The game is scheduled to hit store shelves in January 2008.

Electronic Arts today announced the full soundtrack for the upcoming Madden NFL 2008 title spanning across multiple platforms. Below is the full list.

Airbourne

Runnin’ Wild

Atreyu

Becoming

Brother Ali

Whatcha Got

Daddy Yankee

Impacto

Datarock

The New Song

Earl Greyhound

S.O.S.

Enter Shikari

OK, Time For Plan B

From Autumn To Ashes

Daylight Slaving

HE**YEAH

You Wouldn’t Know

Jupiter One

Countdown

MIMS

Cop It

Murs

Dreadlocks

O-Solo

Monsta

Operator

Soul Crusher

Ozzy Osbourne

I Don’t Wanna Stop

Pharoahe Monch feat. Showtyme

Desire

Pitbull feat. Don Omar

Fuego Remix

Queens Of The Stone Age

3’s & 7’s

Red1 feat. Afu-Ra

Dem No Worry We

Shadows Fall

Redemption

Swizz Beatz

It’s Me Snitches

Sum 41

Underclass Hero

Team Shadetek feat. 77Klash & Jahdan

Brooklyn Anthem

The Bravery

Believe

The Hives

Tick Tick Boom

The Used

The Ripper

Timbaland feat. Justin Timberlake

Release

Yellowcard

Fighting

Zion I & The Grouch

Hit’em]]> Thu, 28 Jun 2007 13:16:00 -0500 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/first_madden_nfl_nextgen_shot http://www.gamebump.com/go/first_madden_nfl_nextgen_shot http://www.gamebump.com/go/first_madden_nfl_nextgen_shot# Wed, 29 Nov 2006 22:13:00 -0600 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/nfl_street_3_announced http://www.gamebump.com/go/nfl_street_3_announced http://www.gamebump.com/go/nfl_street_3_announced# Electronic Arts has announced that they are working on a third edition of the popular football series, NFL Street.

NFL Street 3 plans to add aerial moves to the mix allowing players to jump in midair to perform a variety of tasks. This capability will give you the opportunity to not only gain style points, but also acquire items and modifiers that will help you in-game. The new title looks to feature the gamebreaker control and will include new power moves on both sides of the ball.

No date has been given for NFL Street 3, but it is currently being worked on for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable.

“NFL Head Coach, the third pillar in our NFL portfolio, was developed to satiate all those Monday morning quarterbacks and fantasy football fanatics,” said Dale Jackson, Executive Producer, EA Tiburon. “NFL Head Coach is an entirely new football experience that every level of football gamer can play. It provides the strategy that the hardcore fan will demand, but with very easy-to-use controls and assistance for more casual fans. Football will no longer be intimidating for the casual user.”

NFL Head Coach (*working title) will be available in stores in spring 2006. Look for more information soon on this title.

The game is based around the Cold War and takes into account that the Berline Wall never fell. Based in 1989 the Soviets decide to head into Europe and then invade America. In the game players take on the role of a field commander who must reclaim American cities.

World In Conflict is scheduled to ship in Spring 2007.

When the Madden franchise made its PSP debut in September fans quickly discovered a flaw in the game that caused it to crash PSP’s while in franchise mode.  EA quickly developed a fix that involved fiddling with the game’s menus, but has now offered a more permanent solution.  Madden owners can send their defective discs into EA for a free replacement.  The replacement UMD’s feature new software without the PSP crashing glitch.  EA is also kind enough to include 2 coupons with the new disc: a $15 coupon for use in EA’s online store as well as a free shipping voucher.

Interested gamers can mail their UMD’s to the following address:EA Customer Warranty Attn: Madden PSP 209 Redwood Shores Parkway Redwood City, CA 94065

Discs may take up to 10 business days to arrive.  More information is available at the game’s official site. ]]> Tue, 20 Dec 2005 22:19:00 -0600 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_madden_nfl_2006_360 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_madden_nfl_2006_360 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_madden_nfl_2006_360# This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Aaron Thomas.

Fans of the Madden franchise are a notoriously fickle bunch. If EA doesn’t make a whole lot of changes from one year to the next, they’re accused of releasing little more than a “roster update.”. Should EA drastically alter the feel of the game by changing up the passing game or adding an uninteresting play mode, they’re accused of making change for change’s sake. This is why it’s so surprising to see EA throw caution into the wind and build the Xbox 360’s version of Madden NFL 05 from the ground up. Don’t worry, it’s still got that “Madden feel” to it, but it has an all-new presentation that shows what next-generation sports titles are capable of delivering. Alas, one of the caveats of creating an all-new game is that there are some features missing and the gameplay isn’t quite as refined as it normally is in a Madden game.

The first thing everyone wants to know about Madden on the 360 is how it looks. Simply put – it looks awesome. The player models are incredibly lifelike, and the game’s presentation take’s ample opportunity to show them off. The camera will focus in on the players as they break from the huddle, panning around and eventually zooming in on the quarterback. Most of the players look eerily realistic, but a few of them, like Joey Harrington and Kerry Collins, don’t look too hot. You’ll see sweat down a player’s arm, they’ll actually blink their eyes, and you can even read logos on the uniforms. When you pan around the field during an instant replay you’ll notice improved animations in the offensive line, where the battle in the trenches looks more lifelike than ever. There are some outstanding new animations on both sides of the ball; with some nice new juke moves, and some vicious looking hits on defense.

The stadiums are nearly photorealistic, even featuring such a minute detail as burnt out bulbs on the scoreboard. The fans in the stands also look top-notch. Rather than detracting from the experience when you look out and see blurry 2D sprites, the crowd here adds to the atmosphere when the camera pans back to show 50,000 rabid fans, clapping and cheering, while dressed in their team’s colors. The sidelines could have used some work, as there it’s kind of disappointing to see a lifelike version of Andy Reid waddling down the sidelines, but no cheerleaders to speak of. Certainly someone could have made next-gen cheerleaders a reality?

From a gameplay standpoint very little has changed, which is of course a good thing. It took a little while to adjust to the controls, since like most people, I usually play Madden on the PS2, but once I was accustomed to the different layout (like the sprint button being the right trigger), it felt like business as usual. The passing cone that bitterly divided Madden fans is here, but it defaults to the off setting, so you’ll have to enable it if you want to be all “hardcore” or whatever. The truck stick, which is the offensive version of the hit stick, is also in the game, and it’s mapped to the right analog stick.

One of the biggest changes to the game is the way in which menus are navigated and plays are called. Rather than going back and forth to view different game menus, NFL 06 utilizes seldom-used buttons (such as pushing in the right analog stick) to activate drop-down menus. In-game menus have also been improved as plays can be called by formation, play type, and even according to player. This new play calling scheme works great as you can now view all your inside runs in one place, get the ball to a certain player with ease, or even view your last five plays so you can quickly go back to a successful play.

Online play is supported, and while it is bare-bones, it worked fine. One nice feature is that rather than suffering through a blowout that’s painful to both sides, you can now concede defeat or offer mercy if the game is out of hand.

The 360 version of Madden NFL 06 is lacking polished gameplay and features that loyal fans of the franchise have come to expect over the years. There is no training camp mode, nor are there any minigames, so you can’t perfect your skills by practicing drills over and over. There is a franchise mode, but it’s watered-down and doesn’t allow you to check email, read newspapers, make changes to your stadium, ticket prices, team amenities and the like. If you enjoy creating yourselves and your friends on your team, you’re out of luck as there is no create-a-player in the game this year.

On the field, there are some noteworthy issues. You can’t challenge calls, so if you get a bum call, you’re stuck with it. There’s a pretty significant glitch where the computer can snap the ball without either team being set at the line, resulting in your team getting called for a penalty when the CPU is trying to run the hurry-up offense. I even saw an instance where one the CPU’s players couldn’t get back through the line to line up in his position. The player kept standing in place, trying to run right through my players, who weren’t budging an inch. When trying to get a first down, curl routes are almost completely useless because you can’t stop your momentum coming back for the catch. The game doesn’t do a good job of figuring out forward progress, so you often come up short, even if the catch was three yards past the first-down marker. The running game doesn’t feel as refined as the passing game. Defenses have a knack for getting in the backfield, and if the hole closes up quickly, the running back will sometimes get “stuck” in the pile while upright. The kicking meter has been re-tooled and is reminiscent of the NFL 2K series. The old kicking method wasn’t broken, so it seems odd that development time was used for something so trivial, especially when there were so many important features that didn’t make it into the game.

Most everything about Madden’s visuals is superb, but there are a few minor issues. When you’re lined up ready for the snap, the camera is zoomed in rather close, most likely to show off how great everything looks. From this close perspective you can’t see your receivers, so it would be perfectly natural to just move one of the analog sticks left or right to swing the camera over, but you can’t. Instead you’ve got to hit the trigger button, which quickly pulls the camera back, where it stays until you snap the ball. Some of the animations are too long and you can’t break out of them. This seems to be a problem in first-gen games, as it was a problem that plagued sports titles on the original PlayStation as well as the PS2, and now it’s an issue on the 360.

You may have heard by now that John Madden isn’t in the booth calling the action, though he is still in the game giving advice when you select an “ask Madden” play. NFL 06 eschews the typical television-style announcing crew for a lone radio broadcaster. If you watch the game’s opening video and listen to the announcer’s call, you’ll hear him convey a sense of urgency and the drama that surrounds the final seconds of the SuperBowl. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen when you’re actually playing the game. The commentary is quite sparse, and even with the PA announcer calling the yardage and downs, there are still long lapses in dialog. The lone, unnamed announcer sounds more like he’s calling a high school football skirmish than a high-stakes NFL game. Since when does a professional radio broadcast only have one man in the booth anyways?

It’s tough to say if Madden NFL 06 for the Xbox 360 is worth a purchase. On one hand, anyone that bought the console version this summer has undoubtedly played the heck out the game. On the other hand, this is the same type of person that’s dying to see what “next-gen” sports games are going to be like. If you can only pick up one or two of the 360’s launch games, you might want to hold off on dropping $60 on a bare-bones edition of a game you already played. That’s not to say that Madden 06 is a bad game; even with some missing features it’s a solid start for the series.

It feels like Madden, but it’s lacking some polish. Not having a challenge system is a sham.

Incredible stadiums, players, and coaches. Not having cheerleaders is also a sham.

You’d think not having Madden and Michaels would be awesome, but strangely, it’s not.

What can you say here? It’s fun.

The watered-down franchise mode and omission of minigames hurts the title’s longevity.

]]> Sun, 27 Nov 2005 12:14:00 -0600 Brian Mohr http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_madden_nfl_2006_3601 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_madden_nfl_2006_3601 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_madden_nfl_2006_3601# This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

The launch of the Xbox 360 is imminent, and with it comes many blockbuster titles from Electronic Arts, including Need for Speed: Most Wanted, NBA Live, and the premier sports headliner: Madden NFL 2006. Of course anyone looking for an NFL title on the 360 is stuck getting Madden because of the new EA license, but at least the football giant is shaping up to be a pretty solid title. 

The first thing that must be mentioned is that all the players, coaches and stadiums are realistic down to the finest details. EA has taken head scans of the players and coaches and each has various facial reactions that correspond to the action on the field, whether celebrating a touchdown or barking at a quarterback. There is also three times the number of animations in the game showing players getting pumped before the game kicks off and after every touchdown or turnover. The stadiums are finely detailed with thousands of 3D fans and the details spare no expense down to the scoreboards, which even show team chants and injury reports. The weather also has effects on the graphics as player jerseys get dirty and stained.

The impressive presentation for the 360 isn’t just in the graphics, but also spreads to the audio. Instead of John Madden and Al Michaels, the action is called by your home team announcers. NFL Films also provided on-field audio down to the hits and smack-talk from the players.

Important to any Madden fan is the gameplay; although the game was built from the scratch and improved upon, it still plays like a Madden title, so fans will feel very comfortable. This time Tiburon has added new features including picture-in-picture and an adjusted play-calling system. Quarterback vision control, hit stick and truck stick are still featured too.

One other feature that is important to fans is the franchise mode. There are up to 30 years of tracked stats in season mode. These stats go down to the smallest details including who from your team goes into the Hall of Fame, NFL records that were broken and more. Sadly Madden 06 for the Xbox 360 doesn’t include owner mode, create-a-player or create-a-team features.

Finally, the game features many customizations and a full online mode via Xbox Live. The customizations enable you to change your music play-lists, controls, strategies and settings while the online play breaks down all your statistics to show how you rank amongst the competition.

Madden NFL 06 is sure to be a hit upon the launch of the Xbox 360 as it is the only football title to release at this time. The most successful sports game ever looks and sounds great and should make fans of the series very happy. There isn’t too much that is innovative in the game for the 360 itineration, but Tiburon has worked from the ground up to make this easily the best looking Madden to date.]]> Sun, 06 Nov 2005 11:11:00 -0600 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_madden_nfl_2006_psp http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_madden_nfl_2006_psp http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_madden_nfl_2006_psp# This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Brian Mohr.

Six months ago the PSP came out and along with the launch came baseball, basketball, soccer and hockey games, but the only incarnation of football was the very eccentric NFL Street. Now just a few weeks after the NFL season has kicked off, the heavyweight football giant Madden 06 has made its way to the PlayStation Portable. In many ways the game does well for itself on the impressive handheld, but in the end it falls just short of being top-notch.

First off the developers brought everything you’d normally see in the Madden series and scaled it down for the handheld. This includes a full franchise mode, 18 mini-games including 10 new ones and the ability to transfer your franchise between the PlayStation 2 and PSP version via a USB. Beyond that, the game also features an online option, although it takes a lot of time to set up and play as you have to go through EA’s own setup process and then use the lackluster PSP keyboard. The online mode is very solid as well and sees very little lag compared to a normal game.

The graphics are pretty good too. Although the actual character models are a little rough, it’s not too bad especially considering you have 22 players on-screen at once. Sure the character models aren’t the best, but the in-game animations are very solid with dives, wrap tackles, stiff arms and more. Players celebrate after scoring a touchdown also. Even with the actual gameplay moving fast, the action is clear and easy to see. The stadiums are also well done and define each team accordingly.

If that’s not enough, the gameplay is also great as it does a good job at feeling and playing like Madden. Of course the actual controls had to be scaled down, but it’s very simple with the use of either the D-pad or analog nub to run. On offense you can still do a spin, juke, dive, sprint and stiff arm; if you’re passing the new precision passing option has been included as you push the nub in the direction you want the ball to travel. Overall it works pretty well. One last note in relation to the gameplay is that the computer A.I. thankfully is well intact as the defense will adjust to often used plays and cover you pretty well. One other addition in the game is that players can save mid-game and come back later.

Finally, the audio is some of the better sounds I’ve heard on a game for the PSP. The crowds will chant, cheer, boo and more. Of course John Madden and Al Michaels lend their talents for in-game commentary and the voicework keeps up with the on-field action pretty well although Madden can get a little tiresome. EA has brought their Trax songs to Madden and they fit the game accordingly with a rock and hip-hop mood.

The most noticeable problem with the PSP Madden title is the jumps because of loading in-game. These occur a lot such as when there is a touchdown, interception or randomly throughout a contest including right before the team snaps the ball. It’s not terrible at first when you start playing, but over time it makes the experience very disjointed which is something you don’t want to see in a fast-paced, smooth playing game.

Other issues in the game included no instant replay or challenges, no ability to throw the ball away or pump fake on offense. The kicking meter is too small and quick, causing missed extra points among other things and the fact that the analog nub is too sensitive allows your character to run through defenses too easily. With the analog nub, you can cut too quickly against a defense. I played with stars including Vick, Tomlinson and Ahman Green among others and they all had the ability to shred defenses by running around the defenders way too often.

Overall Madden 06 for the PlayStation Portable is a solid title with everything you’d expect from the mega-hit football franchise including great gameplay, graphics, audio and options, but the game falls short with in-game loading. This causes the game to be disjointed and makes what would have been a great title into a decent one. Still you can’t come away without being impressed by the product as it is still a great football title and makes you look forward to the upcoming NCAA Football and Madden 07 next year for the PSP.

The game plays like Madden football, but in-game loading is a drag.

The character models are mediocre, but the player animations and stadium models look very good.

Madden’s voicework can get a little tiring, but commentary is done well.

Madden 06 is a lot of fun to play and is worth a purchase for any Madden junkie or casual fan.

There’s lots of replay value with 18 mini-games, full season mode and an online option.

]]> Mon, 10 Oct 2005 22:23:00 -0500 Shiva Stella http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_editorial_conflict_global_terror http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_editorial_conflict_global_terror http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_editorial_conflict_global_terror# This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor.

Jim Bambra, Managing Director of developing house Pivotal Games, has written the first developer diary for Conflict: Global Terror. The article includes a run-down on the storyline, brief character biographies, and how the team decided to personify their characters further. You can expect Global Terror to release this fall for the PC, Xbox, and PlayStation 2.

Conflict: Global Terror Developer Diary 1
By Jim Bambra, Managing Director Pivotal Games

When we started to design Conflict: Global Terror we decided that it would be great to use the same Special Forces team as had been featured in Conflict: Desert Storm I & II. After doing two games with these guys we knew them very well and were keen to develop them further. Many Conflict players were also great fans of the characters and were demanding their return.

Military Record
101st Airborne Division
U.S. Army Rangers
1st Special Forces Operational Detachment - Delta Force
CODEX Red Team

Profile
Natural leader and all-round action hero, Bradley is one of the most respected Special Forces operatives in current active service. Implicitly familiar with any form of assault rifle or pistol, Bradley’s cool composure under fire inspires confidence in all who serve with him.

Preferred weapons
M4A1 assault rifle with M203 grenade launcher attachment
Mk23 silenced pistol
Claymore mines

Corporal David Jones
Role: Demolitions
Height: 5’11”
Build: Muscular, Slim
Ethnicity: African American
Age: 35
DOB: March 2, 1970
POB: Detroit, Michigan

Military Record
U.S. Army 3rd Infantry Division
U.S. Army Rangers
1st Special Forces Operational Detachment - Delta Force
CODEX Red Team

Profile
Ignoring his parents’ advice to not play with fireworks, Jones has grown up to become the Special Forces’ explosives expert. A demolition genius – be it destroying fuel and ammo dumps or clearing barriers – Jones also doubles as a dependable SMG MC1shotgun-toting combat operative.

Preferred weapons
MP5SD silenced machine gun
Striker automatic shotgun
C4 charges

Corporal Mick Connors
Role: Support Gunner, Anti Tank Specialist
Height: 6’2”
Build: Heavy, Muscular
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Age: 35
DOB: January 28, 1971
POB: Hell’s Kitchen, New York City

Military Record
U.S. Army 1st Infantry Division
U.S. Army Special Forces Command (Green Berets)
1st Special Forces Operational Detachment - Delta Force
CODEX Red Team

Profile
Connors is a one-man army and heavy weapons fetishist. His superior build allows him to carry the largest arsenal and he’s happiest when laying down cover fire for the rest of the squad. Predictably, Connors is also the man best equipped to dispose of tanks or to take over gun turret duties.

Preferred weapons
M60E3 light machine gun
0.50 cal Desert Eagle pistol
LAW 66 anti-tank rocket

Corporal Paul Foley
Role: Sniper
Height: 5’9”
Build: Athletic, Slim
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Age: 36
DOB: April 18, 1970
POB: Jacksonville, Alabama

Military Record
U.S. Army 3rd Infantry Division
U.S. Army Rangers
1st Special Forces Operational Detachment - Delta Force
CODEX Red Team

Profile
A sharp shooting sniper extraordinaire, Foley still holds the record for the longest distance single-shot kill having taken down an enemy positioned nearly two miles away. Exceptionally cool and calm under pressure, you can rely on Foley to cover your back.

Preferred weapons
WA2000 sniper rifle
Beretta 93R pistol

Corporal Carrie Sherman

Role: Sniper
Height: 5’8”
Build: Athletic, Slim
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Age: 27
DOB: June 8, 1979
POB: Seattle, Washington

Police/Military Record
Seattle SWAT
CODEX Red Team

Profile
One of the first women to be assigned to an active Special Forces unit, newcomer Sherman is an accomplished counter-terrorist sniper instructor with considerable field experience. Her excellent tactical knowledge and rock-steady aim make her the perfect addition to the team.

Preferred weapons
DSR-1 sniper rifle
MAC10 silenced sub machine gun

With the release of the PSP, it was just a matter of time until EA Sports would bring Madden to the handheld. The game graphically looks and feels like Madden for the consoles, although currently the game had at least some framerate issues and the players did look a little blocky, although a rep from EA confirmed that the game will be much faster and cleaner upon release in late September. Beyond that though, the game is pretty realistic especially when it comes to running, tackling, passing and more.

The game will feature 18 mini-games, 10 of which will be new ones for the PSP. There will also be a practice squad option which allows you to develop players for your team in the future just like in the real NFL. Of course the game features plenty of plays along all official NFL teamsa and stadiums along with features like precision passing and more. The game will not take advantage of the hit stick as it is a problem with the PSP's one analog control. The game will also include the Ad Hoc WiFi play and an On the Go feature that will allow you to keep playing your season on the road with the PSP and then when you get home you'll be able to link it back with the PlayStation 2 and continue your season from there.

From the one minute quarters we got to play, the game looks good and is true to the NFL, but it is obvious there is plenty of work to be done. The controls are solid and just like the PlayStation 2 includes stiff arms and jukes with the trigger buttons, although they will be determined which way they stiff arm or juke by where your opponent is coming from.

Overall, Madden 2006 for the PSP is shaping up nicely. The fact that the game will also support Ad Hoc and the On the Go feature certainly add a lot to the title. It's hard to tell exactly how well the product will turn out upon release, but right now it appears that the NFL handheld version is headed in the right direction.]]> Fri, 20 May 2005 01:37:04 -0500 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_madden_nfl_2006_xbox1 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_madden_nfl_2006_xbox1 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_madden_nfl_2006_xbox1# This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Sean Kearney.

There is a saying that begins “There are few certainties in life…”, and there are a few in video games too. It is certain that every five years a new console will come out that will be roughly ten times as powerful as the current one, and it is certain that every year there will be another Madden Football game at E3. Well guess what game was at E3 this year?

Now that EA has exclusive rights to the NFL license, some might assume that they could just put together a football game that plays like last year’s Madden, with a few graphical enchancements, and updated rosters. Well think again, because for Madden NFL 2006, EA has gone back to the drawing boards and delivered some of the most updated gameplay in the franchise’s history.

One of the most impressive new features in the game is the completely reworked passing system, titled “Vision and Precision” passing, which allows you to not only overthrow your pass as a quarterback to lead a receiver away from defenders, as was possible in earlier versions of Madden, but as well now allows you to use your line of vision to throw a more precise pass, or to fake out your opponent.

After the snap, you control where your quarterback is looking by using the right analog stick to maneuver an illuminated vision cone across the field. When you are looking at a receiver you are able to throw a more precise pass to him. Now you are not limited to throwing your pass to a receiver in your line of sight, it is just easier for one to catch your pass if he is in your line of vision. There is also a way to quickly shoot your vision from one receiver to another, which makes it possible to pump fake a pass to one receiver, only to fool your opponent when you throw to another. Playing the demo, this new passing system was easy to understand, and definitely worked when it was used properly. It really helped to make the already enjoyable gameplay experience that much more impressive.

One of the other major enhancements to the franchise in 2006 is the addition of a new game mode, “NFL Superstar Mode”. Although not playable in the demo, the mode was explained as resembling the “Franchise Mode” made famous in the Madden series, as well as in other EA Sports titles, only with one player to manage, instead of an entire team. The idea is that you will have the chance to guide a player from the Collegiate All Star Game throughout his NFL career, making every career decision for him, all the while playing in games as well. The mode goes so in depth that it was mentioned that you are actually able to cycle through and pick the parents of your future NFL Superstar so that his DNA is ideal for a quarterback or a wide receiver position. It makes you wonder if Will Wright has begun to lend some of his “Sims” ideas to his friends working with him at EA.

Building on an already awesome franchise, Madden 2006 is shaping up to be a solid title that is going to make any owner of Madden 2005 want to rush out and upgrade. For myself, I am just trying to clear out my schedule so I can spend some serious time building up my Collegiate All Star to an NFL Superstar, that is if I can find the right parents.  ]]> Thu, 19 May 2005 03:17:14 -0500 Aaron Dunlap http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_unreal_championship_2_the_liandri_conflict_xbox http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_unreal_championship_2_the_liandri_conflict_xbox http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_unreal_championship_2_the_liandri_conflict_xbox# This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

In July of last year, Midway yanked the carpet from under Atari’s feet by striking a publishing deal with Epic Games and taking over the Unreal franchise. Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict is the first product we’re seeing from this changeover, and it’s got a lot to live up to. Unreal Championship was a mild success but beyond that, it’s difficult for an Xbox-only mostly-online shooter to come out the door without being measured against Halo 2. Unreal Championship 2 can be as basic or in-depth as you care to go with it, but the conflict insinuating itself into the game’s title is the beef of the single-player story.



Most people come home with a game like this, throw on their Xbox Live headset and get ready to jump into the seething and untamed sierra of Xbox online multiplayer; not so fast, slick. This game has a system in place that I wish all online-capable games had, in that you need to play through the game a little before you’ll be much good at multiplayer. As you progress through the solo missions, you’re rewarded with unlocked characters, modes, and “mutators” (gameplay modifications) usable in multiplayer that you wouldn’t have right off the bat. This way, people who’ve taken the time to play through the whole game will have access to more powerful characters to use online, and will thereby have a slight advantage over the kid who just couldn’t bother to actually learn how the game works.

The solo mode is actually useful too, as it guides you through the various battle types (deathmatch, capture the flag, and some interesting variations that we’ll get to later), introduces you to many of the arenas, walks you through gameplay elements and maneuvers, and forces you to become better than the bots before you can continue on to the next level.

Probably the biggest addition to gameplay in this sequel is melee combat. While games past throw in a melee attack as a last bastion of defense against attacking hordes (Duke Nukem’s “Mighty Boot” comes to mind), melee attack actually stands on its own as a formidable offensive in this game. Each character has his own special melee weapon, the strength of which is much higher in harder-to-earn characters down the road. Should you choose to pocket your pistols and wield your melee weapon you are newly capable of both deflecting shots and attacks with a little regenerating shield and, more interestingly, bouncing shots back at your attackers with some careful timing. With these self-defense tools, you can parry your way close enough to even the most armed-to-the-teeth foes and issue them some unrelenting lashes of fury.

Another addition to the game that draws from melee combat is finishing moves. If an enemy is sufficiently stunned, you can target onto him and perform a lengthy button combo (it is Midway, after all) to, as they say, “Finish him!”

Like you’re probably used to if you’ve played any of the Unreal games since Unreal Tournament 2003, this game gives you the option of playing in standard first-person perspective or the trendy new third-person perspective while toting guns (gameplay is locked in 3rd person when using melee weapons). Purists may prefer to stay in first person, but if we’ve learned anything from Splinter Cell 2 & 3’s multiplayer modes, first person view sucks when everyone else has third. Not only does third person give you a better sense of your surroundings, it’s much easier to perform tactful wall-jumps and missile-dodges when you can see your legs.

One more improvement to this game over previous Unreal titles is the amped up adrenaline system. In older games, it seemed to take forever to earn enough adrenaline to pull off any special moves, but in UC2 there is a seemingly steady flow of it as you kill opponents, deflect gunshots, and pick up adrenaline modules scattered around the playfield. Stored adrenaline can be used for a number of temporary upgrades like a speed boost and “nimble”, which makes you light as a bird, a significant health boost, or some battle upgrades that are specific to each character. Some character’s battle upgrades are like a quick pulse that harms those around them, and others are ranged attacks like spinning saw blades or automatic turrets that will blast anybody in range until the effect wears off.

Online play is what makes this game so good. By offering up some new play times like “Naili Slaughter”, where the arena is flooded with helpless Naili monks (who can sometimes turn invisible) and you’re supposed to kill more of them (with your melee weapon only) than your opponent, and the “Overdose” mode, where glowing orbs appear at random pedestals and you have to find them and take them back to their corresponding checkpoints; it’s like an Easter egg hunt, but with killing. Xbox Live play is smooth, of course, and gives you all the options you’ve ever seen before, stat tracking, optimatch game finding, custom game hosting, and friend-tracking.

Even if Xbox Live isn’t enough for you, you can also play in split-screen or in system link.

It’s getting to a point now where you don’t even need to mention graphics on a game like this anymore, but here we go regardless. The game itself looks beautiful, plays beautiful, and even sounds beautiful. It’s one of those rare gems that supports HDTV widescreen, and it really shows. Everything has a sort of warm, earthy-metallic feel to it.

Though there’s none yet, in the future there will be downloadable content for this game; perhaps new characters and maps.

Interesting aside: Mortal Kombat’s Rayden appears as an unlockable character, and the game’s announcer voice can be swapped out for the trademark echo-y (“Finish him!”) announcer from the MK series. It is Midway.



Just because a game is meant to be played as a multiplayer game, I can’t let it slide that the solo missions, while entirely useful in their bounty, are pretty bad. After a few too many seconds of loading, you’re basically put into a multiplayer game with bots and a very thinly-constructed plot that tries desperately to hold it all together. Your name is whatever, you’re a guy who used to be in the tournament but dropped out, and the Liandri corporation wants to take over the universe, or whatever. It’s all presented beautifully, with pre-rendered cutscenes in between each level, but it falls flat in its attempt to pretend to be an actual single-player game when it’s really just a fancy set of training wheels.

The game is not without its bugs too. On one occasion, the game stopped responding at a loading screen between levels, and another time I got stuck in a bit of a clipping “black hole” where I couldn’t move for the life of me.

The weapons in the game don’t seem as balanced as they should. There are only around six guns, and most of them seem utterly pointless compared to their alternatives. The sniper rifle seems to be massively unbalanced, as I was able to hit people with it in mid-air while jumping between platforms, without the scope. In that sense, it’s more like a rail-gun than an impossible to aim sniper rifle.

Another mild complaint I had is that when you’re in a game that ends after 5 kills, for example, the game just abruptly ends as soon as that fifth kill occurs. That is, you aim your weapon, you pull the trigger, then the game’s over. You’re never really sure if you landed the shot, if someone else killed someone, or even if you were killed by someone else. If they’d have added a 2 second delay to allow that last body to fall, there’d be a lot fewer scratched heads at the end of the day.

This game is easy to prescribe: if you’re looking for the latest and greatest multiplayer shooter, you’ve found it. However, if you’re looking for the type of game with a satisfying single-player mode that also features a multiplayer mode, keep looking. The multiplayer here is fast, fun, and damn good looking. Come for the slick graphics, stay for the melee combat.

Solid multiplayer game. The aiming is stiff, though, and you’ll fall into random black holes.

I was never really “blown away” by the graphics, but I was sucked into an unbelievable world.

The Dolby Digital sound is great, but the soundtrack all sounded the same after a while.

If destroying eight-year-olds on Xbox Live isn’t fun, you need to find a new hobby.

Multiplayer, unlockable characters, and downloadable content should keep you fixated for weeks.

]]> Tue, 03 May 2005 21:57:00 -0500 Tim Grube http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_shogun_warrior_realtime_conflict_ds1 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_shogun_warrior_realtime_conflict_ds1 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_shogun_warrior_realtime_conflict_ds1# This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

There aren’t many real-time strategy games for the Nintendo DS as of yet. But Namco and developer Box Clever, wants to change that by releasing Shogun Warrior: Real-Time Conflict for the Nintendo DS in October. What makes this title stand out the most is the fact that gamers will be able to utilize the Nintendo DS touch-screen features. To add onto its replay value, Namco will pack in several mini games such as Forest Duels, Castle Siege, Sea Battle, and Ninja Battle, while several more that have not yet been announced.

As stated above, gamers will be able to use the DS’s touch-screen functionality by planning out the strategy on how you’re going to attack your enemy and then you can watch it in full 3D in the top screen. I find that to be pretty cool, since it is kind of difficult to play a real-time strategy game like this one on a handheld.

The goal of the game is to conquer all neighboring armies and become the ultimate ruler of Japan. Once Japan is conquered, you will unlock the secret to the legend of the lost army of rebel monks. Wireless functionality is also integrated so you can play with up to 8 friends in several skirmishes.

Namco plans to show this one off at the upcoming E3 Expo. Expect more very soon.

With ]]> Mon, 18 Apr 2005 19:08:00 -0500 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_madden_nfl_2006_ps21 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_madden_nfl_2006_ps21 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_madden_nfl_2006_ps21# This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Eric Dayday.

Madden 2006 will mark EA’s first game in its exclusive five-year deal with the NFL. With no competition to worry about, EA could possibly sit on it laurels and release a half-assed rehash of Madden 2005 with updated rosters. Of course, that is not EA’s way and Madden 2006 will feature some things that will alter the way you play Madden games.

EA’s research has shown that players pick pass plays 70 percent of the time. And so now, EA has decided to add some new play mechanics to the passing game. QB awareness and accuracy have been a part of the series in recent years, but now they’ll have an even larger effect on what happens on the field. Now, during than pass plays, OBs will now have to deal with field-of-vision. How this works is a lighted conical field will show where the QB is looking. At first, he’ll be aiming at his primary receiver, which is determined by your choice of play. You can, however, change that with the press of the L2 or R2 button and the face button that corresponds to the receiver you want to set as primary before the snap.

While you’re in the pocket, you can progress through your receivers in two ways. The first involves using the right analog to swing the vision cone across the field; the other involves simply hitting R2 and then the button of the receiver. You could throw to someone outside of your vision, but accuracy will drop dramatically. So, you can say goodbye to those “I’m looking one way, now I’ll throw the other way” types of broken plays.

This new passing attack will also affect scrambling quarterbacks. If under pressure and you decide to take off and are still looking to throw, your vision cone will shrink to simulate the fact that it’s much harder to throw accurately on the run.

I mentioned that the QB awareness rating will have an impact on the passing game. The higher the rating, the bigger the vision cone will be. So, say you’re using Payton Manning, you’ll have almost the entire field at your disposal, but use someone like say a Mike McMahon, and the cone will be very narrow.

The overhaul of the passing game will have effects on other parts of the game also. The most obvious is during play-action fakes. The vision cone won’t pop up until after the fake is completed, which makes sense because you’re not trying to give away that it’s a pass play. Nice attention to detail by EA. On the defensive side of the ball, players controlling DBs will also be able to see where the QB is looking  and may get a good jump on the ball themselves.

Not much else has been revealed about Madden 2006, but if we get more of the same gameplay that the series has always offered in addition to this overhauled passing game, then fans of the series will be more than pleasantly surprised. Of course, it’ll be the only kid on the block to offer the NFL on consoles this year, so we’ve got no choice. Thankfully, it looks like EA isn’t going to slow down knowing it has no one to compete with.

We’ll have more details on this game as its release date creeps closer, so stay tuned. ]]> Thu, 14 Apr 2005 20:24:00 -0500 Brian Mohr http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_nfl_street_2_unleashed_psp1 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_nfl_street_2_unleashed_psp1 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_nfl_street_2_unleashed_psp1# This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

Even though Electronic Arts isn’t bringing the mega popular Madden NFL title to the PlayStation Portable at launch, the company is bringing another popular football title out, NFL Street 2 Unleashed.

Unleashed is very similar to the NFL Street 2 that recently released for the consoles, except for the fact that the game is scaled down to the PSP and has a number of added features. Beyond that though, Unleashed is close to being a port of the popular football street title.

Graphically, the game moves quick at what EA is saying is approximately 30 frames-per-second and it sure looks like it as we have seen gameplay close to the final build. A couple of months back, questions were raised on whether the game would be able to play up to that speed, but we can tell you now that it certainly does. Of course, player details aren’t quite up to par from their console counterparts, but graphically the game is still very impressive. The game does fit all twelve players on the small PSP screen and graphically it still looks good. You’ll also notice close-ups look pretty close to their NFL counterparts between plays and finally the game also sports endzone dances and more.

Once you get to in-game options this is where the real fun begins. Unleashed features the training mode that allows you to go through all the basics like passing, running and defense and thank goodness for those who’ve played the game before, yes you are able to skip the tutorials or view what you’d like. The game also includes career mode, titled Own the City, where you create-a-player and join a team as you battle other teams in the city.

NFL Street 2 Unleashed also includes a slew of minigames for those on the go who don’t have time to play a full game. The nine games that are also available through WiFi play include returning games like crush the carrier, open field showdown and jump-ball battle as well as two-minute drill that allows you to score as much as possible in two minutes and then your opponent tries to beat your score. Also the street slalom where your player goes through obstacles, the four-on-four game and the style standoff that lets you battle it out against your competitor in a dance contest.

Besides the added minigames, EA has included two of the original NFL Street environments, those being the Courtyard and the Pit. Another addition they have also included is classic teams and classic players like Jerry Rice when he played for the 49ers.

The only drawback for NFL Street 2 Unleashed right now is the load times, which are rumored to be quite long. Hopefully the team from Electronic Arts can knock them down a little bit before the title’s release.

NFL Street 2 Unleashed certainly looks to be a must-have game for football fans, and especially those who like the NFL Street franchise. The game is essentially a port of the recent NFL Street 2 title, but with added features like WiFi play and extra minigames that should keep players busy whether they are on the go, or have a little more time. NFL Street 2 Unleashed isn’t Madden, but will definitely fill the void at launch for football fans looking to get their fix in the off-season.]]> Mon, 14 Mar 2005 11:13:32 -0600 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_unreal_championship_2_the_liandri_conflict_xbox1 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_unreal_championship_2_the_liandri_conflict_xbox1 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_unreal_championship_2_the_liandri_conflict_xbox1# This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Aaron Thomas.

For those of you that don’t know, the Unreal franchise was (back in the day) one of the more popular first-person-shooters on the PC, and a favorite at LAN parties. The franchise has been surpassed in popularity by Doom, Half-Life and Halo, but don’t tell anyone at Epic games that, because they’re determined to make Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict your favorite FPS on Xbox Live. Initially scheduled to be published by Microsoft, the game is now being published by Midway, and is set for an April 18th, release. I was recently able to spend some time with the game, both offline and online, and I walked away very impressed. Anyone who thinks Halo 2 is a bit too slow, or a bit too realistic, needs to go pre-order this game now.

UC 2: The Liandri Conflict does feature a story mode, which will flesh out the backgrounds of the game’s 15 characters, but in all honesty this game’s going to be all about the multi-player, where stories and backgrounds take a backseat to rocket launchers and one-hit kills. Many of the characters will be familiar to veterans of the series, and one character, Raiden, will bring a smile to the face of any Mortal Kombat fan playing the game. That’s right; the classic character from the long-running fighting franchise is a playable character in the final game (but not in the demo).

Each character has their own unique abilities and characteristics, from how fast they are, what kind of melee attacks they have, their starting weapons, and of course, their strength. The characters seem to be pretty well balanced, though there are some people online that have already got some cheesy tactics with the available female character. There are also tons of different weapons, including the sniper rifle, shock rifle, rocket launcher, grenade launcher, dual pistols, laser pistols, and several others.

While the game is a FPS at its heart, the developers have added third person melee attacks into the mix this year, and while that may sound like sacrilege to fans of the series, Epic has done a nice job incorporating the feature into the game. Essentially what you have now are three distinct types of styles: long-range shooting, mid-range attacks with heavier weapons, and up-close melee combat; and each one is effective in its own right. There are different weapons that the characters use for their melee attacks, including a sword, a staff, armored fists, and even poisoned blades. Melee moves are performed by hitting the B button, which moves you into a 3rd person perspective, and then attacks. Jumping and hitting B will give you an attack with longer range, but it’s less accurate. Locking on to characters can be done by simply pressing in the right analog stick, and it’s a must when fighting in close quarters.

In the final game, there will be forty levels to choose from, which makes Halo 2’s offering seem pretty pitiful. The levels are multi-tiered, and the themes come from a wide variety of futuristic locales. The levels vary in size, ranging from really small, to “it’s gonna take a while to learn this one,” and they feature plenty of hiding places, transporters, power-ups, and elevators.

There will be tons of different styles of play, but the demo only features deathmatch, team deathmatch, and capture the flag. Each game will have certain “mutators” that you can activate, which allow you to customize exactly how the game will be played, by adding additional rules, like strapping a bomb to each character that blows up if they camp and don’t kill anyone. For those of you who don’t have online access, you can add bots into the mix, which isn’t as good as playing a real person, but it’s a heck of a lot better than nothing. You can even customize their skill levels, choosing from novice, experienced, adept, masterful, and godlike.

Online, the game will allow eight people to compete at once, and you’ll also be able to play your friends via the Xbox system link. Setting up an online game was easy, and the quick match feature had me in a game in just a matter of seconds. The online experience was quite fun, and the game was steady, with no lag. Whether this is because of the demo only allowing four people at a time, or the result of slick programming remains to be seen. Due to the lack of an “auto-aim” feature, aiming is difficult, so people tended to rush towards each other, firing like crazy, and then switching to melee mode to finish the job. The demo needed some balance as there are just too many ways to “cheese” your opponents, like one-hit kills, or finding the “double damage” power-up and using it over and over. When you’re playing a 4-player death match, and one person wins with 15 kills, and 0 deaths – something’s a bit fishy. Regardless of the balancing issues, the game was a lot of fun, and the prospect of adding four more people into the mix makes it even more promising.

The graphics are very colorful and the levels each have their own unique look and style. None of this seems to slow down the framerate, which is a speedy and pretty consistent 60fps. There are lots of effects for the weapons, and even more still for the melee attacks and adrenaline moves, which makes the framerate even more impressive. The characters come in all shapes and sizes, and their unique design allows you to see who’s coming and what kind of attack to expect before it happens; which adds a little bit more strategy to the proceedings.

The audio is just what you’d expect from a raucous shooter like this. There are lots of explosions, tons of different weapon sounds, trash talk, and of course, an announcer with a deep voice keeping tabs on the action.



Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict isn’t going get people to quit playing Halo 2, but it will be a great alternative for people who want more action and more maps. The game is already quite polished, which is rare for a demo, and all it needs now is a little more balance. The game’s melee attack feels right at home here, and the new dimension it adds to the gameplay will quickly erase any thoughts that it doesn’t belong. This demo can be picked up by pre-ordering the game or by purchasing this month’s “Official Xbox Magazine,” so if you’re curious – go check it out.
]]> Thu, 03 Mar 2005 20:07:00 -0600