I live in New England, so my football cheering has always been done for the New England Patriots. This means that I´ve had a lot of experience with the agony of defeat, and a recent thrill of victory. The Madden NFL 2002 lets me relive all of that with amazing graphics and superb gameplay.

The XBox version of Madden 2002 is similar to the PS2 version, but they´ve kicked it up a notch. The graphics are even more stellar - now you get scratched helmets and dirty uniforms. The players are still as sharp on their feet, and the movements of your crew is super smooth. I´ve had people walk in the room and think a real game was on before they realized it was us playing.

Sure, you can complain about the inane chatter of Pat and John. Do you really listen to what they´re saying? That´s all background noise, like the cheers of the fan and the meaningless "I talked to the coach" reporting that starts each game. It adds to the feeling of the game, but it isn´t the game´s core.

It´s funny to see other reviews, because some people say the passing is super easy and the running is hard, while others say that the running game is easy and the passing game is hard. It all comes down to your own particular game style, the teams you choose and how you tend to use the players. Again, that´s where the game shines. You can super-customize it to be challenging for you, no matter how you like to play. You really do get drawn into it, feeling like you are out there on the field.

The true test is when you watch a real football game after playing this for weeks, and you start to think of the real game as a video game :) When you reach that level, you know you´re hooked!

Buy Madden NFL 2002 at Amazon.Com