Difficulty:

Easy

Time Spent:

10 Hours or Less

The Bottom Line:

"Been there, done that"

this years madden had an overhaul of changes but did it improve the game? well lets see...

Gameplay
I'll start with the positives to begin the review. The new player looks and 3D grass look to be the best so far with the gameplay. Other than the zombie eyes and floating hair on players with long hair, all the graphics look improved. Zone coverage has been improved but the whole WR/DB interaction needs improvement. when ever i play the CPU wide receiver jumps up to catch the ball and my DB just stands there waiting for him to catch it so he can tackle the WR. Another problem you have with the gameplay is that the wide receivers don't go up for the ball when the CB goes up for it to swat it down. It seems like the WR puts his hands out waiting for the ball to fall in his hands but doesnt catch it. Another problem with the game is on offence when you throw the ball to an open WR, a CPU linebacker jumps out of nowhere swatting the ball down. This is extremely frustrating because it is unrealistic that he can swat the ball down when the intended receiver is 15 yards away. Although suction and tumbleweed tackles have been toned down, they still appear once in a while. What really doesnt make sence and this is all laziness on eas part, is that formation subs are out of the game once again. if i have a speedy RB starting and i have a power RB that i want to play only for short yardtage and goaline sets. Well you can't for 3 years straight. I give gameplay a 7/10.

Franchise mode
The mode has been improved but that doesn't mean better. The new, updated menues are confusing because you cannot go to view transactions in another menu. Also, there isn't a whole much to do other than play games in it. Now thats the downside. However I do like the new cut system ea has put in to slim your roster down. I haven't played offseason yet so I cant review it. In preseason the new AI is much better and the game finally subs in 2nd and 3rd string correctly in games. It is kind of strange that you will see players that play another starting position play something totally different in the 3rd string lineup though. I give franchise mode a 7.5/10

Presentation
This seems to be eas strengths along with the graphics. The new game entries are cool but do get boring after a while. The cheerleaders are added witch makes it more pleasing to watch. Still lacking is an interesting halftime show and pregame show which nfl 2k5 had. I give this a 8/10

Commentary
The commentary is so bad that I had to review it seperate from presentation because it can bring the whole experience down. Gus Johnson and Chris Collinsworth return again. Gus Johnson has different tones for things which makes him sound very fake and sarcastic while Chris Collinsworth has the same robotic voice. The worst part about it is that they oftenly get the names wrong for the players their talking about. They say almost nothing during the pregame, end of quarters, and at the end of the game and after every touchdown Gus Johnson screams TOUCHDOWN but thats it. No excitement, no talking about the play, and no talk about how amazing the team did. I rate this a 3/10.

Madden continues to be a good game but doesn't live up to the expectations it has. I think that if madden had some competition with another football game other than ncaa, it would eventually get the flow going again like the old days. I recomend if you are going to buy this at all either rent it first or get it used. It is not worth the $60 ea wants you to pay for it.