EA undergoes offseason conditioning and returns in fine shape

This is a review of the Xbox version of Madden NFL 2004, since there's no listing on this site for the Xbox version of the game.

While EA's Madden series is the undisputed king of videogame sports, I found the last few outings to be less than spectacular. In fact, the last Madden game I honestly enjoyed was Madden NFL 2004 for the Super NES and Sega Genesis.

In the days of the original PlayStation, I preferred NFL GameDay.

Come the era of Dreamcast and the other next-gen consoles, Sega's 2K series was my personal king of the gridiron.

Everyone and their grandmother has salivated over each of the last three Madden offerings, while I have found slow, unrelenting games that featured weird-looking players and some of the worst AI I’ve seen this side of NFL GameDay 2001. Yet, I still found myself compelled to try Madden NFL 2004.

No, it wasn't coverboy Mike Vick. It wasn't even the raving review PSM magazine gave it.

...Okay, so the review persuaded me a bit.

Reading the review, I learned of some of this year's features (most notably Owner Mode, which I'll get into later on in the review). That was enough to pique my interest to the point that renting the game didn't seem like that much of a risk.

So why rent the Xbox version when I read a review of the PS2 version? Well, the Xbox version was the only one my local Blockbuster had that night....

So, is Madden 2004 worth the wait? Is it the game that will finally convince me that everyone who loves the series isn't utterly insane?

Much to my astonishment...yes.

It may not be the best football game of the year--I won’t know that for sure until I play Sega's ESPN NFL Football--but I have found Madden 2004 to be a playable and enjoyable game, one with more depth and options than I could have ever hoped for.

While the game certainly feels like Madden at its very foundation, Madden 2004 is so advanced and refined that I often forget that this game is the successor to three games that I have utterly hated. The options, the sheer amount of stuff to do, the overall feel of the game...EA finally got its flagship series right.

One of the first things you'll notice upon loading Madden 2004 into your console of choice is the overwhelming sense of style. EA's titles have always placed a premium on presentation, but I get the feeling that with Sega getting a handle on the ESPN license, EA's trying to take it one step further.

EA games in recent years have featured background music and the like, but Madden 2004 has the best selection I've seen yet. Numerous artists representing a multitude of genres assures that nearly everyone will find something to like here, and the ability to take CD tracks ripped right to the Xbox hardware and play them in the game is just a nice touch.

Menus are crisp and easy to navigate, and on the field looks about as close to a real broadcast as you can get without actually tapping into that ESPN license. EA Sports may not have redefined videogame presentation with this title, but it's a solid effort in and of itself.

Madden 2004 has the standard gameplay features one would expect in a football game today--exhibition mode, season, practice, two-minute drill, scenario and so on and so forth.

I love Madden 101 mode. A pretty straightforward tutorial hosted by John Madden himself, this mode will not only teach you the inner workings of the game, but it actually manages to teach you the game of football. If you're an absolute newbie to the pigskin religion, or even a seasoned vet like myself, chances are Madden 101 will teach you something useful.

Out of all the modes, though, Franchise mode has seen the biggest overhaul.

This year's Franchise mode offers everything that Madden 2003's did, but there's one key addition that makes Madden 2004 stand out--Owner Mode. This game is the first to let you set foot in the owner's box and see what it's like to take complete control of an NFL team.

Manage your salary cap, make trades and resign players. Set ticket prices, concession prices and parking fees. Set up a Fan Appreciation Day, renovate your stadium or build a new one. Hell, you can relocate your team if you so desire. The only caveat: keep the fans happy.

The team plays well and you reward your big stars, the fans will come. Play like crap and dump salary, your fan interest is gonna be pretty low. If you're clueless, fear not, for you'll have a team of advisors who will make sure you're doing what's right for the organization.

While this mode will likely appeal to the fantasy geeks and those who are really into football, the sheer depth it presents is worth merit, if not a full-blown look. As sports games continue to evolve, companies (especially EA) have to find new ways to do things, and Owner Mode does just that.

Owner Mode alone is reason enough to add Madden 2004 to your collection, even if this game plays much like its predecessors. The control scheme is largely unchanged and some of the overall mechanics have been left alone. It is worth noting, though, that this year's Madden is a much quicker, more fluid game, one that features an improved AI and a feature called Playmaker control that adds a ton of depth to the on-field experience.

The biggest issue I had with Madden over the past few years was a combination of things: 1) a slow pace, 2) horrid and inconsistent AI and 3) a shoddy running game. Things aren't quite perfect in Madden 2004, but I applaud EA for at last addressing these concerns.

A game of football--with five-minute quarters--should not take nearly an hour to complete, yet that was the case in the past few Madden games. For some reason, everything drug along slower than a snail trapped in molasses, and that sucked the fun out of it. Football is not a slow game, and any videogame representation of the sport should respond accordingly. Fortunately, that is not the case in Madden 2004, as everything moves along at a decent pace--not too fast, not too slow.

The AI in previous Madden games was laughable at best (I should not be able to throw into triple coverage successfully on a consistent basis), but Madden 2004 has alleviated many of the programming bugs. There are still times where you'll stumble upon a "money play" or the AI will screw up badly on defense, but the AI is more finely tuned this time to represent the NFL in a more realistic light.

Perhaps the best thing about the AI--and this has been true of nearly every EA Sports game I've ever played--is how much customization it allows. Sliders allow you to adjust practically every facet of AI, whether it's your team or the computer's. The days of simple challenge levels are over.

Further enhancing the AI is something that's completely new to Madden this season. The Playmaker feature opens up so many possibilities to you on both sides of the ball, including (but not limited to) changing the direction of a play without calling an audible or timeout, leading blockers and changing coverage area to effectively counter an offensive scheme.

Quarterbacks can scramble more effectively, lead receivers and control how the ball is thrown. Linebackers and other defensive players can read the offense and position themselves accordingly--without calling timeouts and changing plays. Some aspects of Playmaker will be more useful than others--telling my blocker where to block when running the ball is a welcome addition--but overall this feature changes how you play football.

Because of Playmaker, the on-field experience in Madden 2004 is much deeper than in recent years. That, in conjunction with solid AI and responsive controls, make this game extremely playable. Throw in redesigned play selection screens and a slew of other pre-snap options, and Madden 2004 has its act together.

You want extras? The Madden Cards are back, along with all the other extras EA is accustomed to giving us gamers. However, the lack of online compatibility is a bit disheartening. The PlayStation2 version is the only console version to support online play, which is not only ironic (the Xbox is the one with the built-in hard drive and Ethernet port), but a bit unfortunate as well. If you have an Xbox and want to game NFL-style online, you gotta go with NFL Fever (sorry).

Madden 2004 isn't the worst looking game in the world, but it's far from the best. Each stadium--while not completely rendered--looks really good, and the new animations add a sense of depth and authenticity to the game, but the players still don't look right.

They still look too short, too disproportionate. All the players look kind of like mutated dwarves (albeit extremely well-moving ones), the coaches just look funky and the cheerleaders who "perform" at halftime just don't look right. EA needs to work on body models, because Sega and even Microsoft wipe EA into the ground in terms of players.

As mentioned before, though, the animation is superb. A slew of new movements have been added to this year's Madden, and each one just adds to the whole package. Whereas players in Madden 2003 kinda moved like stiff robots (I didn't know Bender played football), Madden 2004's players actually move like human beings, even if they don't quite look the part.

The commentary in previous Madden games was horrid, regardless of whether it was Pat Summerall or Al Michaels next to John Madden. Madden 2004 remedies that somewhat, though, as both Michaels and Madden make astute, accurate observations about the game unfolding before them. Madden still sounds like a broken record at times (there's only so much commentary that can fit on one of these games), but I'm impressed with some of the things I've heard.

Once, I chose a particular defense and the AI chose to go with a five-receiver set. Madden and Michaels noted that my defensive package might not have the speed to keep up with that offensive set, so I called a timeout and selected another play. Sometimes, it pays to listen to the commentators.

I can't say yet whether or not Madden NFL 2004 is the best football game to come out this year (I won't know that until I get my hands on ESPN NFL Football), but I can say that it's one hell of a game and a great way to bring the series back to prominence. I know that in the eyes of many, Madden never lost it, but as someone who was less than enthusiastic regarding the last few entries, I was extremely pleased with this game.

If you're a fan of Madden, you've probably already gobbled this up regardless of what I have to say. If you were never a fan to begin with, or had lost faith after a few mediocre seasons, give the ol' ball coach another try. Unlike Steve Spurrier, this one won't let you down.


THE JEFF CUNNINGHAM BREAKDOWN (ON A SCALE OF 10):

PRESENTATION: 9.0
EA Sports has always done a marvelous job with presenting its sports titles, and while Madden 2004 continues that tradition (with nice commentary and killer replays), I can't help but feel that ESPN is gonna one-up it.

GRAPHICS: 9.0
Everything's more detailed this year--from the players to the stadiums to the replays--and the animation is killer, though the players still look a bit funky.

SOUND: 8.5
Al Michaels and John Madden finally give us some decent commentary (though Madden is still a bit of a broken record at times), the overall music selection is solid and this game sounds good. The crowd noises are a bit off though.

GAMEPLAY: 9.0
Tight controls, smart AI, intuitive Playmaker feature...practically everything you could want out of a football game, Madden 2004 gives it to you--unless you're looking for online play.

LASTING APPEAL: 10.0
Two words: Owner Mode. This mode alone will make you spend months on this game. Add to the fact that there are Madden Cards and other goodies (EA Sports Bio--brilliant), you won't be putting Madden 2004 down any time soon.

FINAL SCORE: 9.0
Madden NFL 2004 reminds me of the good old days of EA football, while giving gamers all they could ask for. If you love football, get this game. Period.