The only real exception to the rule explained above is regarding game options. Like all EA Sports titles these days, Madden NFL 2001 is packed with many ways to play. You can hit the field with a quick Exhibiton game, go all out in the Season or Franchise modes, take on friends online via the EA Football Net matching service, or head to the practice field to work on textbook plays or create new ones. If all that weren't enough, there is also a Great Games feature. Here you must work your way through a whopping 35 legendary NFL contests. Sounds great, but there's a catch—every game must be won in order to unlock the next. And seeing as even the first game is a toughie (you start off down 27–7 in the 1957 title game and have to lead the Detroit Lions to a second-half comeback over the San Francisco 49ers), a lot of gamers will never see the second. Great way to ruin what could have been a highlight of the package, EA.

From here, it gets goofy. First stop for the split personality train is the first thing you'll notice upon booting up the game: the interface. It's far better than last year's debacle, which seemed to require the simultaneous use of a mouse, keyboard, gamepad, and various Kabbalistic incantations to access basic functions. Now, while the essentials are right at hand, ensuring that you'll be able to change the video resolution without dislocating a finger, more specialized screens are buried. Checking league statistics requires a number of extra clicks and the use of a pulldown menu. Some aren't there at all. Don't look too hard for league box scores, for example, as they weren't included. I got the hang of it over time, but the system remains too awkward to really appreciate. Navigating through the game remains a necessary evil, even after dozens of games and three simulated seasons.

Second stop is gameplay itself. After reading a few early newsgroup anecdotes from fellow reviewers about the pass-happy computer, I wasn't expecting much when I first loaded up the game with an exhibition match-up between my Cowboys and the New York Giants. So I was understandably delighted when the 10-minute quarters, Pro difficulty setting contest I then played was one of the most immersive I've ever experienced in a football game. The lead changed hands a number of times, with the Giants finally emerging as 16-14 victors when I came up short on a 47-yard field goal attempt with the clock expiring. More exciting than that was the apparent ability of the computer coach. The AI gave me just about all I could handle, showing a nice mix of the run and pass. It ran the ball when it should have, and passed in appropriate situations as well. The only exceptions were a few surprises to be expected over the course of a full game, like running a draw on 3rd and 5, for example. Color me impressed.