What does a company do when they are the last to bring out an NFL game in a country where it is not the national sport and where most people think football is the one you kick and not an oval ball you run with ? The answer is to pack a game with so many features, mini-games and online play that many gamers will go out and buy their game even if they own one of the other two. Sega have done just that. It must be hard to compete against a game that has been around since the dawn of time and has improved with each year but that is what Sega has had to do…..beat Madden !!

How has Sega tried to make, even die hard Madden gamers take notice and go out and buy this game ? For starters there is the partnership with ESPN. Of course to most Brits, ESPN means absolutely nothing and considering the only American Football we got to see on television used to be on Channel 4, this partnership means squat. So how can this game appeal to anyone outside the USA ? Well, the game has to look stylish, play well and feel like that you are in control. Sega have sure tried to improve all these features since last year and have listened to all the valid complaints about 2K3.

Onto the game….First thing you notice when loading up, that it starts like a tv program, but not just any tv program but ESPN. The intro is fantastic and much better than NFL Fever and Madden put together, but of course this doesn’t sell a game, there has to be more. Oh my, there is so much more. You have your usual options that you find on any sport titles – Quick Game, Season, Training, Options etc etc but it’s what’s behind these options that is unbelievable. The menu is easy to follow and move around because no-one likes to get lost when all they want to do is play a game. There are five levels of difficulty you can set the game, from rookie to legend, as well as custom make your own type of level, which is something I have not seen in any of the other NFL games this year.

Of course there is the basic training camp to refresh your mind as to what button does what and how to do it. Very important that you take basic training as this will also show you some new features available to you when you play. The most noticeable feature is ‘The Charge’. Instead of tapping away at the run button to see your man fly down the wing with the ball, you can hold the button down and watch an icon below the player charge up. Once it is full, you can pull off a variety of special moves which have more of a chance of succeeding than they would have, if done normally but also you can seamlessly chain special moves together. Very helpful when running down the field, you hit the spin button and when you come out of that spin you stiff arm the defender. Other gameplay features include the all new Play-Calling system. This new system allows you to instead of call an audible (which most of us have no idea what that is or even know if we have called the right one), cycle through a list of plays on the screen, making it quick and easy to change your play to the one you want.

Apart from the Quick game and the regular season there is an option to play ‘First Person Game’. Have you ever wondered what it was like to view the action from a players view instead of the usual camera angles given to you, well now you can. It takes some getting used to and is very hard to control but I guess that this is how it must feel whilst on the pitch. You can play this view in the Season mode as well. Speaking of seasons, you get the chance to play a Regular Season or a Franchise Season. 2K4 features a multiplayer and multi-team franchise. At the beginning of your franchise, the owner will give you a series of goals, whether that will be to win the Superbowl or just to win six games in a row. Of course if you succeed, the owner will present you with more challenges but if you fail, well…there’s the door, use it !! Along the way, scouts will tell you about upcoming opponents whilst trainers will let you know about any player injuries and not forgetting your assistant coach advising you if you need to make any kind of gameplay adjustments.

There is so much to this game that I’ve hardly scratched the surface. You can create teams using a random draft selection feature or you could even hold your own fantasy draft and pick a quarterback, receivers, running back etc etc and when you are finished let the computer fill in the rest of the positions. The game also features an extended list of all-time great teams. A reward system is also in place where you can unlock many items for ‘Your Crib’. Your Crib is where you can check out all the trophies, posters, bobbleheads, helmets etc etc that you have unlocked whilst playing the game. Not only do you unlock items by performing some amazing plays but by also playing for a certain number of hours. There must be about 100 items / features to unlock. If that wasn’t enough, the game is LIVE !! The usual features are available to you to play in LIVE but all those details are for another review.

Graphics:
Top notch graphics with superb player faces and fancy animations. Fantastic high-res cut scenes through out the game, showing everything from cheerleaders to the ESPN NFL Primetime wrap-ups.

Sound:
All the regular atmospheric sounds to increase the game play with out of this world commentary from the ESPN sports centre team.

Longevity:
How long have you got ? This game will keep you busy till next season !!

Round Up:

It comes down to preference, if you are a Madden Fanatic or an NFL Fever Junkie you might want to give this game a chance, you might be impressed. The game is LIVE so it is one up on Madden but on par with Fever, but this game has more options than the two of them put together. It’s up to you to decide !!

Pros:

• LIVE
  
• Graphics are superb
  
• ESPN Commentary with fantastic playbacks and replays.
  

  Cons:
  

  • You sometimes think you are not in control of your player.