I was disappointed with Madden last year, but not enough to elevate ESPN to it's now god-like status. I thought both games were extremely flawed.
Madden, in my opinion, still had the better playbook package, and a better franchise mode, which it has been improving for years. But their gameplay was older, the AI was archaic. Add my own pet peeve, the DL and, more, the HORRIBLE OL (run backwards or forward, hope the line hits something).
ESPN, on the other hand, had some nice tweaks to gameplay, a nice practice mode in franchise, among some other nice things. I will say, one reason I could never play it was the controls - I have been playing Madden too long to get used to the changes demanded by ESPN.
As far as graphics, I thought both games were mediocre. ESPN's only improvement was their shadowing - it was more realistic than Madden's. But I don't think the graphics were 'vastly' better, and for me, graphics in a football game don't matter that much anyway. The running and movements seemed very odd to me in ESPN - not at all natural. Madden, on the other hand, after touting many graphical updates, didn't deliver. It looked quite the same - no realistic shadowing, box looks, etc.
I will probably buy Madden again this year, but it will probably be the last time. Unless the lines have been drastically improved, I will be fed up. Further, I find I am just the same video game player I once was.
