NFL GameDay 2004 Critic Reviews

The seamless integration of online with the offline is a big selling point for GameDay.

Things like the interface design and other small rough spots throughout the game will turn off those gamers spoiled by the near perfection that is "Madden NFL 2004" and "ESPN NFL Football". Yet I defy any PS2 sports fan not to fall in love with the game’s online features.

A legitimately solid football experience. Deep enough for experts and accessible enough for the newbies, it's a respectable trip to the gridiron that sincerely took us by surprise.

Player-movement controls sport a nice pressure-sensitive touch that presents veterans with a good challenge toward perfecting their skills. But the gameplay stills feels a tad slow.

It may not be hanging out in the rarified air that Madden and Sega's ESPN game breathe, but it finally deserves to be on the same playing field as them.

I'll say it without embarrassment - Gameday is back. It still lags a bit behind the big two, but it wouldn’t be too surprising to see next year's model truly compete.

Still seems a few years behind the time with graphics and sharpening of game mechanics.

Much improved graphics. The player models and stadiums received a much-needed facelift with a much higher level of detail and color.

989 has certainly improved its game in the off-season with a very strong online presence. Unfortunately the actual gameplay will still keep GameDay as a backup for at least one more season.

Last year, I gave Gameday a 67. I feel this year's game is better on many fronts, but there are still glaring issues with the gameplay and GM mode. Once those flaws get ironed out, the potential to become a third fiddle in the football gaming symphony is good.

There are just too many other football games out there that are more deserving. With that being said, I’m happy to see that this game has started making improvements.

This year's GameDay show some huge improvements over the past two games, but it still has enough rough edges to keep it from earning "pro" status.

Graphics and online are where the attention's focused, but I think they should have continued down the road to refinement.

The single-player game play, however, hasn't changed much over the past couple of years. It suffers from a skimpy playbook and dim-witted AI-controlled opponents who do odd things like leave receivers wide open for a throw with no defensive backs in sight.

Exhibits bouts of outrageously bad AI and displays little quirks that make it seem as though the game is simulating incompetent high school football players as opposed to seasoned professionals.

Unlike "Madden 2004" and "ESPN NFL 2K4" though, one doesn’t get the feeling when playing GameDay 2004 that the developers pushed themselves (or their game) to the PS2's theoretical limit. Cool online football experience though!

It really doesn't matter how much NFL GameDay 2004 does well, because the running game is just so bad that it practically ruins any type of game you play - online, offline, multiplayer, against the CPU, against a skilled player, or against a novice.

It needs another year or two (and perhaps a new PlayStation) to truly challenge the competition.

The coolest new addition to GameDay is the voice-recognition features. Those of you who bought SOCOM: US Navy Seals, and have the VR headset will be able to call your plays, send men in motion, and even hike the ball.

NFL Gameday 2004 has visited the dermatologist and cleared up a couple blemishes, but the overall countenance isn’t that attractive.