A return to Madden...one man's story.
935726
A few years ago I gave up on Madden and bought a Sega Dreamcast with the excellent NFL2k series. Finally, the Dreamcast died and I bought a PS2 and this year I went back to Madden. Here is what I find in the latest installment of the long running series. The graphics are very nice and the game seems to flow nicely. I especially like the new "Playmaker control" schemes where you can use the right analog joystick to change a play at the line, change receiver routes and blocking schemes, and also modify your defense. The Madden cards are cool and actually encourage replay as you want to accomplish ALL of the tasks you are given. I am impressed with the game in "Single Player" mode as you can both run and pass the ball pretty easily. However, once my buddy came over and we played the 2-Player mode, the game showed it's weaknesses. Basically, you get a solid RB and just keep running up the gut relentlessly or you run an "out" pattern with your WR. All we did was line up and use the "hot route" feature to call out patterns and then hit the open WR. It was bascially impossible to stop. Another complaint is in the 2-player co-opt mode, Player-1 controls everything from QB, to RB, to calling plays etc. Player-2 does nothing but sit by and watch. Every computer controlled player automatically defaults to Player-1. This makes it pretty useless to play cooperative games as Player-2 just sits by and mostly watches the action.
  Aside from these 2-player issues of which about every football game has, I am impressed with Madden 2004 and I enjoy the new "Playmaker" features.
760333
I'm gonna come out and say it. Madden has SUCKED since it entered the "Next Gen Era." I only needed a couple hours to realize years like 10 and 11 were throw away years. 12 i refused to buy. 13 has got me rethinking my stance. CCM is very well done with its integration of social media and the personalities it gives individual players. The product on the field is solid as well with each play looking unique. You can't run the same play over and over and get the same result like you could in years past. A lot of that is due to the new physics engine. Speaking of, is this Infinity engine the same that was in Grand Theft Auto 4? The game still has its flaws as some of the customization of your career mode, but I can get over it. I really don't see the point in re-rated players anyway. Overal though this is a step in the right direction for Madden. Its only appropriate that they master a game towards the end of a console cycle (as they did with the PS2/XBOX era).
1486585
From Madden 2003 to Madden 2004 I felt like very little changed, and in 2004 we got Franchise Mode. That was fun with all its bells and whistles, but for those of us who only buy one game a year, and play it anxiously for 12 months and awaiting the next installment, it truly only provided for about 9 months worth of fun.

So here I was awaiting 2005. With all its bells and whistles, and claims of a better defense, I was excited.

The first thing that truly rocks about the defense is the ability to pick the defense for each player. I am a huge Bengals fan and was able to hold Ricky Williams to 8 yards of rushing in Miami, and I attribute that to this new defensive mode. Now, that is kinda unrealistic, but at the same time its great for me!!!

The hit stick is a lot more easier said than done. Half the time I found myself completely missing the guy I was trying to hit, or I would crush him, yet he still wouldn't fumble. Here and there you get lucky and nail em at the right time and the ball flies out, but its not that often.

The graphics are better, and the definition and body tone is good, however the players often times run through each other on the cut screens. That looks very Madden 2001 ish, but that's okay as long as it doesn't happen in the gameplay.

I love the storyline mode. That is very cool The email's from players are fun, and the Newspaper articles are awesome. The radio show is cool.

The biggest dissapointment has to be with the music. Usually there are a few decent songs chosen, but this year it just sucks! Way too many cheesy punk/pop songs, and rap songs. Wouldn't that be great if in 2006 they stuck to one style, and made it like a classic rock lineup?

Lastly, hopefully next year they will change the cut screen at the end of the game. That has been the same for 2 years now!
3213510
Great book from an outsider who was really inside...reliving the hard playing and hard living of a franchise that just wasn't quite good enough at the time but continued to try.
1666624
I became a huge fan of the NCAA series with the 2003 edition, and absolutely fell in love with NCAA 2004, a game I never tired of for even a second while playing more than 20 dynasty seasons.  NCAA 2005 was a tremendous step back in my opinion (I returned it within 3 hours of renting it), but I was eager to give 2006 a shot when it came out last week.

The first thing I noticed that was wrong is that the college fight song music is gone from the main menus (I didn't play 2005 enough to remember if that was the case last year also), replaced with non-descript tracks like every other EA Sports game.  So basically half of what makes the NCAA series distinguishable from Madden or other games is already gone.

As for the new features, Race For the Heisman is something that will only appeal to those who favor arcade-style play, since all you'll basically do is feed your Heisman player the ball over and over in order to pad stats.  For those who enjoy more of a simulation play, like myself, you'll probably never bother with it.  The impact player feature is very good in my opinion -- it's actually pretty exciting to see when one of your key players is poised to make a huge play, and even more exciting when you pull it off.  In Dynasty mode, the season-long recruiting is a decent addition, but it doesn't really add much to the experience.

Overall though, I feel like EA has over-"tweaked" the gameplay, and it has actually regressed since 2004.  The players are smaller, holes and gaps are smaller and harder to find, the uniforms are actually less polished than they were before, and the playbook is clunkier.  The interface seems slower than in the past, from what I can tell.  Even the pre-game "studio" analysis with Corso, Nessler and Herbstreit is disappointing.  And the fact that EA switched two main buttons on defense is mind-boggling.

I threw in 2004 just to refresh my memory, and I quickly realized that it's still tops in my book in just about every aspect of the game.  I'm sure many will disagree -- and I'm sure there were quirks and glitches in the older games that have since been fixed -- but all I can say is that I tired of 2006 after about 5 games, and nearly two years since 2004 came out, I haven't given up on it a single time.
2430949
Madden is the best football series ever. No, it's the best sports series ever. No, it's the best series ever.
Madden 2003 is great.  Madden 2002 and Madden 2003 are pretty much the same except they made somethings better.
Music
The music is much better in this than 2002
Anouncing
Pat Summeral isn't that bad but Al Micheals is a great improvement.
Franchise
More detailed franchise mode
Graphics
There hasn't been that much of a change but some quarterbacks throw sidearm.  Better tackles and more players breaking tackles.  Plus they've finally allowed two players to smash the quarter/running back.  Interceptions are really cool in this game because when you pick it off you are either running it by huge guys that can't run or fast guys that can't tackle.  Another thing I had gotten frusterated with was Kick returns.  It seemed like you would never be able to get a good return but in this game.  You always have a shot at going the distance.
Ya gotta get it if your a madden man
1257773
lost of franchise mode is horrible. DBs in this game are all superstars with unreal AI. i understand that they are trying to prevent people from going for it on 4th and 20. but the real NFL, qbs are putting 500yards a game, in madden, the db ai makes the passing harder than previous versions. good for game play, i hate people completing 4th and 40 as much as the next guy,  but db ai in this game not in line with what is the reality of the nfl. i would rather see the game be more in line with what is going on in the nfl. i remember nfl2k had that problem, all their dbs in that game had great hands and intercepted everything in site. i played nfl2k once and intercepted the cpu 10 times in the one and only game i played. i hoped that madden would never go to that, but they have.

connected careers is a good concept, but they should have left the offline franchise alone as the normal franchise mode. that way players have a choice, play connected careers online or franchise offline.
722347
EA Sports has really let their loyal following down with the last couple of Madden's.  It just seems like something is missing in this game.  The graphics are good, but that is one of the only good things about the game.  I was mad that Madden wasn't doing the play-by-play.  How can a game called Madden not even have Madden it it?  Instead, there's a local radio analyst who is extremely repetitive.  The only reason I gave this game three stars was because I love football.  Other than that, this game isn't very good.  Too bad they bought out the rights for an NFL game.  Madden would be so much better if it still had competition from the much better 2K Sports.
4361218
I bought Madden this year, a little wary from the things I heard, but I did it anyway. I couldn't believe what I was playing. I was playing and everything was going good . . . until I got ahead by two touchdowns. Then all of a sudden three of my guys are bouncing off of the same Running Back they'd been plowing for loss-of-yards. I let it go. I nail the quarterback in the back, he shakes me off like a bug and throws for a forty-yard bomb. Yeah, that happens all the time in the NFL. They tie me and pull ahead by two touchdowns. Fine. Whatever. I tie, pull ahead, then all of a sudden all natural play goes out the window. Twice I nail the quarterback behind the lines, twice he pops the ball up, over the melee at the line, and right into the hands of the waiting tight-end who takes off for twenty yards.
They pull ahead again.
WHAT?!?!?!
I own all of the Madden's, but have never felt like a switch had been flipped to stack the deck against me.
Here's where I decided it was getting traded in:
I throw it in for six and need the extra point to tie.
I kick it.
It goes through.
I get called for holding.
I get moved back.
I kick it again.
It goes in.
i get called for holding AGAIN!
And garbage things like this happens in every game with different teams!
I loved Madden. Yeah, it got your blood pumping when you were behind and looking for that one shot to get you in the lead, but it NEVER made me want to throw my controller across the room.
I'm done.
I think Madden's played itself out.
EA has run out of things to put in it, so they put this out?
It's supposed to be fun, not the redefining of frustration.
3486039
I am a long-time Madden player, and this latest installment is great.  As a true football fan (former player through high school, season ticket holder to local college and pro teams), this game is fun, but a bit TOO "video-gamey" to be fun.  Now, let me qualify that.  I am a player that does NOT get into the minutia-level complexities of Franchise and Owner functions.  I didn't buy a football game to play "wannabe-MBA in Football Ownership-ology".  I bought a football game to play NFL teams, recognize the players and hit some heads as I run/pass the ball down the field.  In this aspect, Madden is still fun, but having rented both and compared them side-by-side for 5 days solid on break, ESPN has won me over, hands down, for being more lifelike (single person view rules for a break now and then) and, overall, more realistic and fun as a FOOTBALL GAME, not a franchise/league simulation game like Madden focuses.  Finally, I think it's way too easy to achieve repeated interceptions and stripping of the ball in Madden compared to real percentages.  When the Arizona Cardinals can pick off Payton Manning 6 times in a game and cause 4 fumbles on kickoff just because they got close to the receiver, that's a crock of (edited).  If you're comfy with Madden and don't wanna try other things, stick with Madden.  I did blindly until now because the other choices (Blitz, Fever, etc) all were even MORE "computer game-y" and less like real football.  ESPN now owns the title of "Best Football Playing Game".  Madden still holds the title of "Best NFL League Simulation Engine".  Personally, I have a lot more fun running for touchdowns than I do worrying about salary caps and drafts...
2471719
I loved the changes in madden 16. It was by far my fave so far. I did not like how the runner moved. I felt it over compensated while changing direction. For instance, I would cut one way to get the hole and I would end up way too far and end up in the taclkes back. Some say they didn't like the running change in 17, saying "they moved to fast like they were ice skating" To each their own. I feel it is more crisp and precise. Passing /catching seem similar, but I like that individual WR'S stats reflect on the pre-catch icons. The one thing I hated most on 16 was that when running for the 1st down, the computer was able stop too easily. As it would seem the runner had it by a mile but the replay would show the runner stupidly holding the ball back, ect. I liked that the defence could hold you back. But it happened too much and unrealistic. Havent noticed that as much so far. Im not a defence person, so I leave my opinion out of that.
4416261
The truth is I'm not a true sports gamer, but when I play Madden NFL at least I know my team will win. If it doesn't I will have to buy a new controller, lol.
3707819
I just finished playing this game online and wanted to instantly go onto here and make sure that nobody wastes their money on this peice of dog dung like I did.  Here we go:
1) QB Wouldn't throw to the receiver I chose
2) Offsides calls for NO reason
3) QB wouldn't pass most of the time even though I did the pass motion
4) Kicking would work perfectly sometimes and then the next time wouldn't work at all
5) No huddles without even doing so
6) QB rushing the throw after a snap for no reason (then resulting in a FUMBLE??)
7) Couldn't review a play
8) Couldn't go for it on 4th and 1
9) No 2-point conversion allowed

That's it!  Some of those may just be programming but most of it is glitchy crap that shouldn't have happened.  I heard that EA is working on a patch for all of this garbage and if I don't receive it in a very short time... this game is gone.  No way in HELL I'm holding onto this refuse.
FYI - I normally don't like Madden games and I played Madden 07 for the Wii until my arms hurt.  I loved that game so much.
2871562
This is without a doubt if not equal, BETTER then any Madden football game I have ever played.  Create your own players, do seasons with the same team, watch your favorite players retire and sign free agents.  Did I mention this game is going LIVE in November when Xbox goes online.  You can start your own team profile while the computer keeps track of stats, player fatigue, contracts signed with players and win/loses you have had since you've gone online.  Graphics ?  Well let me put it this way. .It will start to drizzle then poor. . .It will start to flurry then SNOW!! thick SNOW!! (Slip, Slide and fumble) Grass will tear up & become mud. .players will get muddy etc. etc. . <BR...If you own a Xbox. .This is a "HAVE TO OWN GAME ! !"
876834
I know all you Madden-users out there eventually became sickly tired of 2004's gameplay and later on in the year devoted your time to other games. With Madden 2005, however, the situation seems different. With a suped-up franchise mode that you all have read about, and suttle improvements including a new fan-mode and the addition of 'the hit stick,' it seems like I'll be playing this years' version well into next year. It's really worth more than the $45 you put down.
2735862
Madden NFL 16 does have a few nice features such as the WR/DB playmaker controls but asides from having an fully updated roster, everything from the prior year is practically the same.  You would think over time, the graphics would continue to get better but almost identical to prior seasons of Madden.  I think I am saying this for almost all of us, bring back College Football.
3289261
Unfortunately, the definitive biography of Madden is still to be written. The most galling thing about this biography is that the account of Madden up until age 32 is essentially just a summary of Madden's excellent first book, "Hey! Wait A Minute! I wrote a book!" Why am I paying for something like this? Burwell just skips over Madden's time at Cal Poly....Granted, this was probably a considered decision, but there is next to nothing about Madden's adult family life. Burwell talks about how Madden enters our homes and had, in a way, a personal relationship with so many of us. What goes along with that personal relationship is wanting to know him as a person. We have a voracious curiosity about who Madden really is. Indeed, Burwell essentially organizes the biography around the quest to discover this. Yet, whether because he didn't want to offend Madden or couldn't get the access, only the professional side of Madden is covered.

Covering Madden's broadcast years is certainly a challenge. The narrative is not naturally there, the way it is for seasons of a team, where you have a won-lost record every year. The broadcast years blur together. Yet they are so important in Madden's career. Burwell did study some tapes of Madden's broadcasts, but he needed to do more of that. He needed more detail there, and that, in a nutshell, is the main limitation of the book, a lack of detail, a lack of in-depthness. What he does have about Madden the broadcaster is pretty good, particularly Bob Costas's recollections about being paired with Madden in Madden's maiden broadcast.

Another strong point is the exploration of to what degree Madden regarded the Raiders' bad boy exploits with a "wink, wink." Did Madden have control of the team? Was he complicit in so many of the Raiders ruining their lives with drugs and dying early? Or did he do the best job he could managing individuals who were incorrigible and could not have been confronted? At the very least, the impossible spot Madden was in comes through. The paradoxes in Madden's relationship with Al Davis are also opened up to the reader and explored in all their richness.

The quality of the writing is generally better than what you get from your run-of-the-mill newspaper sports writer. However, there is some sloppiness and redundancy at times, as if the book was turned around too quickly. On one page, I believe Madden is twoce described as a "burly redhead."

The quality of the analysis is mediocre. For a book this short, and for an author who made choices to leave out as much as Burwell did, some of what he did include either strays too much towards issues of the times and away from Madden, or is just lacking in innate interest. Al Davis's entire introduction of Madden at the Hall of Fame does not belong in the book, in my opinion.

While this would not rightly be termed a hagiography, Burwell is generally an admirer of Madden. But he rejects easy boxes and stereotypes for Madden. I do think he understood his essence. This made the book bearable.