Missing from the other versions of this title is the Campus
Legend mode, one of the few detailed new additions. In fact, any sort of career mode is
missing. Single player begins and ends with dynasty play. The unique and exclusive
mini-games are throw-aways aside from tug-of war. Here, there's one play to move the ball
up, and then the offense switches over to the other team who then makes progress from that
spot, "tugging" the opposing team away from their own endzone. The first team to
score wins. That's apparently all this generation can do for us. The new playbook layout is awful. Text is a poorly chosen font, and at times can be hard to read. It's too many pages crammed into a half of the screen, while space is wasted on a between play camera. This would make sense if anything actually happened between plays.
That leads to this editions biggest issue. It doesn't feel like college football. There are no cinematics between plays, no halftime shows, no close-up of fans, the ESPN license is used sparingly at best, and the ESPN Radio feature is absent entirely. The fully polygonal crowd supposedly does specific motions (the Gator Chop in Florida), but you'll never actually see it. Worse, small schools are given generic stadiums. Bowling Green has been given a new 60,000 seat stadium that would dwarf the entire campus, let alone the real field.
Gameplay additions are few and far between here. The momentum meter is here, supposedly changing the tide of the game. Its impact is sloppily implemented. If a team has full momentum, throws an interception which is returned for a touchdown, the momentum barely shifts. The team with the meter in their favor is supposed to have increased stats, though aside from breaking an extra tackle or two, the effect is minimal.
New controls for the defense, including line shifts and
adjustments, are unnecessarily convoluted. There's rarely time to make the needed changes
before the snap. Improved collision, improved passing, or anything of the sort are absent.
This version has no gameplay improvements at all, and aside from a lackluster (especially
where weather is concerned) facelift, you'd never know this was a 360 game.A few additional moves and control features have been carried over here. The ability to jump the line at the precise moment of the snap adds an extra danger for quarterbacks. A speed boost is set to the right trigger, and the option is easier to run this year. Sadly, Madden 07's upcoming blocker control (which allows for control of both a running back and a linemen) would have been welcome here.
If it weren't for the missing or cheaply added features, there would be some life here. The gameplay itself is fine as it usually is. It's the same game we've been playing since the first edition on the Playstation 2. In this case though, unless you absolutely have to have some extra graphical gloss, there's no reason to pay an extra $10 for this.
