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Graphically Madden 2004 is a visual masterpiece with great looking animations and a fantastic amount of detail. The players' hair resembles that of their real life counter parts, as well as some of the players sporting tattoos. Clipping from the 2003 version also seems to have disappeared and it makes a difference. No more players walking through each other after a down, people on the sidelines moving out of the way when any of the team members run off the field and teammates helping each other off the ground and congratulating them on well deserved plays - good stuff.
The sound also works well both on and off the field, with EA trax making a comeback. No more annoying pop up windows in the corner to detract from the game play either. John Madden gives some great advice when in the training camp to help improve your team and really gives out good pointers. The in-game commentary could still use a little work with both Madden and Michaels not quite sounding like they are working as a team. This doesn't hurt the game too much but some of the comments can get stale very quickly.
As mentioned previously, most of the problems have been ironed out, but one problem that remains is the Gamecube memory card management. If you happen to only own a 59-block memory card you will be in for disappointment. Madden 2004 is very hungry on the saving stakes and just to save a franchise alone will take up a whopping 180-blocks. Sure some of you may own a 251-block card, but for those that do not have this privilege it will really hinder the game. It would've been ideal to perhaps see some sort of password system in place for people less fortunate.
The final addition to Madden is "EA Bio". This will be included in each EA Sports game this year and keeps progress of your performance over each EA Sports title you own. Gamers are rewarded for their progress on new games purchased such as bonus teams. We would like to expand on this but for the mean time we'll just have to wait till more 2004 games are released to see what's in order.
So there we have it. In a nutshell, Madden 2004 is a highly polished product let down really by just the poor memory card management. As it stands the game will take up practically a whole 251-block card. If you have one of these babies to spare or have no qualms about saving a franchise then there is nothing to think about. You love gridiron? Then buy Madden 2004. |
