The upcoming dilemma...ESPN vs. Madden - Page 4

I finally pulled myself away form this game. God its addictive. The franchise mode is soooo deep with the weekly prep stuff. Almost too deep.

The online game still has some kinks to work out. Once you get into a game its very smooth and awesome. Its just getting a game started is difficulty right now, but I imagine that is just one small hiccup that Sega will fix soon.

QB spying is an issue. NO ONE IS SURE IF IT ACTUALLY WORKS. The individual assignment of qb spying is what i am talking about. I hope Sega comments on that soon.

Also, for those franchise mode guys out there. Just a little something to consider. The AI trade logic is HORRIBLE. Brett Favre, Randy moss, and other HUGE SUPERSTARS are being traded left and right each week. I highly recommend that when you start a franchise mode, you select EVERY TEAM TO CONTROL. You can attach your VIP to the team of your choice and actually only play their games, but to avoid these ludicrous trades, you should put yourself in charge of each team so the CPU doesnt have control over the roster. This way its also easier to keep up with current goings on in the NFL...ala the Titans releasing Eddie George and picking up Antwaon smith etc etc.


But these are all non gameplay issues, save for the qb spy, which I just am puzzled by. The gameplay is frankly perfect. I keep on marvelling at how realistic the animations are. Madden has nothing on these animations. I mean recievers and DBs actually have aerial battles for a ball in the air. My favorite instance is when a reciever goes up in the air for a catch, and a DB just NAILS the guy right in the gut, knocking him backwards IN THE AIR. You just dont see that kind of stuff in Madden.

Also, running game is much smoother. Following the blockers andpicking the right holes is very necessary to succeed. One nice thing about the running is you have so many options...using the face buttons or using the R stick, which works surprisingly well, but takes some getting used to. One little running animation I like is the RB putting his hand on lead blockers or O linemen rather than the Madden "pinball" action when going through a hole.

Also, I love that the shovel pass is in some playbooks. It is really fun.

Wow...amazing stuff.

AND to top it all off...the one Online League I have joined hasnt even started yet. And that is just a WHOLE other awesome part of this game. Your league info, VERY deep stats, records, schedules are all put on the internet, and when viewed it is displayed like ESPN.COM displays real sports scores.

BEST SPORTS GAME EVER.

JACOB...you know what almost made me cry when I was searching through the game.

Go to the extras and look for a reference manual or something like that.

It is basically a football 101 index.

IT COVERS A LOT. Everything from what a counter is to more complicated things like what the joker formation is and how a toss is different from a strong iso running play, etc etc.

I consider myself a big football fan, but I still found myself reading through the in depth information in the reference section. VERY INFORMATIVE.

After a little more research on some other boards...apparently the injury default settin gis too high. And when the CPU simulates games, a lot of stars are going down with huge injuries, so it trades them.


Pull down injury slider before in franchise mode and some of the trades should be less ludicrous, all though as of right now the only true fix is to control all teams.

You know Richard I have been a madden player forever...but if you give espn's gameplay an open chance, you will realize its MUCH deeper and much more true to the sport than madden.

It really feels like an NFL game. but a lot of people enjoy the more arcadey aspect of Madden, which undoubtedly makes it more accessible to the masses, but If you want the next step up in realism it has to be ESPN.

You are REQUIRED to have a credit card to sign up for Xbox live, even if you "pay " for it exclusively with 2 month free cards (which is very possible.)

As far as teh xbox link cable, it is an overpriced ethernet cable used to connect any PC device for networking or broadband purposes. You can get a normal ethernet cable from the store and hook it into your broadband modem and get online. you dont have to buy an "Xbox Link cable"

haha calm down guys.

I am no fan of the crib thing either. But on a long term basis, they have a lot of fun lookin gthings to unlock in it.

Apparently it was a very popular feature in 2k4, hence the new and improved version in 2k5.

GOD I AM HORRIBLE ONLINE. These guys online just smoke my defenses left and right. And they move their D-lineman like little bitches to keep me from running at all!

you know I have played A LOT of games and have never once come across the negative rushing yards glitch. If i remember correctly, someone pinpointed it to an issue with clipping being called on a play or something like that.