Dmitry-MalayevToday we got our hands on EA’s Madden NFL 2005. EA’s Madden series is the most venerable NFL series of all time, which isn’t surprising considering its been running since 1989. Last year’s Madden NFL 2004 quickly became the best selling NFL game of all time, which goes to show how much force the series has. We were excited and hoping to see some great changes in 2005 for Madden, sadly we were disappointed.
While waiting in line we noticed immediately that the graphics have been dramatically improved from its predecessor. The player models have been improved greatly in both facial and physical appearance. The player’s maneuverability has also been improved to be a little more realistic.
We were very disappointed with the gameplay of Madden NFL 2005. There were minimal if any gameplay changes from Madden NFL 2004. Some new smart tackles have been made. A few new diving abilities have been added to the game, nothing special, but certainly something that adds a bit more realism to the game. Other than that, the game played almost exactly the same as Madden NFL 2004; which was disappointing, because the AI defense coverage was extremely poor. Almost every pass that was made was done to a wide open receiver.
Overall, we were rather disappointed with Madden NFL 2005 — solely because of the gameplay. The only big improvements in the game were its graphics and nothing more. If you already have Madden NFL 2004, then imagine your current game with improved graphics and you got yourself Madden NFL 2005. Those who feel that 2004 was as good as it gets will find themselves enjoying 2005 a lot. But we were hoping for more.
