Madden NFL 06

"Wait for the Next-Gen games."

"Madden NFL 06 is as good as gaming gets." ~ www.si.com

No. No it is not. Super Mario World is as good as gaming gets, not a sports game that dropped many good features from the prior games in the series, and managed to mess up the one good aspect of Madden: The football. The punting is horrible, WORSE than before. The precision passing controls are jerky and make you predictable, and their new control scheme that can only be toggled off in about 33% of the modes is horrible. Pass blockers are horrible at picking up blitzers, and the QB running mechanics are poor, which means you'll be taking a lot of sacks. Not to mention the inclusion of all sorts broken younger than 25 and less than $2.00M/year 90 overall players, who really throw the whole fantasy draft out of whack. I was able to go 10-6 while losing My #1 WR for 9 weeks and #2 and #4 WR for all 16 games. And this was with $44M in cap room.

The NFL superstar mode needs some serious work, and fizzles out fast. After the rookie season, it's very bland, and most of the experiences of being a real NFL player are watered down by having your agent do it for you. The owner mode is good, but doesn't meet expectations. You can set prices, but the EA team needed to expand your team's fanbase. For example, The Patriots play their games in the small town of Foxboro, but they draw fans from larger cities such as Boston. The Cowboys play in Irving Texas, but they're the DALLAS Cowboys, not the Irving Cowboys. The situation needs to be fixed in 2007, perhaps with an fanbase area, not city.

The music is actually an improvement, although most of it is still garbage. But now you get the NFL films music, which is fitting to the game, and not a distraction. But Tony Bruno running his mouth until you reach the volume button is annoying.

Many interfaces, especially the trade and free agent interfaces, have been trashed and built up into pieces of crap. You can slash as much as 20% off a total contract by offering more of it in the signing bonus, a broken inclusion.

The graphics are hardly improved at all from 2003, and almost identical to 2004.

Overall, the game's deep flaws, such as a forced new control scheme and the fact that stuff you turn off comes back anyway, mean it's no more appealing than 2004 or 2005. They've also failed to implement a team chemistry affect, though players do get annoyed, which you can find out via a complex and poorly made e-mail system.

If you have Madden '03 or earlier, then you should buy this if the series still interest you. However, 2004 and 2005 owners just don't have enough reason to spend $50 on this attempt at Madden. Too bad they no longer have another choice.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 08/23/05, Updated 07/26/06