Introduction
Not content with dominating the pigskin market on PSX, N64 and PS2, EA has brought their most recognized sports series to the most powerful console of all time. Does Madden need the graphics? Hardly.Presentation
The Madden series has always set the mark on presentation. No other football franchise around can hold a candle to Tiburons work with the Madden series. The menus are great, with awesome layouts and easy navigation. A nice touch is random player models from the game doing random things in the background while you browse the menus. As you would expect in an EA game, everything you can think of is customizable. Hell, create your own team and you can customize the color of their socks for crying out loud. More important things however, are customizable player ratings(update your own rosters to your liking), and completely customizable AI. All this adds up to a football game that is basically what you make it.
Graphics & Sound
The XBox version of Madden is a port of the PS2 version, which was the best looking game around to begin with. For XBox, EA beefed up player models a tad, made the crowds and stadiums more detailed, and sped the menus up BIGTIME. A mojor problem for me on PS2 was "now loading" and in Franchise waiting for the FA period to end when I was done. The XBox version loads insanely fast. I was truly shocked at the difference. Compared to NFL2K2 and Fever, Madden looks even better. NFL2K2 gives you poorly detailed player models that are hardly better than the average PS2 models. Fever player models look very detailed themselves, but the models overall are way out of shape and way out of proportion. Madden models on the whole could stand to be a little more varied, but they sure do look purty. The sidelines are fully poopulated with towel boys, teammates, refs, line judges, etc. Most of which you can even knockdown. There isnt a single big flaw in the graphics in this game. Not a one.
Sound wise, well.. it’s Madden. Sound effects are pretty good. But the commentary... lets just say it is yet another football title this season that misses the mark. Summerall is bearable, but Madden plain sounds like a moron in this game. The commentary is very boring and will wear down the game eventually. There is also very little player chatter. More of that would be great. NFL2K2 does this area perfectly.
Overall the sound is great, everything except the commentary.
Gameplay
Madden has been at the receiving end of alot of critisism for years that the game rarely changes aside from roster updates. Playing the 2002 version should shut up all the naysayers. Tiburon has went in and tweaked virtually every aspect of Madden, from the running to the passing to the defense. On the offensive side, alot has changed. When passing, you must have good timing to get the ball to your WR. Time your pass wrong and it is an incomplete pass or worse an interception. Hot routes are back and personally I love them. Nothing is sweeter than lining up against a zone defense and changing your star WRs route into a streak to take advantage. NFL2K2 offers something similiar-"Max Passing", which is basically an unrealistic way to change routes AFTER the ball is snapped. Hot routes work much better, you dont have to move your QB a certain direction or jam the controls any way to get the WR to change routes.
Running the ball, theres been changes to special moves. Juking is much more effective now, and even better on XBox than PS2. Blockers are still kind of stupid, but they are on par with the competition atleast in this area.
On defense, this is where you will see the biggest change. The DBs in this game are ferocious. You better be sure your WR is open before you release that ball. Defenders fake biting on pump fakes and fake zones only to run to your pass and pick it off with ease. Throw in quicker player response and overall speed, its a whole new ball game on defense.
Even the special teams have been tweaked. You get a new punt/kick meter, as well as much better covering and blocking.
Whether you’ll prefer Maddens gameplay over other games depends. Madden uses realistic physics, along with momentum. NFL2K2 uses arcade style physics, with absolutly no momentum. Fever uses a little of both, and it didnt turn out too well. It all depends on what you prefer. Regardless, the gameplay of Madden is bar none the best around.
Lasting Appeal
The main thing aside from gameplay that Madden has over the other XBox pigskin titles, is game modes. Madden has basically anything you need, sans online play(maybe next year...). Season, Exhibition, Fantasy, 2 Minute Drill, Custom League, Tournament, Training, Quick Start. Any way you want to play there is most likely a mode for it. Most of the replay value will come from the Franchise mode, which puts ALL others to shame. No franchise mode in any pigskin game comes close to matching the one in Madden. It is all about depth, and Maddens has it, with the Texans expansion draft, create a play(unrestricted), salary penalties. Not too mention all stats from normal play available at all times in Franchise(take that NFL2K2). The menus are again so well designed, it is a cinch to get through mutliple seasons. You can have multiplayer franchises as well, which adds ALOT of replay value, as well as being able to change teams almost anytime you want, and still keep the game in whatever year you were in. It supports up to 30 years in franchise, and keeps track of all career records and stats. Sounds like little things, but Madden has so many little touches that only 12 years of expirience can provide that it adds up to a game with endless replay value.
Conclusion
Madden 2002 is simply console football as good as it has ever been. The main draw is the customization of gameplay and the players themselves. As I said before, Madden2002 is the first football title that is basically what you make it. The type of football game you play is completely up to you. I see only a few areas from improvement, mainly commentary and online play. The football season is over, but thats no reason to pass up on the greatest football title of all time, better than ever on the XBox.