I beg to differ, with Pat's analysis at least.

I know many people like Madden, and many like the ESPN 2K series. I myself switched from Madden in 2002 and haven't looked back...

ESPN brings true NFL simulation to your fingertips, while Madden seems to be a video game. I'm not bashing Madden, since I played it since it came out in 1990 (Wow...what in improvement from Tecmo Bowl!), but I got a little tired of being able to get out of situations by throwing the bomb or a hail mary with 95% effiecieny on the highest difficulty level.

I admit that I've never had too much trouble with football games cause I do think I have at least an armchair command of the game. I know how to shift my DB's, assign blitzes, change routes, call audibles, etc. Not exactly rocket science, but some things that can affect your overall playing experience.

ESPN 2K5 is the first game that has really challenged me. I think it not only represents the game of football in an accurate simulation, but it portrays the strength and weaknesses of each team accurately. Eric Moulds is a great receiver for my Bills, but Bledsoe still gets the crap kicked out of him because the O-Line sucks. Player ratings are also good (though I disagree with TO being a 100, I think that's mainly cause he is the poster child for 2K5. He should probably be around 96 max).

I will say this: this game kicked my ass on All-Pro difficulty before I made some minor changes. When I played this last nite before bed, I was throwing a fit...I think the exact words were: "Holy shit, I didn't know the fucking Cheifs enlisted Jesus Christ to play both cornerback AND wide receiver!!!" :p

I toned down the CPU coverage by a notch as well as the CPU catching. I turned up the human coverage and catching likewise. Ever since then, I really can't complain. It's been great today, I lost a close one to the Raiders 21-17 and beat the Browns 27-14.

Another thing is the scoring. Unlike Madden, it's not 78-10 against the computer. The scoring is very realistic. No more blowouts because the passing game is so flawed.

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Also, this game is a steal at $20. Every website has given this either 9.0 or better (out of 10) and 4.5 or better (out of 5) and it is an amazing game. It's $19.99 because Visual Concepts/Sega is being really cool...all of their sports games are fantastic, and better than EA's (with the exception of Baseball...I love EA's MVP Baseball 2004) and are trying to broaden their audience by making the games available to everyone, rather than charging what, is in my opinion, an exorbitant amount of money ($50-60 for a game?!?) for something you play for one year and then buy the new one.

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If you want a true football simulation, buy ESPN. If you want to play a football game, buy Madden.

I'd love to hear your thoughts, as well as advice on sliders and strategy.

-DJ
(Buffalo Bills 2004 Superbowl Champs...virtually :p )