If you're a fan of the Madden series, you'll still probably get enjoyment out of this year's version, but like me, you'l
User Rating: 8.6 | Madden NFL 2005 PC
Madden's graphics remain a bit above average, but perhaps because it's catering to the consoles, it's just not that impressive anymore, and I think the days when I used to consider Madden to have about the best graphics of any game around are long gone. The on-the-field animations are solid enough, although occasionally there can be clipping, and tackling lacks any real ferocity - to quote a friend who's played the game, "sometimes they just seem to fall on each other". More sideline and injury animations would be nice; there are only a few of them and they get repetitive very quickly. Although well animated, the cheerleaders' appearance is pretty weak - all of them have the same face, there are only about four different hairstyles, and they look like they're desperately in need of a more supportive bra (and I don't mean that in a good way). On the plus side, the celebration for winning the Super Bowl is pretty enjoyable, although what's with not having any actual liquid in the Gatorade bucket that gets dumped on the head coach?
While there isn't a tremendous amount to hear, the quality of Madden's sound effects is pretty good. The crowd noise seems a bit fuller. They can get pretty pumped up during a big game, which definitely add a bit of excitement. A very notable exception to the generally solid sound work is the referees' dialogue. They're nearly inaudible on the field, such as when explaining the results of an instant replay review. If I recall correctly, the same problem existed in last year's version, and it really makes you wonder how something like this could slip through testing two years in a row.
