by: John Olin

September 06, 2005

Madden NFL 2006, the latest rendition in EA’s football series debuts for the first time in quite awhile as the only officially licensed football simulator for the National Football League. The biggest change in the game play this year is the QB vision, which shows exactly where you are looking as the quaterback. Depending on how good of a QB you are the size of your cone is bigger. It makes the game easier to get the hang of, and will help you figure out who the better QBs are much quicker. In order to pass, you have to have the guy receiving the ball in the cone. You control it with the right analog and cycle through who receives with the R-trigger. There are a few imbalances with how it works, but for something completely new introduced, it works extremely well. A side effect to all of this however, is the A.I. is much harder as well, since you have QB vision to be more precise I found them to be much harder as well. Running defensive line can be frustrating and you will find yourself actually thinking about the plays rather than just playing the game. Overall though the game just seems much more realistic in the way you pass, defend, and run through with plays.

There is a sort of sim thing in the game as well with you taking your player through the beginning to the end of his career. This new mode, NFL Superstar Mode has tons of rooms to improve but it definitely will keep those pigskin loving fans coming back for more than just updated rosters. I mentioned this before in my NCAA Football 2006 review, but you can actually port your player from the game over if you like. After going through some oddball tutorials you then will get offers, and then you choose a team. Then you practice some, play some games, and eventually be in the full-fledged NFL. You also have your own house in which from there you can touch up your appearance, have a social life, or cut better deals with your agent. Eventually you will hopefully win the Super Bowl with your player.

Truck Stick is the other big improvement in the game and it basically lets you has the person with the ball charge through a defender by hitting the right analog. The trade-off with this is, the smaller runners normally move faster but can’t push guys out of the way as easily. The bigger guys while they can push them away will be a bit slower. The multiplayer is back of course, and through Xbox Live you can now actually try the EA Madden Football Challenge in which the winner wins $100,000. This contest is actually exclusive through Xbox Live so it gives Xbox users another reason to own the game if they think they have the skills.

Visually the game is looking sharp, with the animations for all the players being improved, reflections on the helmet a bit better, overall looks of players just better created. The ball itself actually looks a bit more detailed, but it is detailed in sort of an exaggerated way. John Madden and Al Michaels are back to do voices as well, love them or hate them they ramble along as you play. The overall sound in the game seems to be about the same, and the soundtrack is a bit better this year as well, although it is nothing memorable.

Madden NFL 2006 is definitely an improvement over past Madden titles, but it still might not be enough to warrant a purchase for people used to how Madden has been the past few years. It is extremely calculated with the plays having to be followed much more carefully rather than the “click, click, click, play” that we may have all gotten used to over these past few years.

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If you haven’t bought a Madden game for a year or two, maybe you should check this one out if you don’t plan on buying the Xbox 360, and the 360 version of the game. The visuals have a definite better quality to them; the sound, and the options are all there to entice you. The best addition, the QB Vision cones will is also a definite change that will at least warrant NFL fans this game a rent.

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