What a company will do to get some cash.
That is the question one should ponder prior to purchasing Madden 2006. With the next generation consoles at our doorstep, how much effort is EA going to put into this game?
Well the jury is in, and the long awaited verdict is in.
Not a whole hell of a lot. Millions of fans shelled out 50 bucks to get a regurgitated 2005 game with some fancy extra’s that in many ways hinder your play.
Lets go to Game play first, that is essentially the most important part of this game. Madden 2005 had a lot of flaws in game play. In 2006 they fixed enough flaws to create yet even more flaws and glitches.
The offense was over hauled quite a bit if you consider the vision cone advancement and not a deterrent. The amount of finger movement in just one play is mind-boggling. I give credit where credit is due, it is a much more realistic way of passing the ball, but for the majority of people who can’t hit 8 different buttons continually in a pattern to get off a pass in 3 seconds, its tough. Sacks are way up, interceptions are up and the unrealistic stats are soaring. Blocking has improved and also has gotten worse. You can customize your blocking, yet you find yourself getting sacked every third pass because your tackles don’t know enough to jump outside to block the DE, so he lets him run in free and the offensive tackle just stands around. Any blitz usually ends up in a hurried pass, sack or an interception.
The running game introduced the truck stick. Novel idea but poorly programmed. I find it hard to believe that a 5’10 running back that weighs 180lbs could truck stick a 6’0 230lb strong safety. I have seen Rosco Parrish, maybe the smallest player in the NFL truck stick a Free safety. Somewhere down the line EA has got to test this game prior to releasing it.
The defense AI has improved and is as realistic as it is frustrating. They seem to learn your plays and then jump on them instantly. But the kicker is if you run a different play in the same formation, they still jump all your routes. Not to mention yet for the 4th year, the computer AI seems to know your plays 100% of the time. Line up with 4 WR’s and 1 RB and have a draw play, they have a run stuffing formation in. Odd how they would know that, yet it has happened in Madden since I could remember. Jet packing is still apparent; the 76 Speed linebacker will always catch your 95 speed WR and illegal contact down field? That isn’t in the Madden rulebook, your TE and WR’s over the middle will get held up, knocked off their route and they are pretty much useless to throw to.
Presentation is still complete ass. Its year 6 now that the presentation has been passed by. Even though it’s been on the top of many peoples list for a long time. Commentary has barely changed, the beginning of the game has cut down to 10 seconds, no halftime show, no post game show, absolutely nothing. Quite unbelievable that they would ‘mail it in’ on presentation for yet another year.
The Franchise, which is the main reason why a guy like me would get the game, has barely changed. They just took 2005 and stuck it into 2006. The only additions to this feature is a gameplan option during the year to prep for the upcoming opponent. They did tweak the draft so you can draft some players that are actually useful in some sort of way, but of course they seemed to over do it. Now you can get 80 rated players in the 4th round.
Superstar mode is a complete and utter joke. A complete waste of time. I played it for 5 minutes, and all I was doing is practicing. Practicing does nothing to your rating, so why you practice is beyond me. I was getting offered a movie deal every other month, Terrel Davis stalked me and some wacko Webmaster kept painting me. The amount of time EA wasted on this useless feature is probably sickening.
The graphics were not touched; in fact I think they might have taken a step back. There was hardly any new animations for tackling, catching, etc. To round this all out the many glitches with the QB throwing the ball, are still there. The perfect 30-yard spiral after getting lambasted, the “incomplete” pass that really is a fumble and the 3 second a play 2 minute drill.
What will company do just to get some cash. It appears not a whole hell of a lot. The fans of madden have been squashed under EA’s feet. Now that the NFL has signed an exclusive agreement with the NFL, we are stuck with whatever EA dreams up to be a “cool” feature instead of giving the fans what they truly want. A solid game with minimal glitches and no frivolous garbage like Superstar mode.