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Madden NFL 06
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 21 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 13 votes
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Game Info
Publisher: EA Sports
Developer: Electronic Arts - Tiburon
Genre(s): Sports, Football
Players: 4
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Release Date: August 8, 2005
Summary
With enhancements to the passing game, defensive improvements, and expanded online options, Madden NFL 06 takes you onto the field and into the locker room like never before. The new "QB Vision Control" lets you scan the field, look off defenders, and make perfect throws withing your quarterbacks unique field of vision. "QB Precision Placement" allows you to put the ball exactly where you want it. Lead the receiver to an open area, throw it behind him so he can come back to it or throw a jump ball and let him go get it. [Electronic Arts]
Also On Metacritic
GAMES: Madden NFL 2002 Madden NFL 2003 Madden NFL 2004 Madden NFL 2005
Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central GameSpot Guide
Also On The Web: Official Website
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Maxim Online
Kiss the rest of your summer (and your loved ones) goodbye and get ready to spend all your waking hours indoors, sitting next to a giant bag of Fritos, agonizing over 4–3 blitz packages.
Read Full Review >Stuff
Once again, EA and Madden manage to do the impossible: They made us fall head-over-cleats in love with this frigging game all over again.
Read Full Review >DailyGame
Madden NFL 06 is still an outstanding game, but EA needs to re-think the reality and practicality of its Superstar mode, and it has plenty of work to do to make QB Vision both effective and enjoyable.
Read Full Review >Game Informer
Whether it's the first steps of an online franchse via your EA Locker or your life as the equivalent to Budweiser's Leon in NFL Superstar, Madden's exploration of new areas is not to be missed. [Sept 2005, p.92]
1UP
It is far and away the most cerebral sports title ever released, forcing both the offensive and defensive coordination to methodically attack each other in order to achieve their respective goals. Careful and well thought out strategy is the name of the game, much more so than relying on frantic, on the field playmaking.
Read Full Review >Yahoo! Games
Recent releases have seen plenty of tweaks, but they merely nudged the gameplay. This year's implementation of a quarterback's cone of vision really changes things by rethinking the foundations of passing the ball.
Read Full Review >Nintendo Power
Despite my curmudgeonly grumblings, the good far outweighs the bad. In addition to the vastly improved passing game, there are tons of new player animations, the AI is smarter than ever, and there are even more ways to adjust each play before the snap. [Sept 2005, p.82]
GamePro
Kudos to EA Sports for not being afraid to juice the complexity factor of an already complex game. Rookies will have to pay their dues, but veterans get treated to a brand-new challenge. [Sept 2005, p.82]
Read Full Review >Electronic Gaming Monthly
Quotation forthcoming. [Sept 2005]
Cheat Code Central
For the first time in years, the game has been redesigned which completely alters the gameplay at its core. Tiburon appears not to be satisfied with just creating an entertaining representation of video football but to advance the realism so that the experience brings players that much closer to what it feels like being on the gridiron. They've succeeded.
Read Full Review >GameZone
The new Superstar mode will keep fans looking for a slight twist on the series fairly happy, but overall the difficulty of the QB Vision mode will probably be the deciding factor in whether you enjoy Madden 2006 or not.
Read Full Review >IGN
A fantastic game, just not as much fun to play as it has been the last few years.
Read Full Review >Game Over Online
While the inclusion of the vision cones and the concept of the Superstar mode were creative ideas, the actual implementation of the features ranged from inconvenient to improperly constructed.
Read Full Review >Game Revolution
At least the game makes you feel more like a quarterback than ever before, and that's reason enough for one hell of an end-zone celebration.
Read Full Review >GameSpot
Ultimately, Madden NFL 06 is a highly playable game of football, but in comparison with the leaps forward the franchise has made in previous years, 06 feels like a false start.
Read Full Review >GameSpy
Although it's true that the QB Vision system changes the game dramatically, it's not always for the better, especially when you're still trying to learn how to use it properly. If you can get over the steep learning curve (and trust me, it's a doozy), you'll probably learn to love it, as it makes the game feel much more realistic.
Read Full Review >Inside Gamer Online
Luckily, you have the option to turn the new passing system off, but if you do—what valid new additions separate 06 from the rest? Almost nothing.
Read Full Review >Gaming Age
Not the huge advancement many might expect from a new year and especially a year when they are the only game in town, but the game still plays solid, the rosters are updated, and the new modes may appeal to those coming over from the competition.
Read Full Review >Kombo
While Madden NFL 06 has a few nice extras, for the most part, it feels like Madden 2005 Version 2.1. Sometimes being uncontested isn't such a good thing.
Read Full Review >Play Magazine
Why risk changing an already perfect passing sytem? I guess when you're the only game in town, you can do what you want. [Oct 2005]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this game is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 13 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Bubuchi S. gave it a10:
This game is awesome! Love the graphics.
Kyle S. gave it a9:
A great game of football to play with your friends, Superstar mode seems unrealistic, but overall a good buy.
Rich G. gave it a4:
Madden 06 is a total joke and still proof that ea/Tiburon is more interested in successful marketing and shareholder profits than making a game worth playing.This years version is horrible and should be sued on a class action basis for causing such mental anguish.Need examples;no need to worry I have plenty of them :Like Alex Smith being able to run down from behind All Pro cornerbacks (no angle at all)and force fumbles to seal bogus victories for online opponents,how about Billy Cundiff shanking straight forward 38 yard feildgoals from the very center of the field with 100 percent accuracy and 97 power in a dome no less against the cpu(while playing Atlanta) after the opponent quit the game just to give the cpu another chance at a last second victory.How about certain players with lesser abilities making great clutch plays while others with much greater abilities dropping balls or fumbles when the A.I.feels the need to assist a playoff team or a team from California.Why is it that all a rookie need do is pick a 3-4 cover 3 zone package and put 8 in the box.Blitz the fastest linebacker or linebackers and your screwed.Iv'e been playing Madden for 16 long years and this is the worst version ever.MY tag name is Sutherndevil I was consistently in and out of the top 100 last year playing with the lowly Saints and didnt use glitches etc.to get there unless someone glitched me first and continued to do so.Yeah all the new "bells and whistles are neato torpedo" but the player attributes are a complete disreguard for reality and the computer A.I. totally disgusts me. Absolutely positively a reason to sue or turn them into the Better Business Bureau for such a poorly made game.People everywhere deserve theyre money back.
Jack L. gave it a7:
So while waiting for 06 to come out, I dusted off my copy of 05 but...couldn't play my copy of 05 cause the disc had vanished. I had no other choice but to play ESPN 2K5 which I could never really get into just because I felt like I had to learn to play the whole game again. Anyhow, ESPN 2K5 is amazing and so is Madden but this years Madden 06 falls flat on its face. Where? Gameplay. They just don't get it. They can add a new 'X' factor feature every year to intrigue us but until they improve the base gameplay they will never get it. ESPN does however in spades...but 2K5 has a rather ugly GUI and can be confusing to navigate thru while Madden is super pretty and slick. So you know...I did all the tutorials, learned the new controls set my team, the Steelers and then when I got to the game, the whole thing just farted and laid an egg. I never thought the player animations could get worse but they did. I never thought the presentation could get worse but it didn't it just stayed EXACTLY the same except this time I was subject to agro grunge pop and gangsta music every two seconds. It begs the question? What the hell does that music have to with football? Thankfully all those horrible decisions by the ignorant brass at Tiburon can be changed. These are first impressions I'm talking about here. The precision passing is the only redeeming feature. The defensive features are impossible to work with because you just do not have time to select your coverages. Play 2K5 and you'll see amazing and extremely ambitious presentation as well as very realistic gameplay. Somehow we got to the ideas of these two franchises (one is now deceased) and put them together in one game. The entire AI has to be rewritten for Madden. All player animations have to redone from the ground up. And replays for God's sake! Madden completely misses the boat on every single great play I make. I could go on and on about the weaknesses in gameplay with punt returns, catch up logic from CPU, fluid motion dynamics, cookie cutter celebrations, excessive audio to cover up for no work put into art and coding, the stupid EA radio and one last thing the horrible blazing white EA splash screen which appears after scoring a TD. I don't know what the hell that is....but is so ugly and so old school that it looks like it comes from the cutting room floor of Madden 98. It practically blinds me every time it comes on. So in conclusion, if you want a sexy front end, menus, horrible teenage-angst-ghetto-wannabee-slacker music, unfootball-like animations and feel, poor AI, and weak gameplay then get this game. I get it a 7 based on the strength of the Front End alone, it's that good.
Bill K. gave it a9:
I played both the gamecube and ps2 versions in a store, and the gamecube version looked and felt a good deal better. The passing cone didn't change the game as much as I thought it would. The game still has the same familiar feel to it.
Kyle H. gave it a10:
Awesome.
Lawrence G. gave it a10:
With the new features added to this game such as precision passing and the 24/7 mode this game is easily the best madden yet and deserves a 10.
