1. Madden 06 Pc Download

By Review Date: August 21, 2005 I have been playing Madden on the PC since Madden 97 came out. I have since owned Madden 99, Madden 2001, and Madden 2003. Sense a pattern. Yes, I bought a new Madden game every other year. But Madden 2003 was a brilliant game, near perfection, so I delayed buying my next Madden game until Madden 06 came out.

I am saying this because I am reviewing Madden 06 not in comparison to 2005's version, but to 2003's version- with all the upgrades in between. So lets get on with the review! The big new feature in Madden 06 is the QB Vision Cone and Precision Passing. I can say that even using a keyboard and NOT a Dual Analog Controller (which I am using now, but I'll review the game using the keyboard controls), that these features are effective, easy to use, and fun. Yes, unlike other PC sports games, the keyboard configuration is good! All the features, including the hit and truck sticks, can be used on the keyboard.

With either the keyboard or a game controller, the new features are NOT HARD and VERY FUN. Using QB Vision and precision was actually quite simple.

To throw, let's say, to receiver 'F' using the keyboard, you must push 'g' and 'f' to focus your vision cone on the receiver, then 'f' and an arrow key to determine precision passing. Translate that to your game controller if you will, but the point is, while pressing four buttons to throw may seem hard, it's actually very easy. It just takes the ability to spot you WR's open quickly and be in a good position to throw to them (i.e not scrambling to the right of the field then trying to throw to a WR wide left, because it shouldn't be able to happen).

Also, at least in Rookie and Pro modes, throwing outside your vision cone is not the 'kiss of death'. Sometimes you’ll throw a half decent ball on target, other times you'll miss by a good seven yards. Precision Passing is also a very simple addition to Madden 06, but may really change the passing game more than QB vision. Precision Passing allows the QB to throw the ball to the receiver either high or low, to his left or to his right.

Madden 06 Pc Download

This allows you to throw to a receiver on his left side if he has, let's say, a cornerback covering him on his right. Precision passing, along with QB vision, makes Madden 06's passing game more cerebral than ever before. No more heaving the ball downfield mindlessly, and frankly, I'm glad I can't do that anymore. The final addition to on-field game play is the truck stick. The truck stick, which is the offensive version of the hit stick, really opens up the running game by allowing larger running backs the ability to basically ram defenders into the ground.

This makes running much more powerful than any other madden so far. In Madden 2003, a typical game I played would have me throwing for 400 yards and rushing for maybe 30 yards. Now, in Madden 06, the passing and rushing games have really been balanced out. The new superstar mode is not broken, but it is not the solid experience it could have been. It's a feature that is good in concept, yet its execution is vague and confusing.

The problem is that you have too much control over the team you're on. It's more like a mini franchise mode with emphasis on one player than just a simulation of this one player's nfl journey.

Frankly, it's unacceptable that I can rearrange the team's roster in order to become the starter, especially when I don't deserve it. In terms of graphics, Madden 06 looks very similar to 2003 in many ways. Player models look very similar in quality, although their uniforms all shine and have much more texture to them. The animations and player clipping are all much improved, as is the frame rate. Madden 06 has a smooth frame rate, even when running on my laptop. Many of the faces, however, look unusual, maybe even cartoonish. Unlike the Gamespot review, I have seen no instances of 'goofy texture and player model pop-in issues' in the game.

The pc version is far crisper looking on than the consoles and should be called the best looking version of 06. Sound is a mixed bag in Madden 06. Much of the commentary seems pulled right from Madden 2003, and unfortunately, it hasn't improved with time. However Madden 06 should be commended for the sheer amount of audio in this game both on and off the field. Whether much of this game, such as the franchise mode, was pulled right from Madden 05 is not a concern to me.

Since 2003 was the last Madden game I played, it's all new to me. Franchise mode is deep, the on field controls are rich and powerful, and the game is now better than ever. I believe that the QB Vision and Precision passing is enough to warrant an upgrade from Madden 2005- but if you don't own last year’s game, drop what you're doing and run out and buy this one right now!

With summer almost here, we're about to reach full throttle on the Madden NFL 06 hype machine. The game, due in August, was shown off at a press event in San Francisco recently, and we got to spend some more time with it-this time on the PC. As has been the case of late, beyond some enhanced graphical tweaks on player models, the PC version of Madden will be identical to its console counterparts in nearly every respect.

Despite this, we did manage to glean some new information about features that will pertain to both the PC and console versions of the game. First off, you'll have more options than ever before when calling plays in Madden NFL 06. If you've read our previous coverage of the game, you already know about the ability to swap your primary receiver before the snap-thus changing where your quarterback's vision cone will be aimed once the center snaps the ball. What you may not know yet is that you have the ability to assign 'smart' hot routes to wide receivers before the play begins. We've all played Madden games and found ourselves in medium yardage situations on third down, where all the receiver needed to do to keep the drive alive was to run a quick out to the first-down marker, catch the ball, and keep the chains moving. Yet in the past, what has happened more often than not is the wideout runs his route and stops well short of the first-down line, which screws you into a fourth-and-short scenario. So-called 'smart' routes in Madden NFL 06, activated with the right analog stick before the snap and assigned to specific receivers, will force the receiver to run his route relative to the position your team occupies on the field.

If you need that crucial first down, then that same out route will now take into consideration the first-down marker, and your wideout will adjust his route accordingly. Since audibles are such an important part of the real NFL (at least, if you're Peyton Manning), the EA Tiburon development team has made sure that you'll have access to more than the handful of audible options available to you in the past. This time around, audibles will be formation specific, so you'll be able to individually assign audible plays based on any formation in your playbook. More audibles obviously mean more offensive options for you and less of a chance for your opponent (either real or virtual) to guess your move when he sees you changing up your play. One thing we hadn't noticed before was the ability to throw the ball at a full sprint in this year's game. Playing the Eagles, we wanted to take advantage of Donovan McNabb's speed and were surprised to see that you could toss the ball even when scrambling out of the pocket and pressing the 'turbo' button.

The caveat here is that passing at a dead sprint takes some zip off the ball, and your QB's vision cone will be stuck to staring straight ahead unless you choose to manually move the vision cone with the right analog stick. There's no automatic cycling through your receivers with the trigger button. A final note about pre-snap game options is that you'll also be able to adjust your offensive line before the play in much the same manner as you do the D-line when playing defense. Slide-protection options will give you the ability to shift your O-line a step right or left, or have them spread out or bunch up, and it all can be executed with a simple press of the analog stick. A few minor but noticeable changes this time around in Madden 06 include an altered game menu that shifts the score and down-and-distance information to the top of the screen, as well as a few in-game cutscenes that are mixed into the action in between plays. The cutscenes might include close-ups of the ball as the players walk up to the line of scrimmage, or shots of assistant coaches in the booth watching the action and calling plays from overhead.

These cutscenes were in various forms of completion in the build we played, but we definitely got a feel for where they're heading. One pleasant surprise we learned was that this year's version will have the same minimum system requirements as last year's game (namely an 800MHZ, or faster, processor, 128MB of RAM, a video card with more than 32MB of RAM, and either an ATI Radeon 8500 or above, or an Nvidia GeForce2 GTS or greater). Unfortunately, Windows 98 and Windows ME users will be out of luck with Madden 06, as the game will no longer support those operating systems. Our coverage of Madden NFL 06 on all platforms will continue throughout the summer, so be sure to check back for more.