Another system, another title. Review

Another system, another title.

The Madden football series is starting to look like the Boston Celtics of the
1960’s – just winning, winning and more winning. It’s been a long time since
the Madden machine has had to deal with a serious contender one on one,
though Sega’s NFL 2K series should
compete well as it moves onto the PS2.

The
Xbox, however, brings out a new contender in the form of NFL
Fever 2002. While the new kid on the block has a few trick plays up its
sleeve, be prepared for yet another victory for big John in Madden 2002‘s
smooth move to the Xbox. The game retains pretty much all the goods (and one
or two bads) from the stellar PS2
version.

By now, you should know the drill. Featuring all 32 teams (including the new
Houston Texans), Madden busts out with a bunch of game modes, including
staples like Exhibition, Full Season, Quick Play and the uber-popular Franchise
Mode, which can track up to 30 years worth of game data. Hope you have a lot
beer in the fridge.

New to this year’s version is a Training mode. Here Big John leads you through
different formations and a collection of plays, pointing out blocking assignments
and passing routes. It’s probably the best use of Madden’s voice in recent memory,
and it actually comes in handy.

Another new mode is the Two-Minute Drill, in which you play as a perpetual
offense and must score as many points as possible in two minutes. Points are
acquired by completing plays or scoring TD’s and field goals. It’s sort of an
arcade style diversion from the meat and potatoes and offers decent if limited
fun.

Working out the kinks in the offense before leaping into a Season is a smart
idea, because the AI is tough as nails. Pass coverage has been upped significantly,
though it still sometimes feels a little arbitrary. On the higher difficulty
settings, needling a pass through the secondary is like cramming an oyster into
a coin slot.

But playing defense can also be an aggravating experience, due mainly to the
AI’s inability to consistently go after the guy with the ball. Time and again
you’ll watch as the running back starts hauling ass upfield, only to be surrounded
by two linebackers, a safety and a cornerback. But rather than pray for mercy
before being smashed by all four, the RB simply takes two steps to the left
and only one of the defensive backs even goes for a tackle. The other three
just sort of sit there staring at the play. It gets incredibly irritating, though
it can be resolved by taking firmer control over the effort (ie. try to manually
tackle everyone).

Part of the difficulty in this stems from the somewhat loose control. Compared
to Fever, players don’t cut sharply and you’ll often find yourself making
wide circling patterns just trying to turn a corner. Tackling is still awkward,
as players don’t really leap so much as trip and fall. It just doesn’t feel
as crunchy hitting someone as Fever. The moves are all there and the
tried-and-true Madden passing schemes are fine, but things don’t feel
responsive enough.

On
the other hand, they sure LOOK responsive enough. Madden 2002 for the
Xbox looks much like its PS2 counterpart; namely, great. Player faces are much
more expressive and actually resemble the real people. The number of animations
has increased significantly, leading to some eerily realistic moments. Watch
in awe as your HB barrels through three defenders. One falls back and sprawls
along the turf, another grabs the HB around the shoulders, and the third gets
kicked by the first guy and loses his legs, undercut by his own teammate and
resulting in a pileup. If you squint, it looks like you’re watching TV.

It doesn’t sound like it, though, unless you have Tivo and like to listen
to the same thing over and over again. Madden’s commentary makes a comeback,
this time new and improved (with a fresher scent) and yes, even dumber than
ever. While player-specific insights are fine and dandy, his redundant color
commentary constantly reminds you that you’re playing a video game.

But that’s really small fries in a Super Size meal. Madden games are
all about depth and realism, and this Xbox version is no exception. You can
Create a custom team, complete with custom helmets and uniforms. Madden Cards
are back and can be earned in any mode, including the new Training and Two-Minute
Drill. Just about every setting under the sun can be tweaked, including AI aggressiveness.
There’s a lot of engine under this hood.

Heck, they even added the recent Coaches option to ‘Challenge’ calls. While
it doesn’t come up very often, it’s a fantastic little addition and marks one
of the first times I can think of when you could argue with the computer in
a sports game…and win.

Madden 2002 makes a very smooth transition to the Xbox and retains
all the glory of the original PS2 version. Not to take anything away from the
solid NFL Fever, but this version of Madden successfully unifies
the title.