Description:
Those who claim the only things that are certain are death and taxes have never heard of the EA Sports Madden football line. Yep, it's that time of the year again, and Madden 2001 is here with a vengeance. There aren't as many new features in this year's version as there were last time around, but many things have been tightened up and tweaked. The animation is better, computer opponents are more apt to mix up their passing and running plays, and the computer also seems to have a better awareness of the clock. Madden 2001 requires an obscenely powerful PC to run at full speed with all the graphics options cranked to the stops. Our 400 MHz Pentium III test machine with a 32 MB GeForce DDR card was producing a football slide show until we turned some of the effects down (and in some cases off). For those lucky souls with the right hardware, prepare to see playing fields and uniforms that degrade over time, perhaps the most detailed player models ever put in a football game, and even footprints on the field. On the audio side, we recommend cranking up the excellent crowd noises and turning off the idiotic and repetitive play-by-play from Madden and Summerall. We were disappointed with the play editor, which looked like it was ported directly from an inferior console version of the game. In fact, the entire interface appeared to be hijacked from a console, as it isn't PC friendly at all. It's the game that counts, though, and Madden 2001--like its predecessors--serves up some of the best football action to be had on a PC. New online leagues and other multiplayer options added this year sweeten the deal. --T. Byrl Baker Pros: - Amazing graphics and animations
- New online options
- The computer opponent has improved
Cons: - Steep system requirements if you want maximum detail
- Color commentary is awful
| 
