04 is a lot better. the game play is no where near the same. play maker controls in madden 04 adds more realism to the game. you can also control defensive players a lot better in 04. call me a geek if you want but i've played football before and this is as close to realism that you will get in a video game right now. i tried the espn football series and it looks a lot better than madden but the movement is still a bit stiff and at times unrealistic. what you give up in gameplay in ESPN you get right back in visuals
