Let me start by saying that this game is much better then last years
dismal Madden 05. For starters, the soundtrack in this game is one of
the greatest that I have seen. As for every other sound in the game,
its about the same as last season. Same old announcers saying the same
old things. And the same old grunts from the players on the field.
The graphics haven't really improved much and are actually starting to
seem a little dated (at least on the PS2) but then again I've been
looking at alot of next gen screens so there is not much out right now
that impresses me much. Anyways, there are a few new animations on the
field and EA seems to have ditched the camera angles that they used
last year in-between plays for some high angle views.
The gameplay has improved over last year, but then again I thought the
gameplay in 05 sucked. The controls are as tight as they could be and
some additions that were added to the R stick are actually useful. Like
being able to push up on the R stick when your the RB and plowing over
a defender. Or as the QB you can press the Square button and then flick
the R stick left, right, up, down to select and audible within the
current package. Its really useful when you see the defense is going to
blitz and you just switch over to a passing play without having to move
any of your players.
And now for the vision cone. I know that most of you people seem to
already hate the vision cone. But, I'm here to tell you. Its not bad at
all. I personally like having to be looking at a reciever to make an
accurate pass. Although there were some occasions when I had an open
back off to the side of me and I just zipped a pass to him and he
caught. It has really made my passing skills better. Since in the past
I've had trouble with looking at my different recievers without
realizing that they are triple teamed.
Some of you have said that the precission passing has been around for
years. And you are right, this is one thing that I think EA has wasted
good PR on. Besides that there are a few other good tweaks, like being
able to shift the offensive line by pressing L1 and then moving the L
stick or directional pad left, right, up, or down. This helps to defend
againest the blitzing defense. Also the hit stick on defense is back
and just as good as ever. And if I may say so a hell lot more
responsive then that crap that was in NCAA 06.
The franchise mode is pretty much the same as last years. So, if you
knew what you were doing in 05 you'll know what your doing in 06. As
for the Superstar Mode...eh...its ok. But, I did get pretty bored with
it pretty fast. On another note I do believe that the Superstar Mode is
a good start. I believe with alot of work this could become a mode that
will captivate me for more than two hours.
Overall I believe Madden 2006 is a good football game. It may not be as
good as it could have been, but, to be honest with the Xbox 360 and PS3
coming I believe that Madden on the PS2 and Xbox will suffer like it
did on the PSone. I just hope that three years from now, I'm not still
playing Madden 06 on my PS3 to get my football fix.
