Throwing into coverage rarely achieves anything positive, and some thought is now required to be consistently effective. I would say that, based on what I have seen thus far, Madden 2004 now officially makes it a requirement to read the defense when passing. I’m by no means done looking, but after several games with different playbooks, I have yet to find a play that works every time, including last years little ten and post I used to throw to Troy Brown for an automatic first down. For starters, I have noticed that there doesn’t seem to be any guaranteed offensive plays, which is a switch. Call me cheap, but I loved it.Īs far as gameplay goes, Madden 2004 has definitely tweaked some things as well. In any event, Madden 2004 has finally made me realize something I have dreaded for some time, that being that the old trusty Sidewinder has definitely fallen by the wayside. I was able to finagle an old Saitek enough to at least see what playmaker is capable of, and that it was a worthy addition to the series. Logitech supposedly does have a controller that falls directly into this category due out as we speak, and I believe their asking $20 for it, but I haven’t been able to find one in my area yet. But nothing with dual sticks and ten buttons. I was able to find gamepad’s with many of the variants, such as analog joysticks, two analogs but only eight buttons, and all of the other options in between.
The problem with this is that, well, there doesn’t seem to be too many options in this department for PC users. To be specific, a ten button gamepad with dual action joysticks, which is what the default control scheme is layed out on. The downside with playmaker control is that you need a gamepad with dual analog joysticks in order to use it. Playmaker is also usable on defense, where it is possible to shift your coverage when faced with a questionable look from the offense. It doesn’t usually allow for big plays, but seems instead to be designed as a preventive measure the player can use when faced with heavy pressure from a blitz or what have you. Playmaker is incredibly well implemented within the game as well. When used in combination with the new audible and formation abilities, Madden now gives you more than enough options to avoid a busted play. Playmaker control allows players to direct the action on the field after the ball is snapped, everything from directing a blocker, to changing a receivers route. Once you actually employ it however, the potential becomes immediately apparent. Initially, this feature seemed little more than another method of calling an audible.
I want to start off with the playmaker control feature, as it stands out as being one of the bigger features of the game. The new game offers a host of new features, including playmaker control, the ability to shift offensive and defensive formations on the fly, a much broader and more encompassing franchise mode, the ability to create your own teams and leagues much like Sierra’s old Front Page Sports stepchild, along with several other minor enhancements. Every year we are offered a new title, with a host of new features all proclaiming to make this newest version of Madden the best around, yet rarely addressing some of the games more fundamental issues.įor the most part however, this latest version, Madden 2004, seems to take things in many new and exciting directions. Additionally, the AI was suspect, and with little practice could be easily exploited, with computer opponents rarely acting in character.Īnd so it has gone with Madden since then. While Madden looked good, it didn’t always play that way. Many players felt that Madden, along with the majority of EA Sports titles, sacrificed the realism and fundamentals of their chosen sport for the sake of flashy pyrotechnics and over the top play.
It wasn’t long however before both the Madden series as well as EA Sports games in general began to receive a fair amount of criticism. New versions of the game brought jaw dropping graphics, amazing sound, and a presentation that was second to none. Despite the fact that the Sega Genesis, by today’s standards, is beyond primitive, those first two Madden games really helped usher in the gaming standards we are currently enjoying. The following year, EA released a sequel to Madden, again for the Genesis, and as fun as the initial version was, that second offering was even better, adding new features like individual player names, more animations and abilities, rating, stats, and plays. The game seemed to cover every aspect of football, from the running and passing, to tackling and suffocating defense, everything about the game was covered. I remember the initial version of Madden for the Sega Genesis. Buy 'MADDEN NFL 2004': Xbox | GameCube | PlayStation 2