User Rating: 8.4 | Madden NFL 2004 PS2
Solid improvement on last years version... yet the same bugs remain... The owner's mode in Madden '04 is incredible. While I have yet to see exactly how the owner's mode plays out over a multiple season dynasty, so far it has blown me away. Much more realistic salaries and salary negotiations. (Players will actually sign for LESS that what their asking for. Always frustrated me when some free agent would rather stay unemployed than take what I could/would offer). Setting different prices for seats, parking, food, etc adds an interesting twist and you actually have to keep an eye on your bottom line. On field, not too much has changed. The defensive AI has been tweaked a tad. The CPU does a much better job when playing zone defenses. LB's and DB's are much more adept at stepping in front of those quick fade and out patterns that worked so well in years past. The playmaker feature is great and definately breathes new life into what is essentially a three year old game. Being able to switch your play on the fly or have WR's break their routes mid-play is a great added touch. On the down side, there is still some baggage carried over from previous versions... 1) The CPU pretty much abandons the run when down by a couple of scores, regardless of the game clock. All you have to do is sit back in Nickle and Dime packages and a close game quickly becomes a blowout. 2) There are still too many clipping issues in the run game. While obviously tweaked from last year, you still get stuck on the shoulder pad of your FB/OL too often. The CPU defense closes running lanes / daylight pretty quickly and it gets frustrating when you see a wide open space and fail to get there because your clipping against the corner of your left tackle. This is my biggest dissapointment with the game, as EA claimed they made great improvements in this area. 3) The player controls work great on offense, but leave something to be desired on defense. Many times I've been right with a WR, playing perfect coverage, but the "swat the ball" animation has my guy reach left or right instead of straight up. Also, rushing the passer is still more of a chore than it need be. Despite EA's claims otherwise, the offensive lineman are still "sticky" and you still get sucked into blocks that you clearly appear to have avoided. Not to mention the roughing the passer flags... way too frequent. EA Sports does a better job protecting the virtual Brett Farve than the NFL does protecting the real one. All in all, Madden '04 is a worthy addition to the franchise. The new owner's mode and playmaker option make it a well worthwhile purchase for fans of the series. While pretty much all of the minor problems from years past are still here, the new features more than counterbalance them. 
