Madden 2005 - Anyone remember that game??

So, 2005 not my most favorite year.  It began with me stuck living in a tent in Afghanistan while deployed there with the Army.  It sucked, but what I did enjoy was in the evenings myself and 6 other guys would get together and play Madden.  We played a franchise with each of us managing a team - I drafted rookie Ben Rothlesberger which proved to be very useful.  Each time one of us played the others team we'd usually have an audience of onlookers.  We would smack talk each other and get into the game and generally forget we were in a tent in the butt crack of the world.

Maybe this is a big part of why I remember Madden 2005 so fondly, but I truly believe the game hasn't been better since then.

You could design your own plays and playbooks, you had an overhead camera angle that made playing defense a ton easier, and the game flaws aren't much different than they are today.  You know what made EA great in 2005?  2K Sports, that's what.  Without the competition EA has turned into a disgusting fat cash cow that has no consideration for the fans.  They just rake in money and enjoy their monopoly.

Firing up Madden 23 really shouldn't make me miss that tent in Afghanistan, but it does.