First Madden 2006 review!

[Hammock Parties]

http://ps2.ign.com/articles/639/639607p1.html

[Terribilis]

that was a little depressing-
I was hoping it would be better

[Hammock Parties]

Yeah, I'm probably not going to use money to acquire it this year.

[TRR]

They are gearing up for Madden 07 on PS2 and XBOX 360. I haven't been expecting too much out of this years game.

[KCChiefsMan]

I for one can't wait! I was disappointed last year but I'm still gonna buy it this year too. I haven't missed a Madden game since the original, why stop now?

[Jenson71]

"So if franchise is your predominate mode of play, like it is for many, this year it only gets better."

That's all I need to hear, thanks.

[kcjayhawks5]

this is really only the opinion of one man. I have read another review, i think it was gamestop but im not sure, and they gave it a 5/5. the game should be better than last years though.

[DJay23]

I got those curly numbers mixed up and thought the release date was today. I was all amped to go to the store and pick it up only for you bastards to tear me down.

Though I suppose I was spared some embarrassment.

[DJay23]

and i should add that this will be the first Madden I've purchased since the 99 version.

[ZootedGranny]

I got it last night, and while it doesn't feel like the full leap forward that EA promised, it is definitely more fun than 05.

*throws NCAA 06 in the trash*

[Hammock Parties]

Originally Posted by ZootedGranny

I got it last night, and while it doesn't feel like the full leap forward that EA promised, it is definitely more fun than 05.

*throws NCAA 06 in the trash*

Wow, really? Everything I've read makes it sound like Madden 2005 with some franchise fluff and QB vision thrown in.

[Pitt Gorilla]

Originally Posted by ZootedGranny

I got it last night, and while it doesn't feel like the full leap forward that EA promised, it is definitely more fun than 05.

*throws NCAA 06 in the trash*

What's wrong with NCAA 06? I was considering getting that for the Xbox.

[ZootedGranny]

It's really like 2005.75

The graphics are exactly the same, as are 90% of the animations. But the run game is much improved, and the vision cone really adds a lot to the game. You can look safeties off and go over the top on a CB now.

Especially with the Chiefs O-line, the vision cone really makes deceptive plays work better. I can presnap decide to look left, drop back for a screen, and at the last second look over to Priest and dump it off, and he'll have 3 or 4 blockers against a defense that slid all the way to the other side of the field.

The new Superstar mode, which I railed against prior to the game coming out, is somehow worse than I expected it to be.

If I had known then what I know now, I'd still buy the game. But I must say, it does feel like part of the Madden team did some quick work on this and moved onto the Xbox 360 version...the version I'm most excited about.

[Hammock Parties]

How's the blocking? What about the return game?

[ZootedGranny]

Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla

What's wrong with NCAA 06? I was considering getting that for the Xbox.

I love the NCAA series, and up until the 05 version, I played it much more so than Madden. NCAA 2006 tried its best to go back to its glory year of 2004, and they did partly. The problem is that they introduced too many things that **** up the game, at least for me.

#1 Impact players. You can handle an impact CB, LB, WR, etc. But god forbid you either control, or play against an impact RB. At the drop of a hat they can become nearly unstoppable. Part of the reason is that the run blocking is improved, but you also become such a savage, its hard not to run for 250 a game. Just for an example, I decided to do nothing but run with Leon Washington from FSU to see how many yards I could get. On All American, with the sliders heavily favoring the CPU, and an A+ difficulty schedule, I still ran for 3600+ yards.

#2 The neutering of the defensive secondary. This is really the thing that frustrates me the most. For no reason whatsoever, it has become three times as hard to simply put a hand on a pass now. It used to be if you put yourself in the right position, you could break up the pass, if not intercept it. Not the case this year. At least 3 times a game, the WR will rip the ball out of your hands. 6 times you'll go to jump, and the cpu will decide that you want to go into a completely different animation, taking you out of the play. Honestly, the best case of action against some teams is to outright pass interfere them and hope it doesn't get called. It's worse than Madden 04 in that sense.

#3 The game is almost too fast. If you're in space trying to make a tackle, you better just let the play come to you. It used to be if you held turbo and hit a player, an animation would start the tackle. Now, you can hit a guy full force, and fall completely off. You're basically reduced to diving each play, and even that is a risky proposition. I've flown right into a guy several times, just for him to continue on like nothing's happened.

There are also a lot of other things, such as the entire NCAA QB roster completing over 60% of their passes, and guys like Leinart throwing over an 80% completion rate. Then there are the blatantly missed calls. I've stepped completely out of bounds at the 30 and ran it into the endzone, or been tackled, laying on the ground and the ball comes out and its ruled a fumble.

It's infuriating at some points, how the game seems to take control away from you.