Madden NFL 06

"It ain't perfect but it sure isn't crappy."

Introduction:
The Madden NFL series has always been a highly successful one and is very battle tested as it has been around for quite some time. It has spanned numerous consoles from the early days on the Genesis and the recent years on the PS2, XBOX, and Gamecube. Now EA Sports has taken its game to the next generation on the XBOX 360 and while it is stripped down pretty bare, it does provide some promising things for the future.

Graphics: 9/10
Since this is a next generation title it is obvious that the game would look beautiful. The graphics are very nice looking and the player models are also very realistic looking. The player's faces are very detailed and you can see the emotion on their faces during the close-ups. The stadiums are also highly detailed and you can actually see some real fans moving around in the crowd, which is refreshing considering how the crowd used to look like on previous generations. These are easily the best graphics any football game has seen, but that should just be a given.

Sound: 8/10
You can rest easy there is no more John Madden in the game as a commentator. Your ears will no longer bleed due to his dull, repetitive, and mostly common knowledge type commentary. Now it's just a radio announcer that is biased toward the home team, which easily beats any kind of commentary. Hell, I think a wild mongoose could have provided better commentary for the game than what Michaels and Madden put out. Anyway, regarding the new announcing, it is refreshing to hear something new, but there isn't as much emotion put into the announcer's voice as you would think. The on field sound, however, is very good. You can hear the players talking to one another all the time and they actually got some of the real player's voices in the game. They've also got an actual NFL referee in the game to lend his voice talents, which gives the game a more NFL feel. The soundtrack is pretty much the same as the current generation is, so if you liked that one then you'll surely like this one. But if you don't, then you can just listen to your own music that you have on your 360, so it's all good either way.

Presentation: 9/10
This is by far the best presentation that has ever been in a Madden game. Everything has a more realistic feel to it and makes you think that you're actually watching a real NFL game. I really loved the new play calling screen. Instead of just giving you all the formations and then the option to ask Madden for a play, you have a number of different options. Ask Madden is still there, but he gives you a choice of five plays now. There is also an ask the coach, which is basically the same as ask Madden. The other options include plays according to key players, plays according to the type of play (like shotgun pass, screen play, etc.), last five plays, and also the customary plays listed under formations. The same thing applies to defense, although there is nothing according to key players on that side of the ball. Differentiating your play calling is really easy now and finding that right play for the right player is a breeze.

There are other things besides that play calling menus that give this game a more realistic feel. There is a new default camera angle pre-snap which is lower to the field. It makes you think that you're actually down there on the field with the players. If that doesn't suit you, though, you can just take a peak at your play or how your formation is looking and it gives you a zoomed out look where you can see it all. It also zooms out after the snap anyway. There are also close-ups of the players pre-snap as well which adds to the realism. If you don't like to see the animations of them walking to the line, though, you can just hit A and skip through it all right to the play. Endzone celebrations and replays are still included in the game and are actually more accessible. They cut on right as you're on the play calling screen in the top right corner and plays flawlessly with no slowdown to the game. They also have periodic stat updates after plays at the bottom of the screen, which is a lot better than having to stop the game and search for an idea of what your stats are looking like. All of the in game and out of game menus are easy to navigate.

Gameplay: 5/10
The meat of any sports game is all included in the gameplay. It can make or break any game really. Customarily the Madden series has been praised for its wonderful gameplay but their first edition on the 360 falters somewhat. Most notably, there are no other game modes included besides franchise mode and play now. There's no owner mode, no training camps, no superstar mode, no create a player or team, none of that. Franchise mode is also slightly toned down, but it still delivers. The actual on field gameplay feels a bit slower than usual and has a lot different feel than current generation versions. It will take a bit to get used to. The vision cone and precision passing are in the game, though, and they seem to work better and easier in this version than on current gen. Truck stick and hit stick are in as well, but the hit stick can be non-responsive at times and will probably take a little time to master. It still isn't as bad as some people have made it out to be, it's just different. I think it's more of the stripped down features that get to people more than anything, so if you want a football game with a vast variety of options then you'll end up disappointed.

Controls: 9/10
The control scheme felt really good to me, but again, that might be attributed to the good design of the 360 controller. It might cause problems with some people, though, since it's different than the norm. Sprinting is now done with the right trigger button, which I think is much better. It's easier to just pull back on a trigger button than try and force down a face button for any period of time which could put strain on your fingers. Juking and spinning has been made a lot easier as well. All you have to do to juke someone is press A and then the direction you want to go. It might seem like a tedious thing to do, but you don't have to make any unneeded or unnatural movements with your fingers to pull it off. You can continue holding onto the sprint button and then quickly press juke and move whatever direction you need to. The same thing goes for spinning except you press B instead. It gives you a lot more control as you can now decide for yourself which direction you're going to spin. The controls really felt crisp and shouldn't be much of a problem.

Overall: 7/10
If you're a really big football junkie and haven't been able to get your fix of football with any current generation of Madden then you should definitely pick this game up. If you're still happy with your current generation of Madden then you probably should just wait until the next Madden where more features will be included and things will be more polished. It really just comes down to what you want out of a football game. If you don't care for any of those extra features then this Madden will be for you. However, if you like having all kinds of different modes and such, you'd be better off passing on this one.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 02/28/06