Jump into a Madden game, or stick with 2K5?
 

I haven't played a football game since NFL 2K5, which I loved. I've been wanting to play another, but I don't know if I should just stick with the old stuff, or get in on Madden. Are the newer games better to play today than NFL 2K5? I don't follow football, so I don't care about roster updates. I want features and good gameplay.

Re: Jump into a Madden game, or stick with 2K5?
 

Gameplay is more realistic on Madden 18 (when it's working right). It's been a while since I played 2k5, but it probably has more features I'd be interested.

I like some aspects of Madden 18 that aren't in 2k5, such as a practice squad. 2K5 had that cool divvying of practice, but that was mostly just a text rpg kind of thing. It also had the weekly shows, but those were scripted. 2K5 allowed you to set up divisions how you want, which is super cool.

As lame as Madden 18's scouting is, I'm pretty sure 2k5's wasn't much more robust. However, in 2k5 if I recall correctly you can try to talk players out of retirement.

2k5 contracts were a lot more robust, if I recall correctly.




2k5 has great presentation, but despite the hate, Madden 18 isn't that far behind. In fact, the only place where 2k5 wins is the highlight show at the end of the week (despite it being scripted) and a better method of doing the half time show. Everything else is pretty even. Madden 18 has a nice TV broadcast feel to it with the (skip-able) commercials and breaks in between time outs and injuries.


Camera angles favor 2k5, since, if I recall, you have more freedom (or at least you have the first person option), although Madden has improved with a defensive perspective camera and a broadcast camera angle. 2k5 always looked like football, but a lot of that was animation you really couldn't control. Madden 18 gives you more control, and better physics, but there are still some wonky things that happen.


Overall, I think Madden 18 has better game play and much better graphics, which in my opinion make it a better game. Now, is it better relative to the era in which it was made? No. 2k5 hands down wins that. But if that's what we were all after I'm sure we'd all be playing Tecmo Super Bowl, since the fun factor was unmatched and no other football game of the era came close in that aspect.

Re: Jump into a Madden game, or stick with 2K5?
 

It is?

I mean, 2K5 isnt perfect, nor would I say its light years ahead now (although Madden SHOULD be light years ahead at this point), but there are several aspects of 2K5's gameplay that are still superior and more realistic than current Madden.


All opinion, but I completely disagree.

Madden's "broadcast" is a joke IMO. The commentating is still terrible compared to other games. Nothing about the presentation is immersive, and big games dont feel anymore special than meaningless games.

This is fair.

The most annoying thing is that 2K5 is even remotely comparable to Madden 2018....but sadly in every area except graphics, it is. 13 years and on consoles probably 50 times more powerful than the PS2, 2K5 is still relevant, and thats sad. I am not a 2K5 fanboy by any means and I honestly get sick of talking about it, but as long as EA keeps giving us what it gives us year in and year out, 2K5 will always be relevant because it undeniably still does SOME things better than current day Madden.

As far as buying current Madden, it depends what you are into.

Since you dont follow football and dont really care about current rosters, then meh.....thats a huge draw for why alot of people buy current Madden.

Are you into franchise mode? If so, Id pick up Madden 16 or 17 for $5 or less at Gamestop. And then, keep an eye on Madden 19 to see if they improve franchise....just dont get your hopes up.

Gameplay wise....there are some things Madden does better and some things 2K5 does better.

My suggestion is, as I said, go buy Madden 16 or 17 for dirt cheap and try that. Madden 18 wasnt much more than a $60 roster update anyway, so Madden 16 or 17 should give you an idea of where Madden is at today. If you like it, then enjoy and keep an eye on future Madden's. If you dont like it....you only spent $5 and you still have 2K5 to fall back on.

Re: Jump into a Madden game, or stick with 2K5?
 

If you have Xbox and EA Access, wait for it to come out soon.

I am having fun with User vs CPU with sliders.

The game is good fun within the football game.

Re: Jump into a Madden game, or stick with 2K5?
 

I'm one of those people who thought NFL2K5 was a bit overhyped, at least when considering on the field play. The animations / player movement was no doubt revolutionary, but I never thought the AI was any good. I'm someone who watches presentation stuff once or twice, then skips all of it the next 200 times I play the game... so while 2K won that battle in a landslide, it never mattered much to me. I miss the 2K franchise more for it's potential than for what 2K5 actually delivered with gameplay.

My recent experience with Madden has been the 11,12 and 18 releases with a little bit of 16 thrown in when my son got it for xmas. The game from 11 doesn't really play much different from the most recent... just looks better. No doubt that is a sad state of affairs... But I think with the right tweaks to settings / sliders, most people can settle into a fun experience with it. I'd say give it a try... Just don't buy it every year if you expect much beyond a roster update. At this point, once every 3-4 years seems to be the right purchase cycle for me.

Re: Jump into a Madden game, or stick with 2K5?
 

I would say for the price you can't go wrong with '16.I was a big fan of 2k5 in its time and made community rosters for a few years. Even though 2k5 does a few things better still,Madden has made significant improvements in recent years albeit not as fast as one would like.

The last 3 Maddens have been pretty good games but '16 had the least glaring issues though there have been franchise mode improvements,mainly '17,and gameplay '18.

Re: Jump into a Madden game, or stick with 2K5?
 

AI is where 2k5 blows the freaking doors off Madden, Imo. The playcalling and mimicking real team tendencies was far and away better than Madden.
And the ability to download an online opponents profile to practice against was absolute GENIUS, and well ahead of its time!
The presentation, Imo, outdoes Madden, even today, in every way, except graphics.

Sent from my Redmi Note 3 using Tapatalk

Re: Jump into a Madden game, or stick with 2K5?
 

I dunno much about, or really care about real world team tendencies or playcalling when the main thing I remember about the game was easily rolling over the CPU on the highest difficulty settings. I just didn't feel it was that great on the field, even in it's day. I remember finding the most challenge of that era with the NCAA games. NFL2K and Madden were both lacking. But it's been a long time... so recollections could be fuzzy.