Customer Reviews

Madden NFL 2006

5 star:		(59)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(20)
2 star:		(19)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

I'm disappointed to say that I'm not surprised. As soon as EA signs an exclusive license deal with the NFL, they get lazy in their product. Sure, the new quarterback feature adds another level of realism, but it was poorly implemented and needs a lot of work to bring it to where it should be.

Pros:
- The new quarterbacking system (thankfully it can be turned off) is a pretty cool idea. Gone are the days when you can simply drop your quarterback 10+ yards behind the line of scrimmage and heave bombs to receivers you can't even see. Defenders will now read your line of sight, allowing you to 'look off' a defender, or throw easy interceptions because you telegraphed your pass by not looking to other receivers. I think this will be really cool when some of the bugs are worked out. It's just clunky and you have far too many controller operations to pull off in a short amount of time. Expect to be sacked 5 fold until you get comfortable with it.

- The Superstar mode. The ability to create a player, follow and shape his career. Hire and fire your agent , determine your player's genetic makeup, score a part in a movie.

- That's it...that's all that new in this freakin' game.

Cons:

This is where it get's fun...

- Absolutely no change in presentation. The game looks and plays (other than the quarterback mode, which thanfully can be disabled) exactly as 2005. The only changes seem to be updated rosters and player ratings. A huge disappointment considering they have exclusive rights to the ESPN presentation formerly held by NFL2K. The commentary even seems to be identical.

- Superstar mode kind of sucks. Decisions you make seem to have little or no impact to your players ratings. There just seems to be no logic in how different choices (and outcomes) affect your player. This mode, while cool in theory, really was not played out well.

- In the quarterback mode, if you throw a pass to a receiver not in your line of sight, you'll throw the most ridiculous 'dead duck' that you'll ever see. These guys are NFL quarterbacks...I've see children that can throw a tighter spiral.

- The online mode has a painful registration process. You basically have to pay $2 to keep ESPN from spamming your email. Infuriating.

Bottom Line:

Not only did EA get lazy as a result of the lack of competition in NFL video games (lack, how about none), but they bumped the price of the games back up to $50. Save yourself the money and rent first. I'll stick with 2005...

Wow, this game is really a major disappointment. I can't say I'm surprised, however. Basically, nothing has been updated. Graphics, presentation, tackle animations, etc-- all the same. The QB vision cone thing is stupid. It just allows you to be sacked more often and if you run a draw play or a delayed handoff it is painfully obvious to the defense. Plus, lets say you are watching a receiver run his route and then out of the corner of your eye you see you TE break open over the midle. Well, by the time you swing your vision cone over it will be too late to make the play. Also, the "truck stick" slows down the RB so much that even if he breaks the tackle, the entire defense will be on his back. Superstar mode is bizarre. Random, pointless things happen that are not at all influenced by your actions. Then, you receive emails and voicemails that have nothing to do with what you've been doing. What a waste. Of course EA would release a big crapola as soon as they get exclusive license.

When I found out last year that EA Games had bought exclusive license with the NFL, eliminating their competition from the NFL2K series from Sega, I was upset.

I mean, what a cheap shot! Rather than go all out and spend the money and energy to make the game better than the competition, they basically eliminated the competition by being the only choice for the gaming public. Thanks a lot, EA.

My opinion is that NFL2K5 was better than Madden 2005, at least for the PS2. Superior in graphics, game play and price (at only $19.99). Sega finally did good and seemed to correct a lot of what people disliked about previous versions of NFL2K. I'm sure they would have only improved with the 2006 version, but EA knew that they had to do something drastic before the 2006 rolled around. And they did.

Anyway, on to the game. I have to say I was relieved that EA didn't just sit on their butt and allow the series to swirl down the drain. The graphics are at least better than last years version.

The passing game is probably the most drastic change. Now, to add to the realism, your QB's passing accuracy is affected by his vision. Your QB has more or less a "headlight" which shows which direction you're looking. This may improve the accuracy of the pass, and add to the realism, but if you're playing head to head, it would seem that you're basically telling your opponent "here's where the ball is going". You can switch your vision to another player fairly easily, and the better your QB (compare Brett Favre to Charlie Batch) the better your vision. This is a nice touch and does add to the realism.

Another new feature is the create-a-player which goes so far as to actually have you choose the PARENTS of your player! It's a nice touch, and my brother said it's fun (I haven't tried it yet), what are they saying here? Good genes equal a good player? That might be true in some instances, but what is this teaching here, that if your dad isn't a neurologist and your mom isn't a chemical engineer (if in reality your dad works at the local movie theater and your mom is a waitress), you're not going to turn out to be a good athlete? Give me a break. Half of the NFL have sob stories about their upbringing, and spent most of their time in jail. So if Madden is going to add extra realism to their games, why not add a parole officer or the occasional drug test?

The background music continues to suck. I am so tired of rap and alt-rock music in the Madden games! You want big name artists to participate, fine, get AC/DC for "Back In Black" or some good old rock tunes that you might hear at an actual game. You're telling me you're going to hear crap like "Chamillionaire" or "Memphis Bleak" at a real game?? Maybe in the player's cars when they drive off, but not during the game! It couldn't possibly cost that much different to get decent music. One nice thing about the NFL2K series is they had their own original background music, no famous artists.

Tecmo Bowl for the NES and even SNES was a classic. Cheesy music, poor graphics, but FUN!! If Madden kept the god-awful music and extra junk hogging up memory like the previews to other games, tutorials...etc..., nobody would ever complain about there not being any competition.

If you want the most up-to-date version with current rosters, this is the game to get. It's either that or continue to play last years versions and make a bunch of trades or pretend it's last year! Thanks EA for the big menu out there!

Very poorly thought out game from the creators of the best football series. I've enjoyed all Madden games from 94 up to 05, but this one is horrible.

QB Vision: Good idea, but the lazy asses at EA didn't think it through to the level that it'd need to be for players to enjoy(Haven't yet turned the crap off, at the cost of 2 controllers). Not all QB's have the awareness of a Farve or Manning, so the cone for most is so small it's pitiful. As the person playing, you're already checking your recievers yourself, now you have to do it that way, and in the game now. You need to be quick with your fingers to do it right. Maybe they'll find a way to let you just hike the ball, then bring up the icons, and tap the button of the reciever once to put the cone on him, and a second to throw it in next years game.

Percision Passing: A pain in the ass once again to get used to. Nice idea, but once again not thought out at all. With defenders having super human jumping abilities it's useless on high throws. They'll still jump up and intercept it or swat it away. Going left or right it usually puts the ball out of reach of the reciever. Trying to throw a low one most likely means the ball will hit a few yards in front of the target.

Superstar: Tried it once, didn't exactly care about it. Might be good, might be bad, I dont know and dont really care to find out. Madden is all about the franchise mode.

Truck Stick: Good idea, and the best new addition to the game. Though, kinda hard to get your thumb off of the buttons to use it in time.

Expect to either run the ball 3/5's of the time or to throw many many interceptions, due to the super jump ability of LB's and DB's. They're the most constant thing in the passing game, other than the sack. Whatever you do after the ball is snapped, dont run out of the pocket, or go more than a few steps back. Once you do that, there's to high of a chance of risking a sack for 5+ yards lost at least.

If you run, it's pretty simple to me. But I have had to go from playing on All Pro the first few games then changing to Madden, down to playing on Pro just to have any chance of completing passes. Pick a nice misdirection or a blast and pick up over 5 yards almost each time. The AI can get smart to stop the run for a few straight plays though.

Kicking, the meter seems to have random speeds at times also. I'm not totally sure about this, but the arrow seems to be up higher than it has in the past games also.

Punt return blocking is a joke. You'll have 3 players run back to block, for an up the middle return, but all you'll get is three players run towards the returner and just stand there staring at you allowing the other team to get players right in your face. If you're lucky one might run into a "blocker" and get a block done, but that still leaves you with 2 or 3 surrounding you.

The soundtracks are still piss poor also. Get stuck with the god awful rap(Bump J, Chamillionaire, Memphis Bleak, Papoose, Rev Run, Sam Scarfo, Slim Thug, Spider Loc, Stat Quo and Tech N9ne) and mallcore(Avenged Sevenfold, Bullet for my Valentine, Disturbed and Godsmack) and whatever else the other crap is, emo I guess,(All American Rejects, Fall Out Boy, Finch, Funeral for A Friend, Hot Hot Heat and Nine Black Alps). Atleast the Foo Fighters song is kinda nice. The 40 Years of NFL Films Music is decent to turn on to listen to when in menus, but they also have a horribly ruined version mixed by someone who thinks the music rappers use is good. Need music that you'll actually hear in an arena, like AC/DC and Queen also. I doubt everyone who plays a sports game is into rap or the flavor of the moment pop/rock that is on every game nowadays.

Seems I was wrong on thinking EA getting an exclusive deal would be a good thing, because this game is terrible and we're left with no other alternatives to check into. Other than going back to 2005 Madden and earlier or the other games by different companies.

First of all, I've always been an avid Madden Fan from day 1. I eagerly waited for 06 and after I purchased it, I realized that it's almost identical to last year's game. Madden, in my opinion has always been superior for it's user-friendly gameplay and up-tempo style. Fortunately, the great gameplay is still in tact. ESPN/Sega 2K5 game seemed to suffer in comparrison to only gameplay ability. However ESPN's 2K5's stellar presentation and graphics where AMAZING! Sports Center highlite reels, in depth commentary. You'd think that after landing the exclusive rights to the NFL, EA would attempt to merge something reminiscent of the 2K5 presentation/graphics with the fun, up tempo, and addictive Madden gameplay. But of course the folks at EA didn't attempt to re-invent the wheel again like they did with Madden 04. This is primarily because there's no longer any competition. So all they basically did was migrate the same game over to an 06 platform, with updated rosters and some changes to the buttons. The only new added features include a pathetic/geeky/overly complex QB vision tool (thank god you can turn it off), which is supposed to help your QB pinpoint accurate passers to receivers, A Truck stick for running backs ( this helps only in short yardage situations...this feature really slows the runner down), and The Superstar mode, which seems pretty fun at first because you are living vicariously thru a fictional NFL rookie that can ultimately become a mega-star. It starts off well with the DNA pairing, IQ tests, and draft. The more you progress, it enables you to hire agents that can help market you to the general public. Unfortunately you have to start off with the worst of the worst agents, and that's only fair. The Superstar mode become tedious after a little while with all of the constant e-mails (many of them are repeats of the same message) Why is there a tatoo parlor and barber shop??? I thought this could have been left out...Especially since the player dosen't even have a spending budget. The Superstar practices are monotonous but critical to the player's overall development. Everyone will skip them, because nobody wants to sit thru a bunch of practices just to get to an actual game. These boring practices makes you want to sympathize with Allen Iverson "We Talkin About PRACTICE!!!". So ultimately the superstar mode starts off with a bang but becomes extremelly dull halfway thru the season.

I think it's important not to modify much of a sports game's overall feel and gameplay, that way it's at least conducive to the loyal long term fans of the game. Ultimately, what stinks for fans, is when the graphics and overall presentations aren't enhanced or upgraded. This will be a lot of fun especially when the season starts....but man, this could have been so much better. I'm being honest with my rating...but for those who gave this one lower ratings,,, I can understand why.

When I got Madden 06, I was expecting something new now that EA has destroyed the competition. But now they take Madden 2005 and patch it on to this game, add some new features and update the rosters and attributes. First, you know this is a patch of Madden 05 when you see the same bugs. When someone is traded or signed as a free agent, there career stats are erased, and most defensive players have no career stats. Also in the instant replays, there are wierd noises just like last years game.

The 2 new features is the QB Vision and superstar mode. First is QB vision. The few times I tried this feature, I was sacked. It takes too much button mashing and waiting when the blitz is coming to master. Good thing it can be turned off. The other new feature is Superstar Mode. You choose your parents using DNA, then you lead the life of a star player, from movies appearences to interviews about Madden 06. People are knocking it, but I think it is a fun new mode to a boring engine. Also, the commentators will put you to sleep.

As for rosters and ratings, they are pretty accurate. Ricky Williams isn't in the game, but you can just create him and make his stats from last years game. Mysteriously, Ty Law cant get on the Jets, and since I love the Jets, this represents a huge problem.

To sum it all up, Madden is Madden and the gameplay is great, but one more year and it will be played out. Also, we see a trend used by EA. Take the year befores game and patch it to the current game, update the rosters and attributes and add a new mode. They did it to NCAA 06, MVP 05 and will do it to NBA and the NHL game. Lets hope in next years lineup they will take a risk and mix up the gameplay and features a little bit, because everyone and their mothers are tired of paying $50 dollars for last years game.

UPDATE: After playing the X-Box version, I am selling or throwing this out. The loading times are slow as you know what and the game freezes alot. Also, why does every quarterback fumble like crazy? I was playing as the Falcons in an exhibition and Vick fumbled 5 times. If I can, I would change this to 3 stars from 4.

The thing you've probably heard of the most is QB Vision which really makes the game more realistic. In the NFL a QB can't be looking one way...pass in the opposite direction and expect to land a 50yd completion. It's not hard...you just press two buttons to throw to the guy you want to and you can lead the pass, throw it high, low, or behind the guy. Plus, you can turn it off if you don't enjoy using it(if you use the tutorial you'll get the hang of it).

Then there's Superstar Mode were you create a player based on your parents and go through an NFL career. You start with living in an apartment and can move up to a mansion. The first thing you have to do after making your player is to get interviewed about your personality, then you take an IQ test which is pretty stupid because your not gonna find rocket scientists playin the game(one of the questoins was in like Spanish and another was a word I've never heard of). After that you get drafted, usually the third round. During this whole process you pick an agent who's gonna suck but it'll be the best you can get. You go to practices, you can get tattoos, haircuts, pretty much control your life. You can even be in movies. After a while practices get boring but they boost your players stats and are worth it.

There are new offensive controls like Truck Stick which allows you to plow through defenders but slows you down and there's more depth in audibles. On defense they have switched the change players buttons but you'll find that out soon enough and there's defensve hot routes. There is a better soundtrack and the details have imroved a little, but tatoos get smeared sometimes on created players so it looks like they spilled junk on their arms. Rosters have change as well as players abilities but a lot of things are similar to '05. Overall, it's really fun and detailed with some upgrades but still more room for improvment. Don't worry about QB Vision and what other people say they just don't understand what it's like to be a QB like I do and they're lazy.

Last year, PS2 NFL football fans had it easy with ESPN NFL 2K5. At a great price, it was truly a great game. Well sports fans, get ready to sling out the big bucks for more Madden-talk. EA now has a monopoly on the NFL video game world and we have no choice but to pay their heavy price Madden 2006. It's more of what you've seen from the previous Madden entries with the addition of a superstar mode (which I have ignored) and a new QB vision system.

The new QB system is kind of interesting at first but is very annoying after a while. You have to change the QB's line of sight with the left analog stick and aim at who you want to throw it to (DBs love it). With some QBs, it can be quite difficult to manage. With others (like Peyton Manning), it's old school throw it to whoever the heck you want without changing a dang thing. You can turn it off though, so no permanent damage is done.

Other than that, it's all the same. Mr. Obvious, John Madden, and his Boy Wonder sidekick, Al Michaels, are back for more inept commentary. Sure the guys at ESPN 2K5 were incompetent, but they were hilariously incompetent. "It's like tearing a page out of War and Peace. . ." Those were the days.

Okay, let's face it. If you want a PS2 NFL game with updated rosters and ratings, you're getting this. But if you just want a great football game (you can change rosters and ratings) grab ESPN 2K5 before they're all gone.

Basically the game play and graphics are equivalent to 2005. The quarterback vision mode is terrible. Who has time to hit ten buttons when the blitz is on????? The rosters, playbook, and additional defensive/offensive controls are cool. I really expected a lot more. At least better graphics would have been nice. Overall, very disappointed...

Madden 2006 Review

I've purchase Madden ever single year for the last 7 years with out any disappointment. I had really high hopes for Madden 2006 when I was reading all the previews for the game. My expectations were exceeded when I actually purchase and played the newest title of Madden. The game has improved drastically over the last 15 years of its existence. This is arguably the best version ever made for the Playstation 2 game console. The graphics are better, the computer is more competitive, and more games modes other than your normal head to head match-ups between two people. The creators and editors of Madden really made the game more realistic than ever before.

In game modes you have Franchise mode (created about 3 years ago) it's more in depth and you can play multiple seasons and control you own franchise being the owner, you have regular season mode (created a while ago) where you can only play only one season. Then you have the newest game mode on the game called Superstar mode this is where you created a player and watch him go through his entire career from the NFL draft to his retirement. You hire an agent move into an apartment then as you worked your way up in the NFL you move into a loft, then into a mansion if you become a NFL icon.

There are new features to the game play such as, the new precision passing mode (which a lot of people says it make the game harder), you can also turn this feature off.
This feature shows the quarterback vision (awareness) on the field some quarterbacks have more range on the vision than others. This feature is really helpful when you try to create mismatch with your receivers. They added the truck stick which is almost like the hit stick (previous Madden feature), but with the hit stick is delivered from the defense and the truck stick is delivered from the offense.

The most impressive feature to me is the online play. When you compete against people from around the world you get this rush of how are they reacting to this whipping I'm giving them. You can play friends and make friends online competing to have the highest ranking. EA sports have really improve the online connection where you can't even tell that you're playing online against somebody have way across the nation.

The overall gameplay is better than ever which includes the graphics, some new tackles are pretty sweet and the new Superstar mode is the very best ever. It will be every tough for the Madden staff to keep making improvements to the game every year so I will be waited to see what's going to be new on next years title. Like all games there will be glitches but there isn't any visibly present in this year's Madden version on PS2. I give Madden 2006 a 9.5 rating out of 10.0 rating because it's the best game I ever played and it's always room for some improvement.