Madden NFL 06

Who would have known that in one short year that one single event would change the future of all football videogames? The event I am referring to is EA Sports obtaining the exclusive license to create professional football games. This means that if you want to get your football craving fed, you will only have one place to get it and that is EA. This puts a lot of pressure on Tiburon to create the best game that they can, continually updating with new features to make people come back for more. People have argued that this single action will severely limit the innovation in football games since they will have zero competition now. Does Madden NFL 06 prove that theory, or were people scared over nothing? Read on to find out more.

If you have ever played any Madden game on the current generation of consoles then you will know exactly what to expect with the gameplay modes as they are all there and remain for the most part unchanged. There is the highly addictive Franchise mode along with the owner mode that will keep you coming back for months on end. There are practice modes, mini games, and the highly addicting mini-camp. If you want to play a tournament-style game, then you can as well. If you want to get your game on against other humans then you will be able to do that and see if you live up to all the bragging hype you created for yourself.

Now that we have that covered I bet you will want to know what is new this year, and let me tell you that one of these new features really changes how you will play the game and makes it a lot more difficult. Two years ago Madden tightened up the offense with the playmaker stick and last year it did the same thing for the defense. One area of the game that has not been touched is the QB passing, because in my humble opinion it was good as it was. Well, this year the developers at Tiburon changed that with QB vision and precision passing, which really changes the entire passing game and makes it more realistic.

What this means is that each quarterback, depending on his skill, have a wider or lower cone of vision. If you want to make sure you hit your receiver you will want to make sure that you are looking at him. The bad thing about this is that the defenders will read you while you are doing this so it is more likely that they will double cover your man. It really makes the game a lot more challenging and will increase your sacks. To throw a precision pass, which makes it harder for defenders to get to, your cone has to line up with the player by hitting the left analog stick.

Next up is the NFL Superstar mode. Have you ever wondered what it might be like for those big-name players? Having to sign all of those endorsements, putting up with your agents, and various other things on and off the field? Well, Madden NFL 06 gives you the chance to find out with this newest mode. You will have to keep track of everything from your games, practices, and face time with the media. This mode is really interesting as you will spend a lot of time trying to make sure that you are the best at everything. Just like in real life, dealing with the media can be a pain, because you want to be good so you will get better and bigger endorsements and gain fans. This mode is really fun because it really helps give players something new to do if the are feeling any burnout from the franchise mode.

The graphics for Madden NFL 06 haven’t changed much from last year’s version, but this is not a bad thing in any sense. The game still looks really good from the stadiums to the actual player models. The attention to detail is really good, and you can not help but wonder how the game will look in the next couple of months when the Xbox 360 version is released. The player animations are just as good as they were in previous years. All in all, it is not a bad job.

The soundtrack for this game is decent, but if you do not like it this game supports Custom Soundtracks so you will be able to listen to whatever you want, which is a really nice thing. I really liked the use of the in-game Dolby Digital because it always makes the game feel that much more realistic sounding and feels like you are in the middle of a game. The commentary for this game is the same as it has been for a long time now, which really isn’t a big surprise.

Madden NFL 06 is rated E for Everyone. It supports in-game Dolby Digital and Custom Soundtracks. If you want to play online you will have to have an Xbox Live account.

Gameplay: 8.8
The gameplay is just as tight as previous years of Madden gaming. The only thing is that it will take a lot of time to get used to the QB vision and precision passing, and you might fumble with the controls more than you are used to. While it is nice that this game is now more realistic, this sort of brings down the gameplay slightly making it not as fun, or just a lot harder than in the past.

Graphics: 9.0
Madden NFL 06 looks just as it did last year, which is not a bad thing. It is just disappointing that everything looks pretty much the same. I suppose that the developers at Tiburon are saving up the huge graphic changes for the Xbox 360 version that comes out later this year.

Sound: 9.1
If you have played any of the previous versions of Madden then you know what to expect here, especially in the commentary portion of the game as it remains pretty much unchanged. I liked how the game supports THX surround-sound, because it really makes playing the game more realistic and immerses the player more into the game.

Difficulty: Medium
The game will be hard to any beginner, but with time players will be able to adapt to how the computer AI plays. It is also a tough learning curve to get adjusted to the new QB vision and precision passing and will take a while to get adjusted.

Concept: 8.8
I really liked how the talented developers at Tiburon made the passing game much more realistic with the QB vision and precision passing, but I don’t think that with it in there it made the game better. As a matter of fact I think that the passing game is now a little worse with it in there. It makes the passing a lot harder and receiving harder as well. I liked the new NFL Superstar mode as it was fun getting all of the various endorsements. This mode really helps add some fresh life into the game.

Multiplayer: 9.1
I am so grateful that Microsoft and EA have put aside their difference and allowed us to play this game online. This is a great game to play online against your buddies to get your football fix.

Overall: 9.0
If you like to play licensed NFL football games, then Madden NFL 06 is your only choice this year. It is a good game that has some new features that will keep you coming back for more months on end.