Madden NFL 2004 Preview

Developer	Tiburon
Publisher	EA Sports
Genre	Sports
Release Date	8/12/03

The last few years have proven to be football gamers’ paradise, particularly if you are a fan of Electronic Arts’ Madden NFL Football series. It seems as if there is no stopping the Madden franchise from reaching new heights each and every year. This year’s game is no exception, as the virtual-gridiron masters at Tiburon are implementing several new key features and enhancements into Madden NFL 2004, including on-the-fly play control (using the right analog stick), Owner mode, a streamlined game presentation (i.e. improved play-selection screens), more team-specific playbooks, a boatload of new animations, and of course, improved online play.

This year, Tiburon has arguably incorporated one of the most significant improvements to Madden’s on-field gameplay since the introduction of play audibles to football video games. In Madden NFL 2004, you can now quickly change parts of a play before and after the snap, courtesy of the commonly underused right analog stick on the Dual Shock 2. With a running play, you can change the direction of the handoff and the run without having to flip the entire play, as you had to in the past. Thus, the defense will not know what you are up to. Of course, the blockers will move to guard in the new position of the run, but all of the receivers will stay put. On a pass play, the right analog stick complements the Hot Route options added in last year’s game. You can still use Hot Routes to change your receivers’ basic route (hooks, ins, outs, slants, and streaks), but the right analog stick will now you let change that hook into curl, for example. This way, you can avoid sending the receiver into another receiver’s route, while still taking advantage of the defensive weakness you spotted.

The right analog stick becomes just as useful during the play as it does before the snap. When you’re running the ball, you’ll be able to instruct your blockers on which defender to block when there is more than one heading your way – this is especially useful on runs to the outside. The A.I. is fully capable of blocking defenders, but they may not always choose the best ones to block. For instance, you may see a defender coming towards you whom you could take care of yourself, so you instruct your blocker to target the other defender downfield, just by leaning the right analog stick in the defensive player’s direction. During a pass play, you can alter your receivers’ original routes, whenever they look back at the QB, which signifies that they can are able to take instructions. Both quarterbacks and running backs will look and point according as they command their blockers and receivers, respectively. For example, if you (as QB) are being cornered towards the sidelines you can alter your receiver’s routes relative to your position, instead of them just standing around for the pass or running back towards the line of scrimmage.

Madden NFL 2004’s new camera system makes play action and draw plays much more effective than in previous installments. On a draw play, the camera will move up, show the passing icons and the width of the field, effectively throwing off the defense into thinking it is a pass play. Conversely (and accordingly), on a play action pass the camera will remain close behind the QB’s back after the snap, and the ball possession ring will appear under the running back to convey the intended run fake. In both play action and draw play calling, it is up to the player to remember if he actually called a pass or a run. This new camera work greatly enhances the usability of these types of plays, and helps to better sell their intended fake as they do in real life football. Lastly, another welcomed camera tweak has to do with the QB seeing the entire width of the field when he reaches the sidelines. In past games, when your quarterback rolled to either side, he would lose sight of some of the field, sometimes forcing you to blindly throw a pass to a receiver that is off-screen. Madden NFL 2004 alleviates this problem with a pivoting QB camera that always turns to keep the entire field in view when you approach the sidelines.

The post-play screen has been redesigned into three main sections: The bottom third displays the playbook and play selection controls. The middle third shows various on-field shots like replays, celebrations, and other field activity. And the top third shows the score and real-time game and player stats. The remodeled post-play screen makes room for Madden NFL 2004’s brand new package system, which lets you swiftly sub-in new players in groups, or “packages” instead of having to pause the game and manually select player substitutions one by one. You can save your custom player substitute packages to your profile for use in any game mode.

Along with the return of the popular Mini-Camp mode introduced last year, Madden NFL 2004 now incorporates a Training Camp mode that can be used with the Franchise mode (Mini-Camp remains a standalone mode). Now, you can boost your attributes for regular season games in the Franchise mode by successfully completing the passing, running, blocking, and kicking drills in Training Camp. You will never have to worry about losing attributes – you can only gain points. But, you can risk losing points during any particular drill. After completing a drill level, you can take the points you have accumulated and “finalize” them into your player permanently, or you can hold on to them, and attempt the next (and harder) drill level for a chance at getting more points – or losing them all.

New to the Franchise mode is a trading block that allows you to show the NFL which players you would rather not see on your team next season. Of course, you could do this in last year’s Madden, but you had to take precious time to search for viable trade partners. Madden NFL 2004 lets you tell the potential traders what you want; in essence, they come to you, and you save valuable time by not having to browse menus upon menus looking for a trader. After choosing the players you would like to get rid of, they are given a letter grade that is based on their age, salary, ability, and a hidden potential rating. Then, you let the trading block know what position, minimum rating, or draft pick you want in exchange for the guy your handing over. Immediately, you will see other teams’ offers, and can instantly pick the best one (if any).

Ownership Mode is an entirely new aspect introduced to Madden NFL 2004. You can use this mode in conjunction with your Franchise mode, or you can just be the owner and never play a single game. The owner takes care of the financial status of his team, setting food and snack prices, ticket prices, and more. Tiburon even included concessions specific to a team and/or city, like garlic fries at the 49ers stadium. Managing the salary cap is a lot more intricate and interesting this year since you have to deal with real world numbers and those pesky cap considerations. Ownership Mode will allow you to have rivalries with other teams, have a fan appreciation day, and even get fired if you turn mismanage the team into any serious trouble…EA Sports didn’t reveal the entire fact sheet of the Ownership Mode, so expect even more abilities as the team owner.

Tiburon has added more player models, countless new player animations, player tattoos, long hair, dreadlocks, and four different helmet types as part of the visual upgrades to this year’s iteration of Madden. Receivers will adjust their bodies, heads, and hands to make those difficult catches, and those carrying the ball will stumble through arm tackles and actually lean into oncoming tacklers. Defenders will also show much more intensity when pushing their way through blockers.

As you probably know by now, Madden NFL 2004’s online gameplay is exclusive the PlayStation 2. This year, online gaming will have a cheat-proof system and EA Sports will frequently hold online tournaments. You will be able to play games with voice communication via the SOCOM or third-party headset, and there will be player-to-player messaging (“whispers”) in the lobbies. Speaking of the lobbies, they will be divided into the game’s different difficulty levels so that all of you self-proclaimed “All-Madden” players can meet in the same room, and vice versa.

With the newly enriched online mode, on field play control and alteration courtesy of the right analog stick, Ownership mode, and a slew of other small (but definitely important) enhancements like new camera workings, interface changes, trading improvements, and visual upgrades, Madden NFL 2004 already looks like it will once again take the crown as the king of football video games. Tiburon is hard at work finishing the game off, and EA Sports will release Madden this August 12.

Preview by Nick Pappas