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(More customer reviews)Madden 2002 is a very good football game that falls just a little short of five stars. I like the game an awful lot and have played a great deal (over 100 games (15 minute quarters of course) so far and will play a lot more) but there are some flaws. In no particular order...
The graphics in Madden are really nothing special. They aren't terrible and the player animations during the game are nice, but the backdrops are dull and all too often you see players walk right through each other in the after play animations.
Not nearly enough work was put into the experience of playing defense. Madden has a very nice training mode for offensive plays which really carefully explains everything from blocking assignments to reading pass coverage. There is also a sometimes nifty "Ask Madden" feature in offensive playcalling in which the game will reccomend offensive plays when prompted and even provide some reasoning for the choice but there is no such feature for defense. You are pretty much on your own when it comes to calling plays on defense beyond the vague reccomendation in the EAsy play mode that you run 4-3 against the run and Nickel or Dime against the pass. But that doesn't help explain the subtle differences between and 4-3 "Thunder" and a 4-3 "Lightning". Which is better against short yardage running plays? Which is better against play action or screens? You can get some ideas from looking at the small diagram of the play, but on the whole there is a lot lacking in defensive play calling.
It is far too easy to run the football. Running blindly won't work; but if you pay attention to the way the play is diagramed and follow your blocks, it isn't hard to rush for 250 yards on 20 to 30 carries in every game against the hardest difficulty setting (All Madden) with all the defensive AI settings cranked up as high as they go. In contrast it is far too hard to pass the ball. You really must read the defense and go through progressions (just throwing to your primary reciever or throwing to the same reciever over and over will not work) and that's quite fun, but recievers will drop balls way, way too often no matter how softly (or how hard) you throw the ball. And if your reciever does not have the coverage beat by at least two steps the pass will be tipped or intercepted about half the time as defensive backs controlled by the computer seem to be blessed with superhuman closing speed.
Another minor annoyance is the announcing. Madden and Summerall are clear and conversational, but a lot of their comments are very out of place. For example, five minutes into the first quarter you get the ball for the first time down a field goal and you run the ball for your first play. Summerall will announce, shocked "These guys still think they have time to establish the run!" And Madden, the sage, will respond, "When you're down like this, it's time to put your faith in your quarterback." Um, yeah.
Finally, it is very hard to play fair, realistic football. The first three difficulty levels are so easy once you get the basic controls down that it is no trouble at all to win by anywhere from five to ten touchdowns...and that's no fun. The only level that can challenge you at all is All Madden and it does that by openly cheating. The opposing defensive line will slice through your pass protection like a battle axe through butter without ever having to blitz, their receivers never drop balls (and, indeed, their defensive line has better hands than your best receiver), the computer's pass protection is near perfect unless you blitz with two extra men. You will be penalized two or three times as often as the other team (and after about half of your big plays). I think this could be fixed up some by forcing the computer to play fair (instead of cheating in the most blatant of ways) but then also teaching it how to play against the run a little better so you can't just run them over every game.
Despite what it may sound like so far in the review, I really do think Madden 2002 is a fantastic game. I really like the momentum based physics system and the game does a better job than any other of capturing the *feel* of real football (with the exception of the poor AI run defense). The game comes with a ton of options in all its formats. In its franchise mode you can create players, draft players, sign free agents, trade, progress players from poorly rated rookies to top notch stars over a few seasons, etc. In season mode you can even edit the attribues of existing players (something I found necessary to make some of the players better match their real life counterparts (Mike Vick running slower than most fullbacks was just wrong, for example)). This is actually a really neat option as it allows you to play the game you're in the mood for. If you want a real high scorer, go in an jack up both teams offenses. If you want a real low scorer, go in and pump up the defenses, etc. There is a robust practice modes (although you can't practice with created or edited teams, which is annoying). There is also a nice situation mode and a mini-game: the 2 minute drill (go in with any team against any team and see how many points you can score in 2 minutes). Another nice feature are the Madden Cards. You can earn challenge points for scoring in the 2 minute drill or for completing "challenges" in a regular game (i.e. throw for 300 yds, etc.) and use these points to buy packs of cheat cards that open up hidden teams and stadiums, boost current players and bring old ones out of retirement, or change other game conditions.
In summary, if you like football games, go ahead and get this one. You'll have a lot of fun with it (especially against friends) but don't expect perfection. I hope I haven't turned anyone off of the game with some of my rants, but I also hope someone from EA Sports reads this and makes the appropriate adjustments.
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Mr. Madden's football games continue to be the titles against which allother gridiron games will be judged. Considering that Madden NFL 2002 isthe Xbox's first contribution to the series, it's a triumphant debut indeed.Everything that we've come to know and love about the console Madden games hasmade it to the Xbox. This version even has minimal but noticeable upgrades fromthe PlayStation2 edition.
Gameplay is almost exactly the same as Madden NFL 2002 on the otherconsoles, with key differences relating to the enormous Xbox controller. Ifyou're not a fan of the Microsoft controller's ill-placed black-and-whitebuttons, you'll be happy to see they aren't used too frequently.
The artificial intelligence exhibited by the Xbox-controlled players seems to beequivalent to that of the very smart PS2 version. In other words, expect aslow-paced, competent game that will challenge you for every yard.
The graphics, however, have been slightly tweaked for the extra pixel-pushingabilities of Microsoft's console. Helmets get scratched and dirt, grass, andother filth accumulates on player uniforms. Players are somewhat sharper andsmoother than in the great-looking PS2 version, plus people with widescreen TVscan view the entire offensive and defensive lines without having to pan left orright. All in all, the improvements over the PS2 version are slight, but they doadd to the atmosphere of the game.
Also retained are the two-minute drills, teaching modes, and Madden Cards fromthe other versions. Sadly, repetitive and droll announcing by Pat "What Game IsHe Watching?" Summerall and John "Blandly Stating the Obvious" Madden didn't getupgraded. One or both of these guys need to hang up their microphones in ahurry. Also, the game still puts way too much emphasis on the passing game,leading to somet
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