**Official Madden 2004 Discussion/Review Thread**

[BertEbony]

I just picked this up [in addition to putting money down for SCII] and will add my Cube impressions ASAP.

 

-Bert

 

EDIT: Will someone change this thread title to the official discussion and/or review thread please?

[fishepa]

Look forward to your impressions. I'm on the fence with this game. I'm definitely getting ESPN though for online play.

[BertEbony]

*Visual*

Progressive Scan : Yes

Widescreen : Yes

^ = Amazing...just pure fun in itself.

 

Sound

I have played many football games and this one liscensed some sweet sweet tracks to immerse you into gameplay in and out of plays. Although this isn't a game for use of speaker variability, I just use stereo sound and blast it, and it does. in fact, make you feel like you're watching Monday Night. I am assuming this game is not DPLII because the back reads : Dolby Surround. (Stick with stereo, not DPL)

 

Gameplay

Best gameplay in the Madden series.

Playmaker : This awesome feature allows you to render plays on the fly, ie: you're returning up the middle, you see a pocket, teammate near you, and an opponent, you can use the C stick to use the nearest teammate and draw him to block for your benefit. I have scored many a touchdown due to this feature.

Ask Madden : This feature is pretty nice, if you're in the gutter about what offensive or defensive play you might want, Ask Madden?. When selecting a play, select this feature, and select the corresponding play that is flashing.

A.I. : Wow! The A.I. has certainly gotten much tougher than last years. They are very smart. My recommendation is to go through the mini-camps (see Game Modes to learn scenarios and become second nature. They are enjoyably hard but if just getting started, practice with low difficulty and work your way up.

 

Game Modes

Franchise : Take command of your organization for 30 complete seasons (hmm..wouldn't Madden be dead by then and not still announcing, same to you Al! ).

Within franchise you have :

• - Before preseason, put your key players through various drills and potentially boost their attributes.

Rosters - Make all player movements here.

Owner's Box - Not available until the end of the first preseason.

(Owner's Box is not available if Owner Mode is off, obviously)

Set prices : Manage the prices of concessions, tickets, team merchandise, and more.

Information : Gauge your team's fan support, check out game attendance records, and view other details that assist you in producing maximum earnings for your franchise.

Advisors : Consult your advisors for the most pertinent issues regarding your decisions as owner.

Gameplan : Set your coaching gameplan and strategies for your team during simulated games.

Management : Set player preferences and assign various off-season assistance options to be run by the User or the CPU.

Job Openings : View all of the user coaches and their current positions. You can also modify which team you are coaching, if coaching slots are open. (Only available if Owner mode is off)

Ratings : View player-controlled coach season stats.

• - Access all the team and individual stats for the season and career. View rankings and coach stats as well.

League News - Check out the weekly and yearly awards, who made the Pro Bowl, and even who's on the side of the Horse Trailer Week.

Features -

Madden Cards : Trade Madden Cards between active profiles and view your Madden Challenge progress.

Export Team : Save your current Franchise team to a Memory Card and make it available for Exhibition and Tournament Modes.

Create A Player : Create a new player and add him to a team or the free agent list, or edit an existing player.

Modify Uniform : If you have created your own uniform, you can modify it or create new uniforms for existing teams.

Gameplay : Adjust your game settings.

System : Adjust your audio and visual settings for the season.

Save : Save or delete your Franchise to/from Memory Card.

 

Interface

The menus are desgined nicely, and as NCAA 2004, you can default menus with your favorite team [colors and nice artwork]. The menus are accompanied by sweet tracks (Red cafe has good track but it's hard for me not to be bias because my cousin was supposed to do sound for his first single, but him and his "crew" didn't want a contract, and they were just ridiculous and you don't do business like that).

 

Overall

5/5

 

As you can see, with all it's features and variability, this Madden is a must have.