Madden NFL 06 – PC – Review

Who would have known that in one
short year that one single event would change the future of all football video
games? The event I am referring to is EA Sports obtaining the exclusive license
to create NFL-licensed games. This means that if you want to get your football
craving fed, you will only have one place to get it and that is EA. This puts a
lot of pressure on Tiburon to create the best game that they can, continually
updating with new features to make people come back for more. People have argued
that this single action will severely limit the innovation in football games
since they will have zero competition now. Does Madden NFL 06 prove that theory,
or were people scared over nothing? Read on to find out more.

If you have ever played any Madden
game then you will know exactly what to expect with the gameplay modes as they
are all there and remain, for the most part, unchanged. There is the highly
addictive Franchise mode along with the owner mode that will keep you coming
back for months on end. There are practice modes, mini games, and the highly
addicting mini-camp. If you want to play a tournament-style game, then you can
as well. If you want to get your game on against other humans then you will be
able to do that and see if you live up to all the bragging hype you created for
yourself.

Now that we have that covered I bet
you will want to know what is new this year, and let me tell you that one of
these new features really changes how you will play the game and makes it a lot
more difficult. Two years ago Madden tightened up the offense with the offensive
playmaker and last year it did the same thing for the defense. One area of the
game that had not been touched is the QB passing, because in my humble opinion
it was good as it was. Well, this year the developers at Tiburon changed that
with QB vision and precision passing, which really changes the entire passing
game and makes it more realistic.

What this means is that each
quarterback, depending on his skill, will have a wider or lower cone of vision.
If you want to make sure you hit your receiver you will want to make sure that
you are looking at him. The bad thing about this is that the defenders will read
you while you are doing this so it is more likely that they will double cover
your man. It really makes the game a lot more challenging and will increase your
sacks. To throw a precision pass, which makes it harder for defenders to get to;
your cone has to line up with the player.

Next up is the NFL Superstar mode.
Have you ever wondered what it might be like for those big-name players? Having
to sign all of those endorsements, putting up with your agents, and various
other things on and off the field? Well, Madden NFL 06 gives you the chance to
find out with this newest mode. You will have to keep track of everything from
your games, practices, and face time with the media. This mode is really
interesting as you will spend a lot of time trying to make sure that you are the
best at everything. Just like in real life, dealing with the media can be a
pain, because you want to be good so you will get better and bigger endorsements
and gain fans. This mode is really fun because it really helps give players
something new to do if the are feeling any burnout from the franchise mode.

To be honest this is the first time
I have ever played a Madden game on the PC, I mostly am a console gamer when it
comes to playing sports games. So with that in mind I will discuss the controls
for the game, which makes a big difference to me because I do not have a
controller for my PC so I was forced to use the keyboard and mouse setup. Using
the Keyboard and mouse is a little more difficult because you have to remember a
lot of keys in order to do things, which makes some of the easier tasks on the
controller more difficult here. Even though this was the case, the game still
played great on my PC. I never really go over the curve of tying to play just
with the keyboard, but I got more proficient then when I first started playing
and I think with time I could manage to get decent, or go out and purchase a
controller for my PC.

Playing a game on the computer has
several advantages in comparison to playing the same game on a console. First
off the higher resolution of the computer monitor and the graphics card makes
Madden NFL 06 better looking then the console versions. Even though it is not a
huge leap in improvement if you look at the two side-by-side you can tell a
slight difference. The game still looks good, from the stadiums to the player
models, but I am really anxious for the graphics engine to be redone to take
more advantage of the current PC specs. I guess we will have to wait till the
next generation of consoles comes to the mainstream before that will happen.

The audio for this game uses THX
surround sound, so if you have a nice setup you will be rewarded by the feeling
that you are much closer to the game. The soundtrack to the game is a huge mix
of some of the more popular songs that you are hearing on the radio at the
moment. It is nice and gets the job done. The commentary for this game is the
same that it has been for the past several years, so do not expect any big
surprise here.

Madden NFL 06 is rated E for Everyone.

System Requirements:
Pentium 3 – 800 MHz
256 MB of RAM
Windows XP or 2000
8X CD-ROM
DirectX 9.0
64 MB of Video RAM
2.0 GB of Hard Drive Space
Keyboard and Mouse.

Gameplay: 8.8
The gameplay is just as tight as previous
years of Madden gaming. The only thing is that it will take a lot of time to get
used to the QB vision and precision passing, and you might fumble with the
controls more than you are used to. Also playing this game with a keyboard and
mouse with the QB vision and precision passing begs gamers to have a controller
with analog setup. If you thought it was hard to play this game with a
controller on the console just try it with a simple keyboard and mouse.

Graphics: 8.8
Madden 06 looks just like the console versions, just a bit crisper due
to having the higher resolutions available to computers. I just hope that they
revamp the graphics engine to take advantage of the processing power that I do
have in my higher-end gaming PC for next year’s version.

Sound: 8.5
If you have played any of the previous versions of Madden then you know
what to expect here, especially in the commentary portion of the game as it
remains pretty much unchanged. I liked how the game supports THX surround-sound,
because it really makes playing the game more realistic and immerses the player
more into the game.

Difficulty: Medium
The game will be hard to any beginner, but with time players will be
able to adapt to how the computer AI plays. It is also a tough learning curve to
get adjusted to the new QB vision and precision passing and will take a while to
get adjusted. If you are using just the keyboard and mouse setup it will take
even longer to get adjusted to how to play the game, but if you keep up at it
you will be crushing the enemy in no time.

Concept: 8.8
I really liked how the talented developers at Tiburon made the passing
game much more realistic with the QB vision and precision passing, but I don’t
think that with it in there it made the game better. As a matter of fact I think
that the passing game is now a little worse with it in there. It makes the
passing a lot harder and receiving harder as well. I liked the new NFL Superstar
mode as it was fun getting all of the various endorsements. This mode really
helps add some fresh life into the game.

Multiplayer: 8.5
I will admit it I prefer playing this game on my Xbox in
comparison to this PC version. There are so many things that you have to do
before you can even get to play the game. The online experience I think is
better on the console then what I saw online on my PC.

Overall: 8.8
If you enjoy playing licensed football games, then Madden NFL 06 is the
only choice that you have available to you this year. Even though this is sad
for the consumer since they no longer have any choices, the good thing is that
the developers at Tiburon did a good job with their flagship game. If you have a
PC and are itching for a good football game then look no further than Madden NFL
06, even though it is the only choice that you have.