004
is the best football game that has graced my Playstation 2. If you are a fan of
football games pick this up, as you will not regret it!
