I haven't played it myself, but some people I know did and they were extremely dissappointed, particularly with the gameplay.
The main gripes I've heard are:
--tackle breaking is out of control
--offensive passing seems "muddy," as in when you look downfield you can't really see anything except a jumble of players, whereas in Madden you can actually look downfield and pick out what routes people are running and what defenses people are playing
--there's virtually no control on defense, the computer does everything, you do absolutely nothing.
Here's some clips from their reviews.
On offense I used Clinton Portis and needless to say the AI came into play here, he turned into a dag on pinball sometimes without my help. I haven't had much time to play the game but the running game is better than it used to be. Its not Madden but it is fun. The passing game feels a little fluffy to me, I feel like Im playing on the moon sometimes.
Also my favorite addition is the ability to add you own music!!!! That is the best. You can have specific music play during key events during the game. TD's, FG's, Kickoffs, Intros, you name it. Also you can use the editor to select certain spots in the song to play. My intro for the RedSkins is "The Takeover" by Jay-Z. Its just fun to customize ur game that way because I play with my friends a lot.
Madden wins out easily because the most important part of playing the game is how its plays, and even tho having personalized music is COOL AS HELL, its not going to mean anything when my players aren't controlling like I want!
While this game has some very nice features its lacking in the most important part and thats gameplay.
First thing I noticed is that its very hard to see the letters above your receivers head...X,B,Y and so forth. This makes it extremely hard,for me anyway, to pass. I found myself throwing to the wrong receiver time and time again just because I thought one letter was something else. Maybe I need glasses .
Second thing is the slow down when the receiver catches the ball. Its like slow motion... the game seems to bogg down or something right before the ball makes contact with the receivers hand.
The run game is somewhat comparible to Madden. Everyone knows I'm a big fan of the run game and even though ESPN puts up a nice effort Madden's run game is still better to me. Making guys miss is real hard on this game you seem to have to lower your head and try and run them over. I haven't juked anyone yet and made them miss. Broken tackles are still a problem in this game. I played my first game with the Bears using Thomas Jones and he broke at least two tackles a carry.
Reading the defense is like looking through muddy water...I can't seem to scan the field and find a open guy. So after a few plays I just focused on one. This could probably improve with practice though.
Once again on Defense I never feel like I'm in the play. I use my safety alot and I never can get to the action. On run plays I run right pass the guy and on pass plays I can never anticipate where the ball is going because the play is so hard to read once the ball is snapped.
Thats about it right now I only played one game and I must say even though the game looks nice its lacking in the most important category.
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by Play Maker » Thu Jul 08, 2004 2:52 am 
