Version Reviewed:
PC
The most successful sport in North America is also the most successful sports game put out annually by EA’s Sports division. However,
this is not their best version ever, that honour falls to Madden 2004. Aesthetically, Madden 2005 is the EA’s greatest
accomplishment so far. The movement is fluid and the textures look great. The only glitches are in the head coaches. Every head coach
is featured, but the texturing for their hair, hat, visor or bald head is off on every single one. At least EA is consistent.
The gameplay is the same as it has been for a long time. The difference is in how the AI responds. The defense is smarter now so be
prepared for some low scoring games. While the controls are the same, Madden 2005 does have a somewhat annoying animation
glitch where it slows down and then speeds up again in the same play. This rarely causes any sort of problem; however, it can be
annoying sometimes and lead to a knocked down pass instead of an interception.
John Madden is once again providing his “insightful” commentary. Unlike with some of their other franchises *cough*NHL 2005
*cough*, the commentary in Madden is at least original. However, it’s usually Madden pointing out something obvious like
“the score is so high they’re probably just faking the onside kick.”
Oh John, in video games you can run up the score without having a fight break out.
The most successful North American sports league is also the most entertaining. So it only stands to reason that a video game based on
the most popular sport in North America will not only be successful, but also entertaining. Madden 2005 definitely confirms that
theory, providing hours of fun.
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