This ain't two hand touch, son

Author's Rating:

Pros: remarkable graphics, better franchise options

Cons: repetitive voice tracks

Author's Review
WOW. This is why football video games were created in the first place. Madden 2001 for the PS2 is one of the best football video games ever, period. Of course, the PS2 system itself is largely responsible for the quality of this game; but Madden 2001 is a well designed game and will entertain you for hours and hours on end.


What I liked

The graphics, the graphics, and the graphics :) If you've never seen the PS2 live before, it will blow you away. Madden 2001 features a lot of upclose shots of players, complete with emotion. I remember Kurt Warner giving a disgusted look after Isaac Bruce dropped a pass 20 yards downfield. The music soundtracks during the menu screens are very catchy-I'm not a big fan of rap but the tune really pumps you up for the game.

Gameplay is excellent. Players are easy to control, and plays are simple to select and execute. The players look lifelike when breaking tackles, catching passes, or throwing a stiffarm out there.

What I enjoyed most were the increased number of coaching and franchise options. You get to make salary offers, shop for free agents, draft rookies and sign them, etc. You can fire your coach and hire someone else to walk the sidelines.

It can be summed up quickly by saying this: realism is infected throughout almost every aspect of this game. The graphics are like watching football on TV, heck, maybe even better.



Constructive Criticism

There were a few things I would change for the next Madden. First, the voice commentary was less than stellar. Each game begins with the same dull statements from the Madden-Summerall crew, something to the effect of "ok, let's get started." Also, Summerall comments everytime you make a completion that is out of bounds (doesn't count), which seems less than interesting when it is totally obvious. By contrast, fumbles are not commentated on at all- the word "fumble" appears on the screen, but it would be much more stimulating to hear one of the two guys yell, "Fumble!" Also, if you play in season or franchise mode, Madden will make the same comments over and over and over again about a particular player. For instance, I played a franchise with the Redskins, and I can't count how many times Madden said, "You know, Brad Johnson was a basketball player at Florida State." It grew to be fairly annoying. He probably said it 2 or 3 times in the game, and I didn't run the ball with Johnson once.

Four other things could be improved. First of all, a screen pass on offense is virtually impossible. I tried about a dozen different screen passes, all with the same effect- a linebacker remains unblocked and just waits for you from a yard away to catch the ball and pummel you. You literally can't go anywhere on these plays. This is quite unlike the NFL, where screen passes are often quite effective.

Second, it is virtually impossible for you to register a sack while on defense. The offensive lineman will not budge very often, and if they do, another lineman or fullback will pick you up. I used Warren Sapp and I could almost never even put pressure on the QB or make tackles at the line. By contrast, when you are on offense, you will often face a ton of pressure from blitzes that get past your linemen very quickly.

Third, it shows that you have "challenges" available to use on instant replays. However, there is no button to challenge a call, and in the 10 to 15 games I've played so far, I never had an opportunity to challenge. Apparently, it is not a real feature in the game; I was hoping it was somehow to add another facet of realism.

Lastly, there are no first down measurements or enthusiasm from Madden-Summerall on close measurements. I'm not trying to be picky here, but these features from the old games would have been nice. If it's third and eight, and you complete a pass of about 8 yards, it would be nice to hear Summerall say "I think they got the first down" or "he came up short" or just show the measuring sticks on the field. Instead, you have to wait for the play calling screen to reappear to know whether you made it or not (they do have the yellow line marker on the field, but it's still not a clear measurement). This is a minor criticism, but the whole idea of measurement is an added interesting moment of suspense that should have been included.


Concluding Thoughts

Overall, an outstanding game. As a football purist, I did find the minor criticisms above that I believe were just minor oversights in the end. They may not mean anything to you, and in reality they won't take away much from the fun this game will bring. This game is an absolute must have for the serious football gamer. This issue might have been a bit rushed to meet with the release of PS2 this fall. I expect Madden 2002 to be even better.