The Xbox 360 is here and with it comes EA's 500-pound gorilla, and main franchise moneymaker, Madden 06. But hold on one second, this is not quite the Madden I remembered. The visuals are impressive, the players have accurately proportioned heads and the presentation seems to have stepped up a notch. Also, the gameplay feels familiar, but not ported over, and a new play-by-play announcer has stepped in and finally has ended the years of agonizing Maddenisms. If this is what is to come for future Madden titles, I am all for it. Not all is a bed of roses though, as there are some features that have not been implemented this season, and while the gameplay does not feel ported, it does not feel quite polished either. It is for these reasons, and more, which make me wonder why EA rushed this out. Another few months could have made this an AAA title, but as is, comes off more as a disappointment.

Visually Madden 06 for the Xbox 360 is a graphical feast for the eyes. The stadiums are accurately modeled after the real things, including little nuances such as the pirate ship in Tampa, scoreboards, and even seating sections. Even the crowd is animated separately from one another, instead of looking like dead pixels in the background. The lighting is genuine, with the sun and spotlights reflecting off player helmets and onto the field, and providing detailed shadow effects. Player models are the most realistic looking football models on a videogame system yet. The detail of the jerseys, helmets, and even player faces is uncanny. The realism is so detailed that you will even see sweat on the players brow and arms after a few grueling minutes on the field. Animations are very fluid, giving onlookers plenty of tackles, jukes, and moves to witness in awe. The new playcalling screen is nice as are some of the new menu modes. Not all is peaches and cream in graphics land, as the cut scenes do repeat themselves quite often. Next year I hope to see more celebrations, cut scenes, and good use of the ESPN license. Even with the little nit picks and gripes I can come up with, there is still no denying that this is the best looking football game to date, so in a sense... mission accomplished here.

Audio is refreshing for one reason - no more Madden during commentary! The EA Radio guy is now the new voice of Madden and his insight on the game is refreshing, especially since he provides more emotion during his commentary than Al and John have ever done. The crowd is loud, but does not really react to the actions on the field, even in the red zone; they instead seem to being doing their own thing. Some of the NFL's superstars have lent their voices to the game, which heightens the games realism a bit, but honestly, I wouldn't know one player's growl from another. If you want to really impress me, how about providing the actual announcing crew from each city, I mean this is supposed to be next generation.

Gameplay in Madden on the Xbox 360 has mechanics that sort of feel like Madden of old. But I'm talking old, before weight and momentum were a factor in game play. The game provides a fun game of football, but I cannot say that it is a realistic one. It is as if all the work that the Madden team put into polishing the current gen games, has been taken away for this next generation version. I just hope this doesn't mean I have to wait unit Madden 2010 to play a fantastic game of next gen football. What has returned from current gen systems is the QB vision mode, with a tweak in execution for the better. Now the QB vision is default off, but you may activate it with the right analog stick. The premise remains the same, the better your QB's vision is, the wider his vision cone is. What I have noticed about Madden on the 360 is that it seems this time around the developers were trying to make a more entertaining game, verses a super realistic one. I just hope the fundamentals and realism return next go round. The A.I. on the other hand is really freakin smart, provided you are not playing on a low difficulty. They will pick up on patterns and plays if you try to do them repeatedly. You even have to mix up your pass and run game, because if you do not plan your strategy ahead of time and establish some sense of running game, you will be double covered and blitzed until your passing game no longer is effective. Fans used to the gameplay of older Madden titles, may be upset with some of the tweaks, but I'm happy to at least see EA attempt to try something new, especially with a new engine to do it with.

Madden 360 is short on game play modes, this is true, but at least they did include one that matters - franchise mode. While there is no owner's mode, NFL Superstar Mode, or even create-a-anything, the franchise mode will still allow gamers to play games and make important roster decisions to build a Super Bowl winning team. Another downer is even in franchise mode there isn't any training camp. For newbies, this is a big minus as the only way to familiarize yourself with the QB vision is quick play. Lastly, the biggest downer of them all is the fact you cannot challenge a play! Now if it's EA Sports, it's in the game, how come an NFL RULE is not available in the game?

For those whose biggest thrill is head-to-head competition, you will find a decent online mode, but one that does lack leagues and tourneys. In addition, using EA's dated lobby mode, you have to wonder when they will just bite the bullet and use Microsoft's far superior online service when developing Xbox and 360 titles.

When all is said and done, did EA deliver a game that is worthy of all the hype and hoopla surrounding the months of development time? No. What they did accomplish is the building blocks for a very promising franchise on the next generation consoles. As is, Madden 06 is very entertaining, very playable, and very pretty... it just does not feel very next gen when the meat of the game is concerned.