Okay, since I see the VG forum has gotten trimmed quite a bit, I am re-opening this thread mainly because a few people have asked be about this.

I haven't played a Madden game (except at my friends house, which I basically use as a barometer) in quite some time, since 2002. That's when I switched to ESPN/2K series.

We did have a huge review on here once, but it's gone now :p

So this is the basic review from me (I'm not concentrating on graphics and such, just know I have the PS2 version...I'll give a mini rating at the end for that stuff):

ESPN NFL 2K5

The Good:
-Accurate player ratings: Individual positional ratings are nice (i.e. a DE will have a speed of 80, which essentially equates to the fact that he is faster than 80% of the DE's in the game. But a WR with 80 speed is much faster, but positional...he is faster than 80% of the WR's in the game.)

-Franchise Mode Expansion/Nifty Progression Mode: This is pretty cool...at first, I didn't like it, because I didn't understand...but it allows you to set up your players training regimen, film studying, and injury rehab week-to-week. Find a good formula, and you can go on near auto-pilot, but you can't push your guys too far or they'll get hurt, or be worn down for the game. Definitely a cool feature.

-Accurate running game: The running game here is quite nice. No RB's that just blow everyone away (though Ladanian Tomlinson and Jamal Lewis come close) because their speed ratings are high. And yes, power RB's actually work, unlike some other games *cough*

-Customizable defensive scheme: Allows you to set blitzes, play the WR's tight, move the DE's and change their formation, adjust the safties, delayed blitz, spy the QB...there is a plethora of on-the-fly options you can alter for every player on the defense before the snap.

The Bad:
-Passing can still be a pain. The game does relatively well defending the pass but sometimes the DE's and WR's don't collide properly, and it can lead to two things: 1.) Players getting pushed off the mark (which would, but doesn't result in pass interference). This happens probably on 5-10% of passes. 2.) Players not tackling properly (and this goes for the run). The collision detection sometimes doesn't work properly, you can run into/tackle a guy and he just pushes you out of the way (not like a straight arm though) and you stand there. This happens maybe like 5% of the time.

-Blowaway runners/passers. This issue can be resolved by upping the player pursuit rating in the difficulty sliders. It just is a pain, because sometimes you can be playing the proper defense, yet your guys get totally bullrushed, which, while being somewhat accurate if a player can break a few tackles, in wholly unlikely if the guy can just run outside the entire defensive core in a 3-4 or 3-2 defensive package (as an example, having all the DB's on the outside, I realize that it's not a run defense :p ). Like I said before, this coincides sometimes with the stupid tackling inept problem I mentioned above. It doesn't happen often, and it realistic in some situations, but it's probably happening more often then not.

-Sporadic defense ass-kicking...okay, I am crushing the Jets 17-3, yet their defense, in the late 3rd quarter, finally figures out how to bring my offense to a standstill? I could understand if it was the start of the 2nd half, but sometimes the games comeback engine is unfair.

-Injuries, Fumbles, and INT's...happen WAY too often unless you change the sliders (which takes a whole two seconds). They are set so high because it is usually just a 5 minute quarter setting for most people, unless you're weird like me and want official time :p

General Review
(for Playstation 2 version)
-Graphics: 9.0/10 Solid and accurate models, reflections are nice, the weather is also cool, you can see cloud cover roll in and stuff, rather nifty. Also, it's sweet to play in a dome because of all the nice lighting/reflection/shadow elements.
-Gameplay: 9.0/10 As I explained above, it's a damn good football game, but not perfect. Madden isn't perfect either, so stop getting a hard-on, Pat. :p
-Sound: 9.8/10 Dolby Prologic II Digital 5.1 through ESPN gamesound? It's awesome!
-Overall: 9.3

I love my NCAA 2005. It's better than Madden 2005 & NFL 2K5.

i used to play madden and the older 2k games when they were on dreamcast then nfl fever came out and to me that blew away all the other football games until i played 2k5 and i think it blows madden away and as for ncaa 2005 i didnt care to much for it even thou i did find the mascot game mode kind of funny

I like Madden 2005 and NCAA 2005.

Madden 2005 is awesome. I still haven't found a glitch. In fucking 2k5, if you throw an incomplete pass of of your receiver's head, it's called a fumble.

ive never had that problem but then again you did say you played the ps2 version not the xbox version

If you throw at your receiver and hit him in the head, you deserve to get a fumble. :p

I've never had this happen, and I have the PS2 version. All of my fumbles have come from big hits, and have been especially fair when a QB is sacked and the whole throwing-motion-tuck thing.

The only time it's a fumble is if the QB passes backwards, Pat. Maybe that's what happens to you, I've done that once or twice on a screen play.