worth importing? - Defunct Games

Publisher : Electronic Arts
Developer : Tiburon
Release Date : 8/9/2005
Rating : EVERYONE
4.25 of 5
58_REVIEW_MADDEN NFL 06
Review by 4thletter
Genre(s) : Sports
Category : Football
# of players : 1-8
It’s time for the biggest national holiday that businesses love
to hate: Madden Day. This year, expect record numbers of
people calling in sick, husbands neglecting their wives, and
fistfights over whether that long bomb pass was skill or
a fluke.
Madden NFL 06 continues EA’s tradition of introducing possibly
gamebreaking new features and seeing how they work. The good
ones (Playmaker control, Michael Vick being a demigod) stick around
for the next year. The bad ones never get mentioned again. This year,
we get QB Vision and Precision Passing. Precision Passing lets you put
a little extra touch on your passes and place the ball high, low, left,
or right of your receiver and away from defenders. Once you get it
down, you’re golden. It really adds a new level to the game.
QB Vision, on the other hand, will decide if you love or hate this
game. This innovative feature changes the tried and true Madden
gameplay to a large extent. Your QB now actually has to look in the
direction of the receiver he wants to hit if he wants to be accurate. If
you don’t like QB Vision, you can turn it off. It adds something of a
steep learning curve to what used to be a pick-up-and-play game, but
it gives the game a more realistic edge. It demands a more measured
gameplan and calculated passes.
These new additions, among others, make Madden 06 feel much
more authentic than the previous games. You aren’t just playing a
quarterback, you are the quarterback and have to keep track
of everything.
The graphics have gotten an upgrade, mostly in the form of new
animations. You can tell when a player was brought down courtesy of
a face mask, for example. It’s also nice to see players automatically
hopping over downed players on the field or completely demolishing
a lineman and proceeding to sack the QB for negative yards. EA’s
really delivering on its “If it’s in the game, it’s in the game” slogan.
Some of the hits are brutal.
NFL Superstar mode is deserving of respect. It takes Season mode
and stands it on its head. Instead of just playing games, you need
to manage having an agent, training, and plenty of other things. It
sounds overly complicated, but it’s surprisingly easy to get into. It’s
just another stab at making Madden NFL 06 more authentic.
The presentation of the game is functional and attractive. The menus
are easy to use and brightly animated, complete with real video clips
from your favorite team. The soundtrack is decent, and continues
the trend of spotlighting lesser-known artists (Chamillionaire and Stat
Quo in this case) in addition to more established acts.
Madden NFL 06 isn’t an all-new game, but it’s close to it. There’s a
heap of new stuff to get used to, and a steep learning curve to climb,
but it’s definitely worth the effort. It’s extremely rewarding to toss a
pass, alter its trajectory just so, and come
up with the big play for the win. You can’t
buy bragging rights like that.
Rating : 4 of 5
2nd opinion by Shoegazer • Alternate Rating : 4.5 of 5
Madden 06 should prove to naysayers that an exclusive license doesn’t mean yearly
rehashes. A slew of upgrades make the greatest football franchise ever even better.
HARDCORE GAMER MAGAZINE_VOLUME 1_ISSUE 4_A pr0nLESS PUBLICATION
You could almost hear the ice-shattering sigh of relief from
hockey fans across the world last July when the NHL announced
that its lockout would finally come to an end. Hockey is back
and soon, after more than a year off, the players from the
coolest game on Earth will lace up their skates once again in
pursuit of Lord Stanley’s Cup. Despite the lockout, EA was able
to work with the NHL to put the game’s new rules into NHL
2006 even before they were announced to the media. It’s in the
game, indeed.
Three things that you can always count on from an EA Sports title are
quality, TV-style presentation, and insanely deep game customization.
The beauty of NHL 06 is that the default settings are tuned to the
player that wants an accurate replica of an actual NHL game, but a
more experienced player can adjust the sliders to match whatever
style of hockey they prefer. Think the goalie’s agility is too unrealistic?
Turn down the AI. Think the defensemen don’t play hard enough? Turn
up the frequency at which they’ll dive in front of the goal to block a
shot. Whether you’re slow and methodical, or lightning fast and bonecrushing,
the sheer amount of customizable gameplay tuners is dizzying.
NHL 06 is reminiscent of the gameplay from an era gone by in hockey
games. Scoring will require strategy, which means that you’ll actually
use a balanced mixture of break aways, one-timers, dekes and wraparounds
as opposed to simply skating up the middle and attacking the
goal head-on. Hero Players, indicated by a star icon around them, can
perform super shots by pressing the new right analog Skill Stick in any
2nd opinion by 4thletter • Alternate Rating : 3.5 of 5
Review by Shoegazer
Publisher : Electronic Arts Genre(s) : Sports
Developer : EA Canada
Category : Hockey
Release Date : 9/14/2005 # of players : 1-4 (Online and
Rating : EVERYONE 10+; Mild Violence XBOX Live Compatible)
direction. Only the best goalies in the NHL are able to stop these shots,
so be sure to attack when you’ve got a guy like Steve Yzerman free and
clear from the pack.
Thanks to the new rules of the NHL, playing a standard three-period
game is relatively quick, so getting through an entire season hardly
seems like a chore this year. Long-time fans of the franchise will also
appreciate the more subtle improvements, such as the inclusion of
multiplayer mini-games which adds party game value. However, the real
jackpot here for old-school EA fans is the near-perfect port of the 16-bit
classic NHL ’94, which is available from the main menu.
Though most of NHL 06 is exactly what the franchise needed, there
are still a few rough spots left to iron out for next season. The Dynasty
mode serves its purpose, but feels outdated in comparison to other EA
titles. Also, despite the complaints of hockey sim purists about big hits
being “over the top,” EA has got to make body checking more punishing,
like Madden’s Hit Stick. A well-placed hard body check not only insures
that the opposing player will lose puck control, but it’s also just hilarious
to knock them over the rail and into the penalty box. Make it an option
that can be toggled on or off, whatever, but give us back the tools to
dish out the pain! Sadistic fun has always been synonymous with video
game hockey.
In the end, what you’re left with is unquestionably the greatest hockey
game of the current generation, but some overall lack of polish and a
lackluster Dynasty mode take the score down a tad. Quibbles
aside, make no mistake that if you have even a remote
interest in hockey, you need NHL 06. Go get it now!
Rating : 4 of 5
NHL 06 is fun, but difficult, stuff. You’ll earn every point that you make. 3.75 of 5
HARDCORE GAMER MAGAZINE_VOLUME 1_ISSUE 4_A pr0nLESS PUBLICATION NHL 2006_REVIEW_59