That Guy Got Hit So Hard He's Lucky His Head's Still Attached to His Body!
Written: Sep 04 '01
Product Rating:
Pros: The Best Video Football Game EVER!
Cons: I can't run on All-Madden.
The Bottom Line: If you love football, even if you don't normally like video games, you'd love this. If you love them both then you simply must have this game!
sportsweek's Full Review: Madden NFL 2002 for PlayStation 2
Like a right of passage at the end of each summer I anxiously await the latest version of Madden Football from EASports. For me this started probably 15 years ago when Tecmo Bowl for Nintendo was the latest and greatest. I remember the first "Madden" for the Sega Genesis system over 10 years ago with the fondest of memories. What is so amazing is that each and every year they have continued to improve upon what is already the best. One year I fell to the darkside and thought I'd try "Gameday" from another publisher, WHAT A MISTAKE. Please if you like playing video football yourself or are planning on getting a game for your child, "STICK TO MADDEN." You can thank me later. Enough about me though and my video game addictions let's settle down and review this sucker.
The first thing you have to decide is how you want to play. Do you want to practice, play 2-minute drill mode, just play a single game, a season, or franchise mode. Why anyone would practice without playing a real game is beyond me, I'm a learn on the go type of guy so I haven't done that. The 2-minute drill is an interesting addition to the Madden genre and can provide some entertainment, say, if you run home for a fix on your lunch break. Not that I would ever do that mind you. Basically you try to score as many points as you can in 2 minutes. A single game is often best when you are playing against someone else, that way you can each choose whichever team you want, but the thrill for me is in the season and franchise modes. I'm a numbers guy myself and I love the fun of following the stats of all the players in my own little Madden world. This is what makes the game so darn addicting. As a Cowboys fan it's going to be very frustrating because I know it's going to be next to impossible to get Emmitt Smith 1000 yards this season because running against the computer is next to impossible at the All-Madden level, but we'll get to that later. Another beauty of this game is the franchise mode. You can play season after season and the game will keep track of the players stats for their entire "careers." Now even after the Super Bowl there's a reason to keep playing, are you kidding me? I haven't gotten to franchise yet because I've just started my first season, after the Super Bowl though it will start over with stats intact. Some of the older players will retire, contracts will expire, and yes, even the Houston Texans will be playing next season. Like I said, if you fall into this world be prepared to spend a lot of time there.
So after you decide which type of game you are going to play you can determine how to set the game up and how hard the computer will be to play. As a matter of pride I only play All-Madden level which can be very frustrating. This is the ONLY video game I have ever played in which no matter how good I get I can not beat the computer every time, which is part of what makes it so thrilling. If you're just starting with this game though you may want to try playing against a lower level opponent unless you enjoy getting beat 50 to 0. You then can set up whether or not you want to allow injuries to occur, which type of weather (or set it to random), the frequency of penalties, and how long you want the game to last. The standard is 5 minute quarters but I've found that 6 is the closets you can come to having roughly the same number of plays run that you'd find in a "real" football game. So for me, I'm all set up in season mode, All-Madden level, random weather, normal penalties, and 6 minute quarters. Now for the next part of the fun before you can actually begin playing the game.
Once you decide to play a season, if you want to be realistic, you need to go through and get the rosters as accurate as possible. EASports has done a very good job up until they published the game and have even included most of the rookies but there are always changes to be made. i.e. Tony Banks is now on the Redskins, different players are starting, Weinke instead of Jeff Lewis, and injuries, Jamal Lewis is out for the year in real life so he's out for the year in my league also.
Once you have the rosters accurate it's time to kick-off! From the opening toss, right down to the officials asking the captain if he's sure whether he called heads or tails (a spin-off of the Thanksgiving debacle a couple of years ago), to the faces of the players the graphics and gameplay are amazing! Literally everything about this game is perfect except for one thing, it is virtually impossible to muster any kind of consistent running game. My best games my back will average 2 yards a carry and often it's 15 carries for 20 yards. I've tried many different running plays, I've tried running on obvious passing downs, but I just can't seem to break my back free. Passing is totally accurate, I throw for just over 50%, 200 to 400 yards depending on the game, the occasional TD and INT. The computer runs the ball well enough against my defense but after about 50 games now I've managed to be able to hold him to a respectable score. It took me literally 44 games before I finally won, the last game of week 3 and what a thrill it was. Week 1 I was virtually blown out every game. Weeks 2 and 3 I kept getting closer and closer including 3 heartbreaking overtime losses, once fumbling the ball in field goal range. So to win was truly a great thrill. I've played 3 games of week 4 thus far and have one 2 of them so I'm getting pretty good but I'd say it's an even matchup now. If I take a good team against a bad team I expect to win, and don't think I'll be beating the Ravens while using the Bengals any time soon, and the evenly matched games should be close. I almost can't wait to get through the Super Bowl and start all over!
This item is in Like New condition with all original artwork and materials. This item may never have been used, but does not meet our criteria for Bra...More at Amazon Marketplace
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.