Better then that Sega football game.
User Rating: 8.6 | Madden NFL 2005 XBOX
I was one of those guys that liked ESPN football better then Madden 2004. For some reason, this year Madden blows ESPN out of the water. It shows really badly on ESPN that they rushed it out the door. While Madden's graphics are slowed down by the fact that they were designed for the PS2 they don't look that bad in action. Madden is extremely smooth and the players actually look like they are running. The sound is okay, with all the required taunts, grunts and crunches. I love the new hit stick feature although it's really annoying when I'm trying to make a line or linebacker change right before the snap and end up stumbling forward allowing my man to beat me down the field for a touchdown. Speaking of throwing down the field, how is it that in close to a hundred hours of playing this game that I have yet to see a pass interference penalty called. It's like the developers went in the complete opposite direction of the NFL. Where the NFL is emphasizing calling penalties on any contact downfield, it looks like the Madden guys allow any contact, short of an outright tackle. Also, something needs to be done about the difficulty setting. I wouldn't consider myself an expert on the game, but I find myself easily beating good teams on the All-Pro difficulty setting. All of these complaints don't really take away from the playability of the game though. It's extremely fun and I've actually had some really good last second wins that I had to fight for. If they improve in a couple areas this game could be a must have. And they could start by bumping the graphics level up. I'm tired of playing a great cross platform game on my Xbox with PS2 graphics. I'd recommend this game to anybody that likes football games. It's the best one out there right now. 
