The Madden series for more than a decade has been one of the biggest games every year, not only in sports but in all of gaming. Hardcore and casual gamers alike flock to stores every August 9th to spend their hard earned cash on what is arguably one of the greatest series in gaming history. While this year's incarnation is not the pick up and play title it once was, it is still stunningly addictive.

This new version brings us into a new era of Madden; the exclusivity era. EA sports has bought the NFL license, so there will be no competition in the sim football realm. Despite this monopoly EA has continued to bring new elements and to change the game to make it the best it can be.

Some of the controls in this year's game have been changed as well as some new controls being added. Ball carriers no longer control their nearest blocker with the right analog, but can now truck stick defenders by pressing up on the right analog. While this helps break free of most tackles it also increases your chance to fumble. Pressing down on the right analog now performs a back juke, or a quick stop for defenders who over pursue.

There are a few new animations this year but they are few and far between. Franchise play is essentially the same, other than a few presentation changes, and the new interviews and dialogue on the Tony Bruno Show. John Madden and Al Michaels supply the commentary as always, although it is virtually unchanged from last years. One great addition to this year's edition is the NFL Films tracks that have been added to the soundtrack.

Madden 06 brings some revolutionary elements to the table in both the Q.B. Vision and precision passing systems. In an attempt to bring more realism to the game a quarterback's vision is limited to a highlighted "passing cone." The cone size is determined by your particular passers skill level and awareness. While you can pass to a receiver that is outside the cone, the pass will be much less accurate and many times be an easy pick for the defense. Another aspect of the passing cone is that if you remain zoned in on one receiver or area on the field the defense will cheat to the highlighted area.

Precision passing allows you to place your pass on whatever side of your intended receiver that you would like. As you throw a pass, pressing one of the four directions on the left analog or D-pad will change the trajectory of the pass. These new passing features take time to get used to. Many people play 2-3 games in the new system and shrug the game off, disgusted that they threw four picks and lost, taking the impression that the game is now too hard or "sucks." It took me about 25-30 games to become fully comfortable in this passing system, but once you get it down you will most likely enjoy the realism this system brings to Madden.

A new game play addition this year is the superstar mode. Paralleled by the race for the heisman in the NCAA game this year, superstar mode allows you to create your own namesake and try to, you guessed it, become a superstar. You start by selecting your parents which determines your best choice of position. You then go on to take an IQ test, hire an agent, and enter the NFL draft. Once you are drafted you get your apartment and begin to build your star. You can practice, get movie deals, change your appearance, get endorsement deals, upgrade agents, and try to move up the ranks in the NFL. While this new game mode brings something not seen before to the game, I didn't find it that enjoyable. It looks much better on paper than it actually plays out; it feels almost like playing a franchise with a lot of busy work thrown in.

The online play is very, very addicting although I'm not 100% sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing. There are several play styles available online. You can lay ranked games against others to try to gain experience points and gain higher levels, and possibly reach the top 100 leader boards. You can also gain trophies for your stats from getting a certain number of yards in a game to play and winning with every NFL team. There are tournaments available at all times from a quick 4 man tourney to a big all day 32 man play off. Probably the most enjoyable feature is the ability to spawn games. This allows you to upload franchise games to your EA locker and play them against your friends. This also makes it possible to play entire franchises with real people for every team, which is great for a group of friends. Of course there are downsides to online play. As in all online enabled games you will inevitably run into players who like to ruin the fun of others or are just plain jerks. Various glitches can be utilized to win online, from knowing whether the offense will run or pass before the snap to nano-blitzes. You can, however, find groups of good people who play sim football without using cheesy tactics or glitches.

In this the first year of exclusivity for the Madden franchise many people are willing to simply write the game off saying that "EA sucks" now because there is no competition. While this monopoly isn't necessarily a good thing, this is simply not the case. The game has been advanced and is much more realistic than any of it's previous versions due to the new passing system. Madden is no longer as easy to pick up and play for the average gamer, which will drive away some of the more casual fans who pick the game up, but it isn't that hard to get the hang of. You just have to have a little patience and spend some time on it.

This year's title is essentially what it has always been. It is a great football sim, with immensely varying game modes, options, and addictive game play that keeps us coming back for more year after year.

Feb 5, 2006 | 1 comments
Kris VanHaaren