Madden NFL 06

Overview

Madden NFL 2006 is the 15th game to be released for this franchise. It's also the "Year of The Quarterback." Donovan McNabb is on the cover of this games box. This is also the first year of the Hall of Fame game mode. The game mode features the player creating one person and taking that one player throughout his whole career making decisions that affect his field time and what -not.

It's also the first year with Quarterback Vision and Precision Throwing. The vision cone was introduced and creates a new buzz on playing the game. Pass inside the cone and its going to be an accurate throw. Pass outside of the cone and its going to be an errant throw if you had a horrible rating. All in all another staple of the franchise, however this was the year it was regarded as a minimal upgraded game and received lukewarm reviews.

Due to a 2004 licensing deal between the NFL and Electronic Arts, Madden '06 was the only football game in 2005 to feature NFL properties and players.

New Features

Madden '06 marked the first appearance of the following features:

Truck Stick

While controlling the ball carrier, the player can use the right joystick, or 'Truck Stick,' to break or avoid tackles. Pressing the right joystick in the direction of an oncoming defender results in the ball carrier lowering his shoulder and making an attempt to 'truck' through the tackle. Pressing the right joystick down results in a back-juke, an attempt to make a defender over-pursue and dive in the wrong direction.

QB Vision

While controlling the passer on a passing play, a cone of light is displayed in front of the quarterback. This simulates the QB's vision. Passes made to a receiver in the cone will be accurate. Passes made to a receiver outside of the cone will be much less accurate, simulating a no-look pass. The cone of vision can be controlled by either pressing the right joystick left and right, or by choosing a specific receiver to look at. The size of the cone depends on the Awareness stat of the player throwing the football: the more AWR, the wider the cone.

Precision Passing

When throwing a pass, holding a direction on the left joystick results in a placement pass. For example, if you hold up on the left stick while throwing a pass, the receiver will have to jump to catch the football. Holding the joystick left or right will lead/throw behind the intended receiver, depending on the direction the receiver is running. Holding down on the joystick results in a pass at the receivers shoe-laces, or a pass the receiver has to run back to get.

Superstar Mode

Lets the user create and take control of an NFL rookie. The user controls all aspects of the player's career, including hiring an agent, giving interviews, and, of course, playing football.

Xbox 360 Version

A version of Madden 2006 was released for Xbox 360 on November 17th, 2005. This release included next-gen graphics and updated team rosters.

Although it was released almost 3 months after the initial release, it lacked many of the features available in the Playstation 2 and Xbox versions. Player editing was removed, Franchise Mode was significantly reduced, and challenges could no longer be issued during gameplay.

The graphics engine would serve as a basis for future releases made on next-gen consoles.

Soundtrack

• All-American Rejects - "Night Drive"
• Avenged Sevenfold - "Bat Country"
• Bullet for My Valentine - "4 Words (To Choke Upon)"
• Bump J - "Move Around"
• Chamillionaire - "Hate in Ya Eyes"
• Coheed and Cambria - "Welcome Home"
• Disturbed - "Ten Thousand Fists"
• Fall Out Boy - "Dance, Dance"
• Finch - Ink
• Foo Fighters - "No Way Back"
• Funeral for a Friend - "Streetcar"
• Godsmack - "Bring It On"
• Hot Hot Heat - "Pickin' It Up"
• Memphis Bleek - "Like That"
• Nine Black Alps - "Cosmopolitan"
• Papoose - "Born to Win"
• Paul Wall featuring Mike Jones - "They Don't Know" (Xbox 360 version only)
• Rev Run - "Mind on the Road"
• Sam Scarfo - "Tear 'Em Up"
• Slim Thug - "Get It Started"
• Spider Loc - "When I Get Angry"
• Stat Quo - "Rock Da Party"
• Tech N9ne - "The Beast"