The Madden NFL franchise has been a fixture in video games for 15 years, but over the years people have continually asked if the series would ever hit a wall. There is only so much innovation, so many new features you can add to a football game before there just simply isn't anything you can add, but only improve upon. You could say that about Madden NFL 2005 to some extent.

 

Last year's game introduced the world to 'Playmaker' controls, which added another level of pre and post-snap audibles. Playmaker is again implemented in this year's iteration, but EA addressed the one issue with the feature last year: defense. Only a few defensive pre-snap changes were available in Madden '04, but this year, with perennial Pro Bowl linebacker Ray Lewis gracing the cover, EA has adopted the theory implemented over the last few years by Super Bowl teams like the Baltimore Ravens, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and New England Patriots into the game plan that's been true for so many years: defense wins championships. With stiff competition this year from the Sega/ESPN camp, Madden needs all the defense it can muster. The gameplay modes in Madden 2005 are pretty much the standard features from the last few years. Exhibition, Franchise, Season, Tournament, Online, and Mini Games make up the list of various modes, and all are executed well. The Mini Games are pretty much all of the training camp games from the franchise mode such as Running Back which is really fun and there's a whole bunch of other drills to try as well. Still, it's all pretty basic, and you can only experience them through the off-season in franchise mode.

 

As stated before, the primary focus on this year's game is its defense. The most notable additive to the defensive gameplay is what you can do before the snap. Aside from the many audible combinations you can call, you can also use the new defensive hot route system with the right analog stick to assign backs at double coverage, assign certain linebackers to blitz, and all sorts of things of that nature. Tired of those crazy runs by Michael Vick' It seems that EA Sports revolutionized the defensive gameplay because of situations like that, so now you can assign players to mess with guys like Vick and McNabb so you don't have to worry about the 'Vick-Factor.

 

As nice an element as the new defensive hot routes are, perhaps the coolest new feature in the gameplay of Madden 2005 is its new 'hit-stick' controls. After the snap, you can use the right analog stick to perform huge tackles at the ball carrier. The tackles look really excruciating, but they don't increase the chance of a player getting injured. Though it may sound disappointing, EA Sports made it so that the ball carrier's chances of coughing the ball up increase if you perform a hit-stick tackle. As great a feature as it is, there are still consequences when using the hit-stick. If you time it wrong, not only will your player miss, but you will pretty much give up a huge chunk of yards to the defense, and it'll be a lot harder for your defense to catch the ball carrier.

 

The offensive gameplay in Madden hasn't received much change, if any at all. The 'playmaker' audible controls are still there, and they're a bit more adjustable as well. Want to empty the backfield and give your running back an easier route for a reception' Just tilt the right analog stick, and your running back will move to wherever you choose. Also, the AI in your opponents has improved drastically in both offense and defense. For example, if you're facing the Indianapolis Colts at the RCA Dome, Peyton Manning will call all sorts of audibles or fake snaps to confuse your defense just like he does every given Sunday. Other than all that, Madden 2005 is pretty much a grab bag with an extra piece of gum nothing totally out of the wave has been added.

 

Another area EA Sports improved much upon is its Franchise mode. It's still a 30+ yearlong adventure and does include all of last year's Owner Mode elements, but the changes are just great.

 

EA Sports also gave players their egos in the game. So if you have a hotshot player who talks a lot like Terrell Owens, he'll do all sorts of rampaging things like 'sticking it to the media,' complaining about all the balls not thrown to him, etc. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and if it's for the best of the team, then trade him, release him, do whatever you please with him. What you do will be rated and stated in Storyline Central.

 

Storyline Central is the franchise mode's main new viewpoint. It's basically a franchise feature that includes player/coach interviews every week courtesy of sports radio guru, Tony Bruno. Tony Bruno has given 30 hours of different stories that'll be based on your actions at the EA Sports studio, and they're great, if sometimes a little generic and unclear. For example, we experienced a problem with Kurt Warner as quarterback for the New York Giants for fumbling too much, so we gave the starting position to Eli Manning and for whatever reason, Warner decided to protest. In light of that, Bruno interviewed Tom Coughlin regarding the situation. Bruno's analysis is a love-or-hate type of thing, but it's a nice addition if you're a dedicated NFL fan.