This is the most disappointing Madden game you'll ever play to date. Period.
The Bad: Next-gen feel slows the game down and is very clunky and buggy (Example: the kicking system/a player kicks differently and can't range as far on kicks); missing many of the great features once existed in Madden (Example: missing Create-a-player and Create-a-team and player editing);
can't challenge plays (biggest disappointment)
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Let's start off: this game has been broken up to a point where it makes it feel a lot watered down. Second: you can't challenge plays. I mean...what kind-of a football game doesn't allow you to challenge plays?? This was a huge rip-off. Like for example when a player catches the ball and both his feet are out-of-bounds and they still call it first down, you can't challenge it. This I think ruins the true rules of football, because challenging plays are needed, but this isn't the only problem in the game. The kicking system has really lost itself. The thing about it is that it's really slow, like for example when you attempt to kick a field goal 45 yards away from it, in a current-gen game it would make it in your adjustments, but in this version with the exact same adjustments, it won't make it. So basically, the kicks are really slow even if they're really powerful. This Madden game is also missing many of the great features that once existed in Madden, for example (again), Create-a-Player doesn't exist. Nor does create-a-team. You also can't edit players either (Example: Champ Bailey in this game has a black visor on when in real life it's a clear visor so you would want to fix that; nope, you can't do that in this game.) Beware that Superstar is now absent in this game as well, so don't get too exited about this game.
But there are some good qualities to this game. The online gameplay can sometimes be a lot of fun, competing with more competitive players throughout the nation (the online system of this Madden uses a East Coast/West Coast system/it's only in the U.S.). The graphics are as good I (and others) expected it to be, so they aren't a disappointment, although it doesn't look completely real. The player models look a lot broader than in real life in this game, so that's 1 reason why the graphics aren't exactly THE best. The play-calling feature in this game has improved itself definitely though, as it does divide plays into different categories. It divides it into Madden's picks, Coach's picks, By Play Form, By Key Player, etc. Now this part shows the overview of the review categories of this review. But I won't explain every part all the way through though.
Gameplay: 7/10
Next-Gen Madden I'm afraid is just starting to lose it's edge a bit. Many of the great features that once existed in Madden are now gone. The next-gen kicking system is screwed-up. You can't challenge plays. But the good thing is that the online gameplay is great, and it's a good use if in case you all the sudden get board with the game after a while (like me)
Graphics: 8/10
This game does show some of the 360's graphic capabilities, and is still great. One of the only reasons why this didn't score higher is that the player models look kind-of oversized and they don't really look like real-life shape, although player models do have a shiny texture to them. The stadium backround looks much improved from the current-gen Madden games.
Sound: 9/10
The music of this Madden game is still the great tradition: More rock and rap. This version of Madden 06 has more songs than the current-gen Madden 06 soundtracks, so that makes the music in this game better. If you're concerned about the sound of this game, don't worry, this Madden game's music still rocks.
Value: 6/10
Unfortunately, this game's value doesn't last for very long. When you first play it, you may feel exited, but like when you're playing franchise mode after a while and suddenly run across trouble, you immediately start to become bored. This game's value in trade-in-game stores are noticeably lower than other 360 launch titles, as this game doesn't have gameplay and other value that doesn't last for very long. If you're bored with this game, I recommend the only thing to do left is to either play it online a lot or trade it in before the value gets lower.
Reviewer's Tilt: 7/10
Overrall, this game does have some good value, but has noticeable flaws. This game overrall has some good gameplay, but not great. This game has many great Madden features missing, and overrall, it's a good game, but yet at the game time a broken and very disappointing experience.
That concludes the review, so now you can at least have an idea sort-of what this game is like within it.