The best of all worlds

[seanmac]

I've been popping various football games in and out of my Xbox (Fever 2003, NCAA 2004, ESPN demo), and I've been noting what each game does well and not so well. Building on that, I considered what I would take from each one if I was able to meld a game from each company, MS, VC, and EA. It would look a bit like this:
Player models: ESPN. This one is easy. Even though I prefer the polished look that the other two games sport, the actual player models in ESPN blow the other two games out of the water. Fever's models are a little cartoony, and their movement is a strange combination of smooth and awkward. EA's models are good (they get a bad rap), and their fluidity of movement was unmatched...until now. VC had the best player proportions last year, and now they have them without having to sacrifice smooth player movement.
Game speed: Madden. Madden has the nicest tempo of the three, both in terms of modeling game speed properly and in terms of getting in and out of the playcalling screen and the huddle in reasonable amounts of time. Fever drags because of all the cut scenes, followed by gameplay that happens too quickly. 2K3 had an issue in that the hurry up offense got to the line way too quickly (this has clearly been fixed). The game speed is nice, very strategic, but there are moments, most notably on kickoff returns and during some runs in space when the game is clearly going too slowly to accurately model NFL football.
Playbooks: ESPN. Again, no contest, as VC not only puts in team specific offensive playbooks, but specific defensive playbooks as well. NCAA is improved over previous EA offerings, particularly in its special teams packages, and Fever lags far behind with its single generic playbook.
Presentation: ESPN/Fever. ESPN looks absolutely great, from the front end through the replays. However, I confess I like the on-field camera angle on the Fever replays better than the other two titles, as they really bring out the field level speed. I also really enjoy the post game highlights, a feature the other two games would be wise to copy.
Player control: Madden/ESPN. I'm a fan of Madden's momentum physics, and would give the nod to EA here, but I am very impressed by the fluidity of the ESPN demo, and VC's player control has always been excellent. Fever is the worst here, and needs to take significant strides to match up with the other two.
Online play: Fever. I'm giving XSN the benefit of the doubt, as it looks unbelievable. ESPN's online play will be quality as well, and EA, well, EA is giving the Xbox the shaft, so [censored you naughty boy] them.

Just a few thoughts, anyway. I may post more as they come to me.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

sean glad to see you found the demo (cause im having NO luck ) so please give me some opinions of the demo....i always appreciate your viewpoints

by the way have you had a chance to see the newer fever models and or some of the game videos football-gaming has some nice ones (thx xbroughneck for bringing these to my attention through another post)

ps: see ya on xbl in a couple weeks on both games

[seanmac]

Hey cincy,

I did see the Fever videos posted, and all in all I wasn't blown away. It looks like they added some much needed animations, but the rest of the game looked fairly similar. I have been trying to give Fever 2003 another go offline (the online was simply disgusting, especially since they allow the user generated teams), and to this point my feelings have been mixed. It's a better offensive game than I gave it credit for, provided you aren't getting blitzed to all hell, when the slowness of the motion capture really screws you (unlike 2K3). But the momentum is still poorly done, and when combined with wicked suction blocking, it makes playing anyone but a safety a near impossibility. I'll pick up Fever 2004 anyway, just to check out read and lead and XSN, but I'm not anticipating a seriously different game from 2003, and so I might not keep it.

As for the ESPN demo, I posted most of my impressions on the other link, but I'll just say that so far I am very impressed. The most noticeable thing is how smooth the gameplay is- I always thought EA's fluidity of motion was the best in the business and was what made their games so fun, but it looks like ESPN is ready to take them on. Also, the defenses are nicely varied, you really get different looks on the field. It's tough to say too much off of the demo, as all the teams have the same rankings and the same playbooks, but things are looking good. Receivers definitely hold onto the ball now, so you can throw into lanes and feel assured that the receiver isn't going to cough it up.

[simpsman2244]

you forgot franchise- madden sep. now with owner mode.

also, i think maddens speed is too slow (2003 was). unless your talking about this years game speed, which i havent played yet

[seanmac]

I would actually sidestep that one and say NCAA has the best franchise model. I prefer the NFL to the college game, but recruiting just does a lot more for me than free agency and the draft, don't ask me why.