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Rookie
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Re: Serious question....
Here's a more thoughtful response. Madden isn't the worst thing in the world. People who play 2K are looking for a more authentic football experience, and by that I mean one that mirrors what they see in real football. I just started NBA 2K6 and knowing very little about basketball plays, I understand now how overwhelming 2K6 can be for people who don't know that much about football. So I can see why some people prefer Madden. Here is something I posted a while ago in response to the same question.
To me 2K5 is awesome. I've played both games quite a bit. Madden has a few things I like. I like the greater level of control it gives you with certain things, like adjusting the protection. Especially vs. Online D-line cheasers it would be nice to be able to shift protection to one side or another. I also like some of the defensive controls, and the QB spy which actually works. Both of these point to glitches in 2K5 which I don't like, namely the O-line's poor blocking which allows all of the D-line glitching and the LBs suddenly switching into stupid mode as soon as the QB starts running. Also I think Madden's DB play is better than 2K5 in some aspects.
But 2K5 is genuinely a much, much better game, unless you like to use only 3-5 plays the whole game and/or back your QB up 15 yards and throw it deep every other play. If that is you, and there's not necessarily anything wrong with that per se, then I definitely see why you would like Madden more. But while you may be playing arcade football or video game football, playing like that it isn't even close to NFL football (when was the last time you saw an NFL team do anything like throwing the ball deep every play or only using 3 or 4 plays the entire game- Never). That is why most 2K fans like this game, because its playing style actually resembles NFL football whereas Madden's for the most part does not.
I can give just a few of the numerous examples.
-In 2K5 each team's playbook is very different and reflects the team's actual playbook the year it came out. In Madden, every team has the same playbook, and for me, this is why I get bored out of my skull trying to play it. I understand why they did it that way. It takes a lot of memory, intelligence, and patience to learn different team's playbooks. If you are a casual gamer and you just want to find 5 plays that work and use them all the time, then you would find 2K5 frustrating. But for those of us who are able to master many different playbooks, the reward is that playing with a different team is a different experience, and you have 32 different experiences available to you, whereas in Madden you basically have 1 experience, the same with each team, only the colors on the jerseys and the names on the back are a little different.
-In 2K5, you have to understand defenses and coverage to be able to pass the ball with success at any difficulty beyond Pro (difficulty 2 of 4). Otherwise, you will throw INTs left and right. Again, I understand why in Madden this is not that big of a factor. Most casual gamers have little understanding of how a defense works or how to read defenses. And there are 2K players in this same plight. Personally I throw to open receivers, and I use my plays and hot routes and motion to get WRs open. People who play a more arcade style throw to WRs who are covered, sometimes double or even triple covered, and count on their WRs "athleticism" (i.e. game rating) to make the catch. You can do this in 2K to some extent with Harrison, Chad Johnson, TO, etc., but for the most part this philosophy will result in a lot of INTs. As a result, in 2K as you play more, you learn more, you begin to understand where you should throw vs. Cover 3, Cover 2 Man, Cover 2 Zone, etc., you learn to recognize blitzes and zone blitzes and how to audible and adjust, and as a result you gain a greater understanding and appreciation for the football you see on Sunday. I challenge any Maddenite to honestly tell me that Madden gave them any significantly greater understanding and appreciation for real NFL football. They can't, because Madden doesn't really resemble NFL football beyond the players and uniforms.
-Furthermore, in 2K5, the runs, for example are different from each other. Let me list as many types of runs as I can think of in 2K5: Iso, Dive, Toss, Sweep, Toss Sweep, Zone, Zone Bounce, Cutback, Strong Counter, Weak Counter (because it runs to the weak side, a G pulls and makes this version different from the Strong Counter), Toss Counter, Draw, Sprint Draw, Crossbuck (a type of counter in the Rams playbook), Tackle-Toss, Guard-Toss, Center-Pull, Stretch, Power, Push (like the Strong Steel Push which goes between G and C), the Student Body (only in the Eagles playbook), and there's probably more that I can't think of off the top of my head. That's 21 different types of runs!!! And you run each one differently (i.e. to have total mastery of the run game, you have to learn how to do each one). In Madden, every run is essentially the same. Even when a G or C is supposed to pull, they just block the guy directly in front of them anyway. Basically the only difference between the types of runs in Madden is how you get the ball. Once it's in the hands of your RB, the experience from there is the same for every type of run. Run straight into the middle and hope to push out to daylight, or cut around the outside of the formation. In 2K5, different types of runs go through different holes and have different paths for which they are designed, and you have to learn this. And 2K5 had the Power, Finesse, and Balanced Backs, which Madden is trying to present as an "innovation", 3 years ago.
I think I have said more than enough here to prove beyond any shadow of a doubt that 2K5 is much more realistic than Madden and infinitely closer to what you see on Sunday. I could come up with probably 20 more examples like this to illustrate the depth and realism of 2K5 verses Madden. I haven't even said anything about graphics (I don't know what it looks like on XBox, but if you get Madden '06 for PS2 and go into the superstar mode where you are editing the guy, I don't think the creators themselves could look at that player and say with any honesty that he looks real or even close. To put it simply, it looks bad. It looks like a game from the year 2000. I wish I had screenshots.), presentation, ESPN 25th anniversary games, Historic Teams, the Crib and its mini games, the VIP system, both it's ability to store your profile and the ridiculously in-depth stats like which move do you use more, how often do you run/pass from the Pro set, the Singleback, Shotgun, Open sets, etc., the Franchise (cf. Complex Contracts, Rookie Reports, Draft, Free Agency, Trades, Weekly Prep, Stats, et. and I'm sorry, but Sportscenter after every week with Chris Berman calling live highlights, Mel Kiper coming in at the end of the season for draft analysis, and Trey Wingo talking about actual injuries and free agent signings that happened in your franchise beats the **** out of JT the Brick and his lame radio show), Online Leagues, live highlights at halftime on XBox, the ability to rewatch any play, halftime and post game interviews with Suzy Kolber, and much much more. That's why people like this game so much. After playing for over 2 years, I am still learning new things about the game, and I think in 2 more years I still will be. I challenge anyone to list Madden's features, graphics, gameplay, anything, and convince me that it is a better game.
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06-07-2006, 07:52 PM
