I'm sick of all the mainstream reviews...

[spin16]

Before you spout off about this post, it would probably be wise of you to actually read what I have to say before jumping to conclusions, not only here, but also in posts #3 and #5 below.



Every single mainstream review -- IGN, EGM, OXM, etc. -- are coming down hard on 2006.

Yet all of these reviews are written by guys who probably barely played previous versions of Madden, and clearly don't know football very well. (Ed Lewis? Ledanian Tomlinson? Jerome Betis? Apparently these are the all-star players familiar to the IGN reviewer.) The new features this year -- V&P, adaptive AI, progressive fatigue, and the injury slider -- are hands down, bar-none, the most important additions to the game since franchise mode, with the possible exception of last year's defensive enhancements. That's why 2006 will be the best Madden in history -- that is, of course, if all these new features work as advertised.

The problem with the reviews is that of the four features listed above, 3 of them -- adaptive AI, progressive fatigue, and the injury slider -- all operate "behind the scenes". If you're a casual player, you probably didn't notice that they weren't in previous versions, and you probably won't notice that they're in this version. But these are all must-have additions for the hardcore player. The injury slider will hopefully rescue franchise mode from unplayability. Adaptive AI should introduce a "chess game" aspect of playing against the CPU, and prevent us from running the same routes repeatedly to win. And progressive fatigue will force us to manage our running backs and defensive linemen, and make sure that we have depth on our rosters to rotate players effectively. All will present new and welcome challenges -- but again, there's nothing tangible for a casual review writer to get his/her hands on when writing a review.

V&P passing shouldn't even be an issue. If you don't like it, turn it off. It's that simple. But what these guys don't realize is that now, for the first time in the history of Madden, the AWARENESS of your QB -- possibly the most important attribute of any on the field -- MATTERS in the gameplay. This has never before been the case, despite the fact that it's obviously a crucial feature.

I just hope everyone here will give 2006 a fair shake, and give it some time to grow on you -- V&P in particular -- before coming here to complain about it. I fear that a lot of these great new features will not make it into Madden 2007 due to poor reviews and perhaps the subsequent lack of sales. Most likely, Madden 2006 deserves rave reviews, and if that holds true, let's make sure that EA gets their much deserved props from the hardcore community.

[RoyalBoyle78]

Quote: Originally Posted by spin16

Every single mainstream review -- IGN, EGM, OXM, etc. -- are coming down hard on 2006. Yet all of these reviews are written by guys who probably barely played previous versions of Madden, and clearly don't know football very well. (Ed Lewis? Ledanian Tomlinson? Jerome Betis? Apparently these are the all-star players familiar to the IGN reviewer.) The new features this year -- V&P, adaptive AI, progressive fatigue, and the injury slider -- are hands down, bar-none, the most important additions to the game since franchise mode, with the possible exception of last year's defensive enhancements. That's why 2006 will be the best Madden in history -- that is, of course, if all these new features work as advertised. The problem with the reviews is that of the four features listed above, 3 of them -- adaptive AI, progressive fatigue, and the injury slider -- all operate "behind the scenes". If you're a casual player, you probably didn't notice that they weren't in previous versions, and you probably won't notice that they're in this version. But these are all must-have additions for the hardcore player. The injury slider will hopefully rescue franchise mode from unplayability. Adaptive AI should introduce a "chess game" aspect of playing against the CPU, and prevent us from running the same routes repeatedly to win. And progressive fatigue will force us to manage our running backs and defensive linemen, and make sure that we have depth on our rosters to rotate players effectively. All will present new and welcome challenges -- but again, there's nothing tangible for a casual review writer to get his/her hands on when writing a review. V&P passing shouldn't even be an issue. If you don't like it, turn it off. It's that simple. But what these guys don't realize is that now, for the first time in the history of Madden, the AWARENESS of your QB -- possibly the most important attribute of any on the field -- MATTERS in the gameplay. This has never before been the case, despite the fact that it's obviously a crucial feature. I just hope everyone here will give 2006 a fair shake, and give it some time to grow on you -- V&P in particular -- before coming here to complain about it. I fear that a lot of these great new features will not make it into Madden 2007 due to poor reviews and perhaps the subsequent lack of sales. Most likely, Madden 2006 deserves rave reviews, and if that holds true, let's make sure that EA gets their much deserved props from the hardcore community.

Dude it just seems like all Madden or all Diehard Madden fan seem to be getting sick or mad that Madden 06 are getting these so called mainstream reviews, I say oh well, some of you guy's just think Madden should get a 9.5 or 9.8 every year, well guess what I guess some of these reviewers are being honest this year I guess, so just take it for what it is, and a 8.8 and 8.0 are still good scores so some of you guy's need to stop complaining, some people just aren't going gung ho for Madden this year.

[spin16]

I couldn't care less about the rating. And I'm quite honest when it comes to writing Madden reviews:

http://www.maddenwishlist.com/info/madden2005.html

The point is though, that the guys writing reviews for IGN et al don't know their heads from their ***, yet people seem to care what they think.

[GTheorenHobbes]

My thoughts exactly, FF. Hey spin, doesn't it bother you that the reviewer complained about the lack of new tackle animations? Or hasn't the last 5 years of playing the same Madden/NCAA engine made you tired of the same ol' animations? Either way, I'm glad to see the honest review, instead of the "back of the box" feature listing that Jon Robinson usually throws up over there every year.

[spin16]

(I might as well copy a post I just dropped on another thread, because it's relevant here.)

That's actually a good point about the crappy Jon Robinson reviews.

However, it would be a lot better and a lot more respectable if the reviewer complained about things that warranted complaints, rather than bitch about new features that (a) many people are going to like a lot, (b) require some adaptation on your part and can't be mastered immediately, and (c) can be turned off if you're too weak to play it that way.

How about drawing more emphasis to the poor draft logic? Or the CPU auto-jetpack? Or the over-inflated salary cap? Or the problems with the RFA system? Or the archaic tackling system, as GTheoremHobbes points out?

There are a lot of legitimate complaints he could have launched instead of writing a two-page diatribe that really amounts to the statement that his stick skills are weak.

If you think about it though, the Jon Robinson review and this one are in a sense one in the same -- they're both written from the casual fan mentality.

[EvilSonGoku]

I don't understand how People complain about someone's review when they don't have the game themselves. I like the fact that the review was honest. I guess some people will laude madden no matter what.

[jdros13]

I have not enjoyed Madden at all the last couple of years, and I was extremely disappointed that EA got the NFL license, but I have to say that I am really excited for '06.

V&P appears to be the "new" that I have thought was missing the last few years. While I didn't really expect the entire game to change, something that is going to cause me to relearn the game is a welcome sight IMO.

Of greater concern to me is, as spin mentioned, the poor draft AI, both in regular franchise and fantasy draft franchise (if anyone did this last year, no MLB's came off the board ever until the 8th or 9th round, and the year before that it was DE's...when you notice R. Lewis and B. Urlacher are still on the board in the 6th round it kind of ruins the experience IMO). I really don't like the number of helmets I've seen flying off players heads in the videos either, but I'm hoping that won't ruin the experience for me.

The majority of people on these boards are looking for the best sim experience out there. IMO, the most sim passing interface I've ever seen was the NFL Fever Read 'n Lead. Judging from the videos and reviewer comments this might be the closest thing to that, so I'm excited. Finally there is a difference between Payton Manning and a rookie you are controlling with high TP and TA. Awareness has long been overlooked in all football games, and I applaud EA (I can't believe I just typed that) for trying something that looks as though it will fundamentally change the way you have to play the game. It is a big risk, and a much bigger change than we usually get from them.

[GHill]

The 2k fans like it because it's a so called "honest review" and the Madden fans dislike it because it's obvious the reviewer never bothered to learn football, or never played previous versions or whatever.

it's funny though, 2k guys say it's been the same game for five years when most of them never played madden for the last five years. Then Madden guys try to defend every little aspect. That stuf is even funnier than all the idiot reviews.

The guys who already have the game are the only people we should listen to.