it should have been madden that was $19.99. espn 2k5 blows this game away in every aspect. i now know why everyone is so hype about madden. it is because everyone that picks up the controller is good. u dont even know how to really learn how to play. i played it for a few hours at a friends house & realized that on the pro setting it is entirely too easy to complete a pass. i was using the texans & any go route with johnson would be a completion. i would even look away from the tv & complete passes without even looking. so we were like ok lets turn the difficulty up to all pro. ok yea so now the passing is a lot more difficult, but the stupid thing is that the DBs all play like pro bowlers intercepting almost every pass, & not allowing anything. Theres no balance between the settings, players are always just too good & some aspect of the game is just too easy. madden is also way to fast not even being close to real life motion. it also allows players to change directions too easily. the graphics & animations are subpar. compare the graphics to espn 2k5, u would swear it came from the future because of the sorry madden graphics. with espn 2k5 u actually have to learn the plays & time them correctly for the plays to work. & better yet, u cant play with ur eyes closed. so yea if u think ur good at madden, get over it because so is everyone else.
You sound like a typical fanboy. I have both games, and have been buying both games since the first NFL came out on DCast. I am not sure what your argument with Madden is, first you say its too easy, then its too hard. Its what gameplay sliders are for, to adjust the game to everyone's preference. Obvisouly no game is designed for peple to play with their eyes closed, so maybe bumping it to All Pro was a good idea, but then you complain its too hard on that level. Then you come back and say that everyone else is just as good, are you assuming everyone plays on Pro level? I always play on All Madden, as do most other gamers who have played this game for a long time.
2k5 can't even come close to touching madden when it comes to franchise mode, which is the main reason I buy the game.
Wow... I'm sure you hadn't already decided which was better before you even touched Madden. Dude, I usually bought Madden in previous years, because it was clearly the better game in my mind. This year ESPN has stepped up big time (I bought both), and it's perfectly reasonable to come to the conclusion that ESPN tops Madden. But to say ESPN "blows Madden out of the water" is just plain f'in stupid buddy. Madden's franchise mode destroys ESPN's, and the defense destroys ESPN's. You could make pretty convincing arguments that just about everything besides those two categories is a win for ESPN, but you're gonna get a lot of strange looks if you go around saying ESPN has a better freakin' franchise mode. And your comment about "all the DBs playing like pro bowlers"... well yeah, COMPARED TO ESPN. Guess what, I had a pretty tough time passing at first too, after having played ESPN for 2 weeks. Then I got into the faster Madden's flow, and all-pro has gotten to be too easy (wow... that took a whopping 2 days or so). I've played 4 games on all-pro in franchise with the Cowboys, Drew Henson at QB (something like 76 overall)... averaging 5 TDs, 0.5 INT, 420 yards passing, 69% throwing, 8.5 yards per attempt. And that's with a marginal O-line (I traded Dinapoli and Lehr) and no go-to, 90-something overall receiver. On All-Madden I've been about 3 TDs, 1.5 INT, 310 yards, 67%, 8.0 ypa. You do realize the first comment practically every rookie makes is "I can't believe the speed of the game, it's so much faster than in college," right? If you can't pass in Madden, it's because you can't read coverages. NFL corners really are that good. In ESPN, your receivers' abilities matter much more; it's more about finding a matchup to exploit so you can keep lobbing it up and keep having your guy beat his man one-on-one. Madden isn't too fast, ESPN is too slow. Personally, I like the mechanics on offense for ESPN better, I like the special teams better, I like the presentation better, I like the graphics better (duh), the coaching profiles is one of the best features I've ever seen in a football game, and the crib might be a better special feature than any Madden has. But ultimately ESPN will be the one collecting dust, because it is simply too arcadey and easy compared to Madden. Best Arcadey/Unchallenging Thrill = ESPN, Best Available Simulation = Madden for me. ...Wow, 1500 posts!
Passing is probably the easiest thing to do in Madden if you ask me, are you one of those tools who throws the long ball every down until the guy catches it?
if you want your football game to just be a goofy, arcade style, non-thinking game, then ESPN is your game if you want a true football simulation, there is no question Madden is the better game
if you want a true football simulation, and dont care if the players are in college, then there is no question ncaa 2005 is the best game
You know, I can't think of one thing we have ever agreed on. In fact, all of your posts are the exact opposite of what I think. Strange anamoly. Hmmmmmmmmm You do like the Rockets don't you?
wtf? ESPN has the same exact problem. On the default settings the comp is a joke. Bump the difficulty up one level and the comp players are all stars and scrambling with the qb becomes the greatest o weapon due to the d parting in the middle on almost every passing play and even good recievers droping wide open passes way too frequently. You have to tweak the sliders in ESPN just as much as, if not more, in Madden to have a decent game.
ive got madden 2005' but from you who have espn: whats the new coaching profile and crib feautures on espn2k5?
Guys, really. QUIT POSTING SPOILERS!!! I'm still trying to complete Madden '94. Quit ruining my gaming experience, man.
I agree with everything you said about the two games, except for the part where you said ESPN is archadey/easy. Thats not true, initially yes but you could always use the slider to adjust to one's personal preference for gameplay style,difficulty and play mechanics. Beside have you tried playing on Legend? I don't think its that easy at all.
Ohhh man... well I'm assuming you're a longtime Madden guy, like me. You know how when you play against the computer, it doesn't really matter what team it's using? I mean yeah, the computer adjusts things slightly based on the abilities of the players on the team, but the computer A.I. is pretty much the computer A.I. It doesn't take long to get a feel for what the computer is gonna throw at you, regardless of the team it's using. In ESPN, there's a "coaching profile" for EVERY COACH IN THE LEAGUE. That means the Patriots and Redskins will throw like mad, the Ravens will play ball control, the Eagles will blitz a lot. It takes into account all the strategies of real life teams. Passes are divided up into 6 sections: left, center, and right, all either short or deep. As you play, your profile will save where you pass, where you run, how much you blitz, what kind of moves you like to use with your d-linemen (swim, push), EVERYTHING. So besides every team you play having a distinct feel, you can even save your buddy's profile and play against it, and it would be like playing against a computerized version of him/her. If Madden doesn't have this feature next year I'm gonna be f'in mad. Oh yeah, I've played on Legend. Not hard. The coverage is a laugh-out-loud joke next to Madden, no matter what you do with the sliders. Here's the thing. I've been playing Madden every year since 1997. I'm very good at it. Conversely, I had played very, very little ESPN (previous experience probably amounted to a total of 2 or 3 hours over 5 years). Despite this, it was easier for me to start killing the computer in ESPN on the hardest difficulty than it was in Madden this year. So it was harder for me to master a new version of my old series than it was for me to master an almost completely new game. What does that say about ESPN's difficulty/A.I.? And as if that weren't sad enough... "Legend" even nerfs basic physical abilities, like running speed (it's possible that Madden does this slightly as well, but it certainly hasn't been real noticable to me). Meaning not only am I killing the computer with the A.I. at its best, I'm killing it when my digital Terence Newman can't outrun the computer's digital Jeremy Shockey. I'm sorry, but that' just kinda sad. I have really high hopes for next year's ESPN though. I'm thinking next year may be the year EA finally starts sweating. But it ain't yet.
