Operation Sports Forums - New Preview 10/14/05

http://forums.xbox.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=13851862

"Madden 2006 Xbox 360

EA Sports’ flagship title is back and from what I could see it is better than ever. Many of you know of my distaste for the last few iterations of the Madden franchise. I’ve preferred Visual Concepts/Take Two Interactive’s NFL 2K(x) series since the original made its debut on the Sega Dreamcast. This time around you can see that EA Sports has put its best foot forward and is utilizing the NFL license to its fullest. Madden 2006 looks to be a tour de force of console football and likely the only football game you’ll need – until Madden 2007 and NCAA Football 2007 of course.

Electronic Arts Director of Marketing Jordan Edelstein and EA Sports Senior Public Relations Manager Wendy Spander were on hand to give us the tour of the game, point out its newest additions, offer tips and also laugh along with us at a few of the bugs that are still being ironed out. Jordan pointed out that Madden 2006 for the XBOX 360 is somewhere around 80% complete overall and the visuals were approximately 90%.

I know this - I cannot wait to see the visuals at 100%. This is the prettiest football game around, hands down (Keep in mind that this is a recurring theme for my impressions of almost every game I played at the event as the 360 is a behemoth when it comes to graphics). The players’ heads scanned for the Madden 2006 look phenomenal. My boy Donovan McNabb looks like he just finished filming a Chunky Soup Commercial. The only thing this game is missing is Donovan’s mom running around on the sidelines.

The opening of each game starts with a close up of the players leaving the tunnel, running and high-fiving their way through a tunnel of their teammates for the announcement of the starting lineups. This is your first glimpse into how good the game looks and it is not a cut scene, it is in-engine. Player models are realistic, negating my earlier complaint that Michael Vick looked like a linebacker in a previous photo release by EA. At that time, there was only one player model so everyone looked to have the same build. Now though, you’ll know whom to avoid and whom to take on when you see either a defensive back or a defensive lineman coming to make the play.

The level of graphical detail is mind-boggling. Zoom in on an instant replay and you can see every individual thread and seam on the uniforms, right down to the mesh perforation. Pan toward the players face and if you know the face, you’ll instantly recognize them and have to stop yourself from trying to hold a conversation with the TV screen. The stadiums are so detailed that you can literally find the individual seat you sat in at the last game you attended. The weather effects are very impressive and they do have an impact on the gameplay – i.e. snow will slow things up and make it more difficult for the players to catch the ball. Snow will even accumulate on the field, though EA did not have time to allow for footprints to show up and be altered real-time. It’s a nice thought for the second XBOX 360 Madden, no?

Player animations match the photo realism of the rest of the game as they should. The quarterbacks’ motions look solid, though Jordan said they are working to firm them up as the team was not entirely pleased with how the ball is thrown at times. Solo and gang-tackles look great. Players cutting, running, jumping and diving look great as well. You can tell this game was rebuilt from the ground up. EA didn’t want to import everything from the XBOX version. They wanted to start from scratch and it’s a great thing for all of us that they did.

In order to remind us of the initial artist renderings of Madden shown during the 2005 NFL Draft, Jordan started a game with the Eagles playing the Patriots in the snow. I’ll be the first to tell you that I didn’t like the artist renderings. They looked too much like a cartoon and not enough like authentic NFL football. You may as well forget that old commercial because this football game is the real deal. I don’t mean to harp on graphics, but they’re purty, and this game looks very realistic, much unlike the creepy artist renderings. This game blows those renderings away in my opinion. The launch is off to a good start folks.

EA didn’t stop with a complete overhaul of the visuals. There are a number of additions to the franchise this time around. EA’s contract with the NFL gives them access to everything they need to make the game as authentic and true to life as possible. This also means that EA has access to all audio and video footage from NFL Films. This has allowed EA to incorporate the authentic voices of 18 starting NFL quarterbacks so the cadence and audiles at the line of scrimmage sound as though Payton Manning, Michael Vick, Brett Favre, or 15 other real quarterbacks are making the call and directing their offenses. The same holds true for the defensive side of the ball as you’ll hear middle linebacker’s such as Ray Lewis aligning their teammates on the field and jawing at the offense. It was pretty cool the first time I recognized a players voice. And you want to talk authentic, Ed Hochuli has been face-scanned and he is in the game. I saw him call a penalty and heard his voice and immediately asked Jordan if that was Ed. Authenticity – of course it is Ed, lawyer by day accept on Sunday’s Hochuli. Pretty soon, you might actually think you were playing for an NFL franchise. The key word here if you missed it is authenticity.

With the NFL License also comes the most in depth set of statistics ever in a football game. The entire history of NFL stats/records is in the game and your players can be retired and inducted into the Hall of Fame if their stats meet certain standards. Stats from every year of a 30 year franchise are available for your viewing and the key players from every game you’ve played during that time span can be pulled up in a moments’ notice.

The Franchise Mode is in tact although Owner Mode did not make the cut for this version of Madden 2006. As long as the gameplay is perfectly honed, I’m fine with that omission. Hopefully it will make the cut next time around. But now to the most important element, even if everyone does want to focus on the visuals: gameplay.

Madden plays better than ever. I felt right at home picking up the controller and jumping into an in-progress game between the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles. Running the ball is solid and the player momentum feels very good. You feel like you can really make a cut with a back like Brian Westbrook. The passing game is very tight this time around. Quarterback Vision is available in the 360 version of Madden 2006, as is Precision Passing, but this time you can use Precision Passing without dealing with the troublesome Quarterback Vision. This is a great touch that I think will appease those who hated Quarterback Vision but refused to play the game without being able to adequately lead their receiver to an open hole in the defense. The Hit Stick and Truck Stick are in place and looking good as well. There are still some gameplay issues with the offensive and defensive lines especially, and some illegal tackle animations that need to be removed, such as the horeshoe tackle which is what happened to T.O. last season against the Cowboys Roy Williams. Once these issues are resolved, this could be one for the ages. Here's hoping.

I was on the fence before about Madden. I trashed the pictures and videos I saw and was my usual cynical self. I was all smiles at the preview event while playing the game however. EA shut me up this time, and if they clean up the bugs that were present, football fans will be rejoicing everywhere come November 11, 2005."