Rating: 
Summary: owner mode aggravation
Review: Nothing is more frustrating with this game as it is to build your franchise into a powerhouse and then have the game take it away. for being 10 mill in the negative, creditors foreclosed on my franchise. And it happens everytime i try to build a team, without fail, as soon as you got your team rigth where you want it, the game takes it away. Its aggravating as hell and because of it, this one loses 2 whole stars.
The gameplay is the usual 5 star variety, the graphics are phenomenal and the online play is improved over last year. Cheating was a big problem (its amazing how many people would quit as soon as someone put a field goal on them). Now, the problem has been addressed making it harder to boost ones record by cheating.
alas, i wish the owner mode was never introduced. It is as addicting as it is maddening. They need to introduce some kind of financing or bank loans or something. After putting 10 seasons of drafts and trades into the game, to have the comp steal your franchise is the dumbest thing this game could do. The so called advisors are useless for helping manage finances and in fact you really have no control at all. Raising or lowering prices on tickets and other stuff is a token gesture that has no bearing on the big picture. I was 40 mill under the cap and still lost the team. Basically, owner mode is a big waste of time. If your going to improve on the franchise mode (which is annoying too because no sooner are you ready to make your championship run, you are fired and the next season, the team you built will go all the way)do it right. Make the options count for something .
Rating: 
Summary: Better graphics than on PS2!
Review: One of the best games EVER, Madden 2004 rumbles on. 2004 is much better! The jagged edges of the players and field have been removed. The graphics are better than on PS2. Everyone else covered the basics, heres a huge pro-con list:Pros:
Best graphics of any game next to GTAVC
Easier to do hot routes (and hot blocks!)
OWNER MODE - AWESOME! infinite power over your franchise!
Create-a-stadium
Create-a-playbook is much easier
Easy 2 learn controls
Micro-Manage and Micro-General Manage your team.
30 Year franshise mode
Really good draft prep
Plamaker control (if u hav a controller) Cons:
NO MADDEN CARDS
NO MADDEN 101 (only console)
QBs fumble when they dive (more than real life)
Hard to escape the pass rush
Hard to run to the outside Overall, the PS2 edges the cpu version out by a hair but if you dont have a PS2, it is DEFINETELY worth the money. Gamecube and XBOX versions are choppier and CPU and PS2 are better.
Rating: 
Summary: Far too complex &, yes, unrealistic!!!
Review: Several other reviewers have hit the nail on the head with their assessment of this game, but I'l paraphrase based on the sick feeling in my stomach that I just tossed $39 into the sewer: 1. The CPU cheats. This is becoming an EA trademark. It is jaw-dropping to think that Marvin Harrison will drop 6 consecutive passes during a 4th quarter drive, only to be beaten by the "unstoppable" William Green & Tim Couch combo (??). This doesn't just happen in football, mind you. MVP Baseball 2003 simply will not let a player lead by more than two runs in any baseball game for more than one inning. I've had Pedro Martinez give uo four consecutive home runs on three different occasions (again, EA, it just doesn't happen in real life, even if he is "grooving" the ball down the middle - but enough about baseball). That's not AI - that's cheating, and there is a difference.
2. I've found the Madden controls becoming more loose and complicated over the years. Like others, I have a life and can't play this game for six hours+ per day to master the fine art of a screen pass (which is what it seems like it will take). Simple is better in many cases; I can't wait for the folks at EA to learn this...
3. Franchise mode is deep, yes, but who really cares about concession costs & stadium entrances. Let's focus on the players, shall we?
4. I may be in the minority here, but frankly, I'm getting tired of hearing John Madden. Don't get me wrong, he is entertaining and knowledgable on TV, but the EA shtick is getting stale... With no real PC competition, the options are limited; but if it is truly about FUN, then where is NFL Challenge?
Rating:
Summary: 2003 was great; This title is even better
Review: Since the days of Madden 2000 for the PC, the games have been horrible. Last year's release of 2003 finally showed everyone that yes, EA was still capable of making quality games. This year's edition, 2004, is even better. The most talked about feature is the playmaker feature. To be perfectly honest, I don't use it that much. I really believe it was designed to give a more "random" feel to multiplayer games. It is a wonderful feature that allows you to basically control a player and do whatever you want, but I don't really use it. Perhaps I should more often. It is a great feature though. The owner mode is very sharp. You control everything from concession prices to how much you'll pay your assistant coaches. You can build new stadiums, renovate your current one, or move the team to another city. It isn't as exhaustive as I thought it would be, but there is still a TON you can do with it. Where this game really shines, however, is the actual gameplay. Passing is tougher. Running is tougher. Blitzes are more common and much more successful than in 2003. The AI does remember and exploits your flaws. Something else that I really appriciate is that your receivers can actually break away from defenders. In 2003, it seemed as though your receivers were always being covered, and even if you completed the pass, forget about RAC. The key to 2004 is actually short, quick, accurate passes. But watch out for that up and out lob to the corner; the AI will pick that pass off more than before. Most everything else is also very well done and put together. The only gripe (again, same as last year) is the challenges and the obvious errors it makes. The AI "completed" a pass where the receiver was all by himself along the sideline. He was in the air, and came down with both feed at least two feet out of bounds. It was challenged and reversed. I'm wondering if this is a bug because I tried it as well for my team and it did the same thing. Almost all of the challenges that I've seen have been incorrect; either the play was upheld or over-turned incorrectly. Now I know it is just the computer, but this is annoying. Other than that, this is a great game that I would recommend without reservation to any casual--not to mention football--fan.
Rating:
Summary: Jonathon Church just doesnt know the rules
Review: The clock starts up in real football after an out of bounds play when the refs put the ball down and tell the guys to start the clock you have to think or atleast look it up before you type stuff like that.
On the Game it is the best game on the PC as ESPN football is overall the best football game available. Alot more of a realistic game.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: The game has some minor flaws, but is the best of the Madden series by far. The owner mode is great. The cheating problem persists, but isn't as bad as past iterations unless you're on All-Pro.
Rating:
Summary: Move over sega!
Review: The game of the year last season has now improved there skills with new owners mode which will allow you to not only own a franchise, but even move them to any city of you liking. And you think that's great, then watch when you play the game, with the new user control, that will let you change the play just before the snap.And let you run crazy with Michael Vick. And last but not lease, you can still import your favorite college players from NCAA football 2004.....the college Madden. So you can watch a player from a freshman at FSU to a 3-time MVP in madden 2004.
Rating:
Summary: Fixed the glitches - multiplayer play has never been better
Review: They finally fixed head-to-head play. Single player is alright, but the real fun in these games is playing against your friends or legitimate players online. I was a huge fan of some of the earlier Maddens, but anyone who has played a bit against other people knows those games had gameplay glitches. Certain blitzes or passes made you have to design your entire gameplan around them, be it running out of the shotgun all day or having to always double-team a mediocre receiver because he always catches a certain pass. For the most part, they fixed all that in Madden 2004. The game plays very well, and extremely realistically, with a few flaws that can be worked around. The deep lob is no longer unstoppable, good DBs play the pass very well now, except certain zones (Cover 3 -- DBs don't play it right and you get burnt on this). The "nano-blitz" is gone, so is the unstoppable sweeps from 2002 and the flags from 2003. They also penalize you for trying to do the "drop back 30 yards and chuck it perfect" routine from the earlier games. Madden was always a great game, but when you played people who exploited these flaws, and the internet seems to spawn these losers, it just gets frustrating. That is why I didn't bother with 2003. The removal of these bugs leave us with simply a great multiplayer game. There are a few new features which people talk about that are really nice after-thoughts. One of the lesser talked about improvements though are to the playbooks. These are REAL plays that NFL teams actually run. I played some college ball and several of these passing plays we ran EXACTLY like that and the reads for the QB are the same. In my experience, the people who talk about Madden not being realistic and prefer the other games, are the kids who think it would be cool if your running back could throw Hadoukens or LBs shoot be able to shoot lightning bolts. They watch some football and think the way the game works is you give the ball to your RB a lot and he gets 100 yards, then you throw it deep to your WR a couple of times and he gets 100 yards. And if you get into trouble, you go 5 wides and throw a bomb to your RB at slot. Duh. They don't understand how football strategy really works and so Madden is "unrealistic". The single player has always had a huge problem in that when the computer gets behind, it just cheats to keep it close, as others have pointed out. It's not fun and does detract from the game. Nothing wrong with a comeback now and then, but sometimes it's just as fun to blow a team out and put your subs in. It's also annoying to have your defense's stats ruined for no other reason than your offense played a good game. That said, playing against real people is where the real fun is at and where Madden excels. My best game purchase of the year so far.
Rating:
Summary: Great Game
Review: This game is awesome! You can create your own team and player. Great graphics. Realistic. Buy it if you like football games.
Rating: 
Summary: now thats one top notch football game
Review: this game is going to be the best Madden NFL game thus far. it has updated players better graphics and online playability. best of all you can use voice chat online with the ps2 head set that comes with SOCOM. and for those of you who dont have SOCOM Sony is selling the head set for 30 bucks a pop. only the PS2 version will let you voice chat with the other players. Sorry XBOX and Gamecube owners.
| 
