The other night, the wife and I ended up walking into Circuit City. And to make a long story short, I walked out with an Xbox 360 and Madden '07. It was kind of like one of those dreams, where something really good happens, only this time, there was no waking up. Maybe I should pinch myself. Or not. Anyway, I fired it up the last two nights and here are my thoughts:
- The graphics are absolutely incredible. I can't believe I was ever amazed by Tecmo Bowl. It seems like it was about 6 lifetimes ago. Seriously, in another 20 years, what are these games going to be like? I played a game in the rain, and I could see stadium reflections in the water on the grass. Trent Green looks like Trent Green. I can see the player names on the jerseys from the default birds-eye view camera. It's insane.
- I can turn the system on and off with my controller now. What a great idea. I can't believe nobody ever thought of this before.
- Superstar mode is pretty cool. Basically, you create a guy, sign an agent, work out for a few teams, take an IQ test, do some interviews, enter the combine and get drafted. Then from there, you control yourself (rather than the entire team). It's pretty sweet to try and make it on your own in the NFL, but I'd like to be able to control everything. Probably not a mode I will mess with extensively, but it's a cool little diversion.
- I hate the new menu system. It's just a little more confusing than it needs to be. I guess I will adjust eventually, but it's definitely different than it used to be.
- John Madden and Al Michaels are nowhere to be found, and there is almost a complete lack of any commentary. You kind of get a pseudo-radio broadcast, with the stadium PA guy thrown in as well. I actually prefer this over John and Al putting me to sleep. There's lots of crowd noise and chatter on the field. Overall the sound is very good.
- The new controls are a little tricky. The "sprint" button has always been the A button on previous games, and now it's the right shoulder button. So it's definitely an adjustment, but I'm starting to finally get the hang of it. I think it's probably better to have it that way.
- I still need to mess with Franchise mode, but it should be great like always. I will probably start one up tonight with the Chiefs. Thankfully, Willie Roaf is on the game's default roster, so I should have a pretty decent line. But I'm sure that he and Will Shields will retire after the first year, so I'll have some rebuilding to do for sure. I'll probably post periodic updates as I go along.
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3 comments:
You have no idea how jealous of you I am!!! How did you talk the wife into this one? You must have officially given up the other testicle to be pickled in the jar with the first one. She owns you! But congratulations - it sounds like it's well worth it!
Too many buttons for me. I'm still a fan of Super Tecmo or maybe the original Madden Football on Sega Genesis. How good do the graphics really have to be?
I have no idea how I pulled it off. Bascially she was going to see if she could get one on the cheap on Ebay, and I somehow convinced her that it would be better to get it in a store because you can get a warranty, and it just sort of took off from there.
It is a lot of buttons, but after the adjustment, it grows on you. Plus, if I drop an extra $200, I can get the HD DVD player addon. Obviously that won't happen for awhile, but somewhere down the line I'd like to get it.
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