Can you call Front Office Football 2004 the "Anti-Madden? While it would be fair to say that FOF2004 has things that Madden can't (or won't, as well as vice-versa), it would be a shame to pigeonhole the game that way.

FOF2004 is the fifth entry in the award-winning series from creator Jim Gindin's Solecismic Software. Despite the series's limited visibility (the game's prior incarnations were available via mail order as well as digital download, FOF2004 is only available via digital download) to the general public, the series has built a devoted, loyal fanbase behind it that has supported the series to the point that Gindin was able to make creating and supporting his games his full-time job.

When it comes to depth and replayability, there is truly no game that can compete with FOF2004 strength: simulating the tasks of a general manager and owner. You can have the best coaching staff in the world, but great coaches can only take a mediocre team so far. And, vice versa, a very talented team can find itself hamstrung by bad coaches (take the Minnesota Vikings in real-life, for example).

The game accurately emulates the balancing act good GM's must perform to put the best team out on the field; if you overpay for the stud quarterback (and trust me, good QB's will ask for a LOT in negotiations), you might find that he doesn't have any good targets to throw to. (see the Seattle Seahawks). Even if you have the QB and the receivers, if you don't build a strong offensive line, you might find your QB's pass protection crumbling faster then a New Year's Resolution at a free buffet (not that I would know anything about that, mind you).

The name of the game in FOF2004 is FUNCTIONALITY, even at the cost of flash or in some cases, customization. This is both its blessing and its bane. The only league setup in FOF2004 is the current NFL alignment - 32 teams, with 2 conferences with 4 divisions with 4 teams (previous incarnations of the game included league expansion, but that was before the Houston Texans joined the league). So if you wanted to sim something OTHER then the NFL, like the old AFL setup (or your own barnstorming league), you're out of luck. But if simulating the NFL is your cup of tea, you'll love it.

One of the few criticisms leveled at FOF is its spreadsheet-style layout. Again, this is both a blessing and a curse. The game is loaded with numbers, from attribute ratings to statistics, and the numbers aren't there just for show: they always have meaning. Thus, the game is so deep that sometimes it can feel like all you are doing is "playing the numbers," leaving the game devoid of a human element.

This carries over to the actual game play itself. You can either let the coach that you hired call all the playes, or take that role for yourself, and call the plays (building them from a formation set, type of play and type of run or pass). The game offers a fairly bare-bones scoreboard and after selecting an offensive or defensive play, the game then gives a two line summary of the play's results, with key players noted.

The game does have seasonally and regionally accurate and appropriate weather, and it will definitely affect the game. Gusty winds? Pray that your kicker doesn't need to hit a long game-winning FG attempt. Rain and Snow? Handling the ball will be more difficult. By and large, the game gives accurate results; on default settings, you will seldom, if ever, see players throwing for 750 yards or people breaking the 300 yard rushing barrier. Defenses adapt to overuse of successful plays, and a player's stamina limits his ability to put up outlandish numbers.

The game doesn't have licenses from either the NFL, or its Players Association, but that's fairly minor. I mean, anybody with a modicum of NFL knowledge can figure out the New England Minutemen are the Patriots, and you can change the team names if you wish. The game does offer prospective Al Davis's the ability to build your own stadium (at the expense of your community, or with money from your own coffers as well), and you can even move your team to another city willing to shell out the big bucks to be called a NFL city. There are a couple of hundred American cities in the game, and the range is pretty impressive: if you move a team to California, for example, you can go to Los Angeles, obviously, but you can make your home in tiny Visalia, as well.

One of the most requested features over the years has been multi-player, and Mr. Gindin did add it to the latest version. However, there are some minor difficulties; you are still locked in to the standard setup, but batch files are required if you don't want all your single player leagues to share the same team names as the multiplayer leagues (probably important if you have teams with joke names, like the Santa Monica Sinners). Or, for that matter, should you happen to be a member of multiple leagues, you will either need to create your own batch files to manage the different sets of information, or rely on those created by league members. Very counter-intuitive. The ability to compete with multiple would-be GMs, on the other hand, more than makes up for the hassle.

FOF2004 still has room to grow as a series, but even with it's flaws, it is the best Football SIM available today. You aren't getting a game with flash and pizazz, but you will get a top-notch simulation of the sport of football.

[Editor's Note: Front Office Football 2004 is not available in stores. For more information on the game, to download a demo version, or to purchase either FOF2004 or Solecismic's college football product, please visit http://www.solecismic.com]