6 HOURS HANDS ON WITH MADDEN 06 FOR THE XBOX 360
INTRO
Where do I start first let me say this forget any vids, screen shots, reviews, previews, post views or any other views you have read about this game. Or anything that you may think you know about MADDEN 06 for the XBOX 360. Lets get the obvious out of the way there are only two uniforms you can choose from for any team so forget about playing in the CHARGERS POWER BLUES or the RAVENS all BLACK UNIFORMS cause they are not in the game. There is no defensive hot route, the back juke is not in this game (it only worked for NCAA 06 anyway lol). Also gone is the ability to challenge a play, you can't edit a single item on any player not even the ones you draft (I think but I'm going to have to check this out for sure on Thursday) BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, YATA, YATA. Those features are not in this years madden, I do wish that they had made into this game but they are not here and I'm not going to waste another sentence talking about something I have no control over. Ok now that all that negative stuff is out of way let me tell you why this MADDEN so special and what makes it a must have.
Well first the controls are different it will take you a game or two to get the new control down but its a good change and I think most of us will learn to love it. This 360 controller is perfect in almost every way it makes playing any games on the 360 a breeze.
There is so much that is different I'll just try to break it down into categories so I don't forget anything. Get ready to learn how to play madden all over again cause this is the start of a new era of football greatness. The game play here is like no other football out there it feels like madden but then it doesn't feel like madden all at the same time.
Just some random things that I noticed will playing today.
1. You CAN NOT hike the ball while the other team is calling an audible the game just won't let you do it after they have set then you snap the ball and start the play.
2. You do get an ACCURACY boost for using the vision cone, and it can be hard to pass when you DO NOT use it. ( I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD SAY THAT LOL)
3. There are over-thrown and under-thrown passes in this game.
4. The new kicking meter is really good that doesn't mean its easy lol you will see when you play the game for yourself.
5. You can throw over the top of DB's heads for those over the shoulder catchs but the timing has to be right. You also must choose the right pass to do this.
6. I didn't see any SUPER MAN JUMPS from the DB's or LB's.
7. It really feels like an NFL game alot of random things happen during the course of the game that you will notice.
6 HOURS OF NEXT-GEN MADDEN
PLAY CALLING- This may be the most sever change in MADDEN if you don't know how to call the plays on offense and defense your going to have some trouble if not alot. One of the most important parts of REAL NFL FOOTBALL is knowing what plays to call and when to call them. You will see that in this football game that is also the truth. It really turns into a chess match if two really good people are playing head to head. Its so hard to explain this but I noticed it after the very first game play calling has never been so important in ANY MADDEN game.
RUNNING THE BALL- The running game where do I start, you can really tell the difference between J.S.Davis and C.Portis. The first thing you will notice is when running inside a bigger back he will run through arm tackles like nobody's business but if he's a speed guy he will get brought down by those same tackles.
Time and time again I would run inside a guy would hit me and I would just bounce of him with S.Davis, when I subbed in D.Foster I used his speed to get to the outside and turn the corner. In this MADDEN you must follow your running lanes and what for OL or FB to get in front of you to make a block you if you out run your blockers 8 times out of 10 its going to be a loss.
The pin-ball running or mario running as they call it is NOT in this game but if you run into an O-Lineman he just slides off him but your going to want to avoid this cause that nana second that you lose means the defense has just that much more time to take you down for a loss. I can't say if the running is totally new but its different and you need to learn how to follow your blocks and what special moves to do and what time to do them in.
Speaking of special moves they are all pressure sensitive and boy do they looks realistic the spin move is somewhat the same but your player doesn't take off at full speed after the spin is done that's a good thing. There are some other things in the running game I would like to touch on but as you read on you will start to piece everything together.
If you compare the running on MADDEN 360 to the running on MADDEN for the ps2 and xbox, I would have to say its leaps and bounds over current-gen for the reasons I have already stated above.
STOPPING THE RUN- Boy have the times changed if you where an ELITE MADDEN PLAYER on madden for the current-gen you already know that its very hard to stop someone's running game even if you know what you are doing and you are calling the right plays. Those days my friend are all but gone if you have a team that has a good run stopping defense your going to earn every yard you get.
For the first couple of games I used the Steelers and boy its hard ass **** to get any yards on the ground against them in this game. This is due mainly to the fact that the 3-4 defense can actually be used effectively in this game to stop the run. I can't count how many times C.HAMPTON just blew up a running play when the computer or who ever was playing against me ran the ball. This never happened on current gen madden a good NT would actually control his gap or disrupt the running lane completely.
I think the longest run that was put on the STEELER D was maybe 5 yards. EA said that the DL & OL play had been redone I don't think they lied to us from the very first game you play you will notice a huge difference in the running game. The PANTHERS D-LINE was also very good at stopping the run as well K.JENKINS & J.PEEPERS are a terror.
PASSING- This may have been the biggest surprise for me as I played more and more madden today if you want to be good at passing in this game get used to using the cone. It makes a big difference. I know allot of you won't believe but I could only pass using the cone and the guys who played without lol they couldn't complete a pass.
If you have a very good QB you might be able to get away without using the cone but here's the thing if your QB is not that accurate he is really going to have some problems. If you choose to not use the cone you better make sure your feet are set and you pick the right pass or its going to over thrown under thrown or intercepted.
That's right there are over thrown and under thrown balls in this game just like you see every sunday. This one guy who I let play would throw the ball deep every single time with M.VICK 9 times out of 10 it was over thrown. You really have to choose the right PRECISION PASS to hit the receiver some times.
I would have a RB or WR wide open and then I would choose the wrong precision pass and it would float right over his head or hit the ground lol. But when I picked the right pass it was on the money. Another thing that I noticed, I did a test one test with the cone and one test without it.
In the test without the cone the QB put the ball in DECENT position for the receiver to catch the ball, but with the cone on the pass had a noticeable amount of better accuracy to it. it Also I did see different catch animations that I hadn't seen when I didn't use the cone. This didn't happen all the time and I'm not saying you can't pass without the cone cause its not the case but you do get an accuracy boost for using it.
STOPPING THE PASS- I think its much harder to pass on this game than the one for ps2 simply because there are more things that can happen when you pass the ball I didn't see one catch in double coverage unless the DB's where completely out of position. There was also quite a few INT drops as well but thats nothing new. I also noticed that the DB's & WR's really fought for the ball when it was in the air and boy are those animations nice.
PUNT RETURN- You can return punts nuff said every now and again the coverage team will get down there really fast but most of the time I had some really good blocks and could get decent yardage I think I only had to call fair catch a couple of times unlike the version for the ps2 and xbox where 99% if punts where fair caught.
PLAYER CONTROL- The new momentum physics will take some time getting acquainted with if you bite on a play action or run the wrong way your defender is out of position so you better use learn how to use the strafe button allot. You really have to be careful when controlling defenders cause it seems that they have more weight to them. I don't think your going to see allot of user picks from scrubs it takes timing and position to get those things now lol.
The way the players fell on this game is so much different from current- gen you can really tell that weight plays a factor when you try to change directions. I found myself constantly being out of position to make a play because I over pursued or ran the wrong way. Boy if you get turned the wrong way on this game it could be 6 points for the other team but that's a good thing.
You really can't run around like a chicken with its head cut off in this one. The same goes for the players when your on offense, but you never fell as if your not in control of your QB, RB, or whomever they may be when you have the ball in your hands. Try to stop on a dime and switch directions with someone who has a low AGILITY rating and he's going to get blasted. Then again players like L.T. and C.Portis had some really sick moves they can lean and cut very well.
CLOSING STATEMENTS
Its very hard for me to do this hands on cause there is so much I want to talk about but I think I got all the important stuff in there. I'll TRY and answer any questions you have cause I simply cannot remember everything I experienced today just a little to much to take all in at one time. I'll get to play for about 2 or 3 hours on Thursday so I might be able to try some more stuff out if you have a question ask it and I'll do my best to answer.
P.S. This game really looks amazing you won't believe your eyes EA built a very solid foundation for NEXT-GEN MADDEN. How do I rate MADDEN you say well I personally don't think you can put a number on a game in just a couple of hours or a couple of days but heres what I will say.
This game is NOT a bare-bones hold me off for 8 more months football game it is IMO. The foundation for a truely amazing game that will be MADDEN 07. From what I could gather today the gameplay is like no other football game every made. It isn't perfect by NO means but its BETTER than MADDEN 06 current-gen in every way ON the field.
