Gameplay Offense I start with the running game, and compare the moves. Turbo Madden - You just hold a to go faster. ESPN - There is the tap and the charge, with the tap you tap a repeadeately to go fast. With the charge you hold A to enhance your moves Spin Madden - It's impossible to spin off of guys and the action is delayed. ESPN - This game has the greatest spin move I have ever seen. Dive Madden - They basically fall over. ESPN - They do aerial realistic dives over blockers. Shoulder Charge Madden - What Shoulder CHarge? ESPN - A nice move for power running backs Juke Madden - It's nice that the Juke button is just R and you juke which ever way you point the control stick. ESPN - The Juke buttons are L(Left) and R(Right), and you can control how much they juke by pointing the conrol stick. Stiff Arm Madden - The Stiff arm is sensative of where the guy is and you just press L and it will do it. ESPN - The Stiff Arms are unfortunately Black & White. Shimmy - Again there is none Espn A nice move that can turn into a juke. Passing Lob Passes Madden - The Passes are often tipped to much ESPN - The Passes are great except for the fact they sometimes can't catch screens. Bullet Passes Madden - Again they are to often tipped. ESPN - The Player don't catch them enough. Scrambling Madden - The controls to scramble make it to hard to fire a desperation pass if you're about to get sacked. The also scramble for too many yards. ESPN - The controls are much better, but they often scramble for too many yards also. Offensive Pre-snap Madden - Hot Routes, Formation Shifts, Playmaker, Motion. ESPN - Nicer hot routes and Motion The winner for better offensive gameplay is ESPN NFL 2K5 Now to Defense Defending Passes Madden - Too Many are defended ESPN - The pass defense is very nice Tackling Madden - Who could go wrong with The Hit Stick and strip ball button. ESPN - Maximum Tackling is nice, where you can determine what kind of hit to do Pre-Snap Madden - DB adjustments, LB Adjustments, DL Adjustments, and also the defensive hot route make it great. ESPN - DB adjustments, LB Adjustments, and DL Adjustments. Blitzing Madden - The Player Blitz Nicely With the hit Stick ESPN - The Blitz is fine The Winner on Defense is Madden NFL 2005 Graphics - No Contest. ESPN is the best looking Football game of all time Sound Madden - John Madden is a horrible announcer saying the same thing over and over. Al Michaels is okay though. The EA Tracks suck this year, I mean they got Franz Ferdinand and The Mooney Suzuki. ESPN - The Custom S\oundtracks during the game is awesome. The Announcers might not be real but their announcing is great. Winner - ESPN Presentation - Again No Contest, ESPN feels like a real TV Broadcast. Features Madden - Owner Mode, Create a fan, Minigames like 2 minute drill, rushing attack, and mini-camp ESPN - The VIP System, The Crib, First Person Football, Weeley Preparation, and the crappy celebrities. Winner - ESPN probably barely edges madden out, even though the celebritys really suck. Online Play Madden - Regular Quick Match, Optimatch, etc. should have leagues and tournaments later via EA Sports Premium Pass, which is supposed to cost money after August of 2005. One problem is ranked games have ot be All Pro with 4 minutes quarters. Also has a bottom line with real Sports scores. ESPN - Regular Quick Match, Optimatch, etc. Already has free leagues and tournaments that allow you to make trades also. Ranked games can be any difficulty and length, because there are different leaderboards for different difficultys. Also has LIVE ROSTER UPDATES! And finally Price ESPN is $20 while madden is $50. My recommendation is to get both if you can afford them. If you are only getting one get ESPN, it is much better.
Gameplay: It's another Madden game that is always coming with great gameplay. It is fun just to play with friends and even against the AI, but that can be very easy at times. Even on the harder levels. The gameplay is de... Read Full Review
By PatsFanVince | Review Date: Nov 15, 2006 | XBOX
Madden 2005 at the moment is one of the best football games out there today. In my opinion I think Madden 2005 beats out any of its successors that are out today. First off et me just say if your not a Football fan and... Read Full Review
