Thanks Madden....you killed an amazing football game
ESPN has always been a little behind Madden, mostly because Madden was just so well known for what they did, that people didn't really give ESPN a chance, and I would've been one of those people had Madden 2005 been an actual good game. When I saw a $20 price tag, I was a little skeptical, just kinda figured that the game wouldn't be good, but trust me I would pay $65 for this if thta was the case. The gameplay is as good as it gets. You have a variety of moves to pull off like jukes, stiff arm, and my favourite, the QB Evade which is really fun to use against friends since it makes em' look like fools. The running game is good, and from what i heard alot more balanced, (something about no "shift of weight" in the runner if he changes direction while running in the 2K4 edition of this game). On the default difficulty this game is just too easy (106-14??...come on now) I suggest to start playing on All-Pro, unless your one of those cheap asses that actually enjoys games with no challenge...Anyways, you've also got a lot of options on defence pre-snap like LB adjusments, DB adjustments, you can adjust positions, assign blitzes, spy the quarter back etc. The graphics are awesome in this game, although when i played it on my friends X-Box, I did find that the graphics were alot better, and the halftime highlights were played in full motion videos...unlike PS2's screen shots...this was big for me since i really look for small things like this in these kind of games...but its nothing so big that you shouldn't get the game. Also, all the animations they have are well done, and believable...but sometimes players would walk through refs at the end of a quarter...but it was something I never got tired of seeing. There are a tone of things to do in this game with "The Crib"
in it. Tons of tasks to complete like individual player tasks (throw 6 Tds with Peyton in one game, Run for 150 YAC with Owens etc.) Theres also team tasks, franchise etc. Sound is really good...you can here the players calling things before the snap..the crowd...the P.A. Guy...sound was really well done.
Overall this game is way better than Madden 2005, and I had absolutely no doubt whatsoever that the 2K6 would stomp Madden 2006....and Madden knew that ESPN was gonna take over..so they used their massive amounts of money and bought em out....Well to me this just means more time with 2K5 since Madden 2006 was just a carbon copy of 2005 if you disable the QB Vision. Im really pissed off that there wont be a 2K6..or 7..or 8...i think Madden's contract or whatever is over in 2009, so hopefully ESPN will pay attention to Madden's games over the next few years and pick up on their mistakes and comeback with another amazing football game in 2009 or 2010.