ESPN NFL 2K5

Several weeks ago, there were rumors flying around that Sega’s latest football game, ESPN NFL 2K5 was going to be released at the budget friendly $19.99 price point. Many people thought that this is just another rouse, because there is no way a developer would release a brand new game, unless it has serious quality control issues, at this price point. Well you can put all your fears aside about this game, because it is like their previous football games, except much better. Read on to find out all of the new things that Visual Concepts have integrated into their latest game.

There are plenty of modes available in ESPN NFL 2K5 to keep players busy for a very long time. The modes are: Quick Game, Practice, ESPN 25th Anniversary, First Person Football, Tournament, Situation, Online, and Franchise. How you spend your time with these different modes is up to you.

If you are looking to get out on the football field quickly, then Quick Game is the mode for you. This mode allows players to pick any two teams and take out their aggression on the field. The Practice mode lets players get familiar with how to play this game. You can go to Basic Training, and go through many different drills, to learn all of the skills you will need to be successful in this game. The Scrimmage mode allows you to perfect all of your offensive and defensive plays. The ESPN 25th Anniversary lets players play the twenty-five greatest comebacks in NFL history. This is a great way for players to be able to sharpen up their football skills to see if they have what it takes to rewrite history!

Last year’s game introduced the “First Person Football” mode, and it was nice to see a whole new perspective of a football game. This year Visual Concepts further refine this mode to make it even easier to play. In this mode players get to see what it is like to play as a real football player. Players play the entire game though the “eyes” of a football player as they see it. The action can get real crazy in this mode, and it might even disorient you. Even though the First Person Football mode is not very practical, it always provides a nice break in the game.

Tournament mode lets players take up to sixteen teams and play a king of the hill to see who will be the top NFL team. Situation mode is a remarkable mode; players will have the ability to edit everything, from the time, amount of points, quarter, and anything else. An example is this: It is the fourth quarter, with twenty seconds remaining on the clock, and the team you want to play as, is on the 50 yard line, and down by six points. With this powerful option players will be able to create any tense situation their hearts can dream of! In online mode you will be able to put all of your football skills to the test to see if you have what it takes to become the best football player throughout the world.

The real meat behind the game is the franchise mode. In this mode players will be able to tweak, micromanage, and do anything else to their hearts content. Players will be able to scout for key players, draft them, manage the salary cap, and then make sure that you have enough players for every single position. Once the season starts, gamers will need to pick up free agents, fire the poor performing players, and do all the normal things any coach does. Each year the developers add more and more things that the players will take care of and this year it is no different. Pretty soon you will need to add more hours in your day just so you can take care of everything you need to do with your real life and then to make sure everything is alright in your franchise mode.

One of the newest additions to this year’s ESPN NFL franchise is the V.I.P. (Virtual Identity Profile) system. The V.I.P. System is one of the best things that has been added to a sports game in ages. When you first start the game you are asked to create a V.I.P. for yourself, which stores all data from how you play the game. It will store what plays you use most often, how you get out of tough situations, and how you logically play the game. I know right now you must be thinking, the EA Sports Bio does something along this line, but the VIP system allows you to transfer it to another person’s memory card. So if you are not available to play the game, a friend can play against your VIP data, and it will be as if he was playing against you.

My favorite feature in this game is “The Crib.” This is your pad, and it is decked out with whatever you might like. There are many things to purchase in this Crib, and the only way to get the points to purchase these items is through the main game. You can get points for completing every game you play, and the better you do in a game the more points you will receive. You will be able to purchase many items such as more music, mini games, and other objects to make your Crib look cool.

In the Crib there is a telephone. Ever so often the phone will ring and it will be a celebrity challenging you to a football game. You will get to play against Carmen Electra, David Arquette, Steve-O, and many more celebrities VIP profiles. While playing these games, the celebrities will be talking smack against you and how you are playing. This is a very nice addition to the game, to see how other people that you will most likely never get to compete against.

The gameplay for this game is really good. Even if you are a Madden veteran you will get the hang of this game in no time. All of the offense and defense plays feel really balanced, and it feels like there is no one super play that will get you out of any jam. The best thing about the controls is the power up moves. Once you have control of a character, you can hold the “X” button and it will charge up a power meter. Once it is fully charged, you can press a special move, such as spiriting or diving, and it will give the character an extra boost needed to make that big play of the game.

ESPN NFL 2K5 looks really good! The character models look and move extremely life like. All of the players face’s looks just like their real life counter parts. Not only do the football characters look good, but also all of the stadiums, uniforms, and even the fans are highly detailed. Just like in previous games, Visual Concepts really uses the ESPN brand to make this game as close to the real game as possible. Before each game is played, players will be taken to the ESPN Sports Center while they will describe the two teams that are about to play it out on the gridiron.

The game sounds like a typical football game. There is the usual crowd fanfare, crashing of human bodies, and annoying referee whistles. The commentary is really good, and most of the time relevant to what has just occurred during a game. Also since many of the ESPN sportscasters have lent their voices so that this game will have a more authentic feel to it.

ESPN NFL 2K5 is rated E for Everyone. It requires up to 848kb on your memory card, can play up to 1-8 players (via multitap), and 1-16 on online.

Gameplay: 9.2
ESPN NFL 2K5 is really balanced in offense and defense. The players have a larger variety of moves that they can do now. The attention to details that Visual Concept program in is truly amazing and makes the game feel realistic like you are truly watching it on the television!

Graphics: 9.4
Visual Concepts has done an awesome job of squeezing every ounce of power that the PlayStation 2 has to offer while developing this game. The player’s faces look like their real life counter parts, and everything is smoothly animated.

Sound: 9.0
Sega exploits every aspect of the ESPN license they acquired a couple years ago, and they do a fine job with it. Players will get to hear the audio commentary of Chris Berman, Mel Kiper, and many others. The stadium noises and the music are also really well done.

Difficulty: Medium
The game is completely customizable to your personal gaming skills!

Concept: 9.3
I loved playing with “The Crib!” Just collecting and purchasing different things, made me want to play the game better than before so I could afford everything I wanted to “pimp my crib.” The VIP system reminds me of the “EA Sports Bio” except on steroids! I am surprised that other companies have not thought of something of this magnitude before this.

Multiplayer: 9.2
The online mode for this game is just fantastic. I never noticed any lag while playing against other people, and that is always a good thing. Not only can you play online you can organize leagues for people to play in.

Overall: 9.3
ESPN NFL 2K5 is one of the finest football games that has been released this season, and with the low price point you would be a fool not to check out this game for yourself. Visual Concepts has crammed in tons of goodies that will keep you entertained for hours on end. You owe it to yourself to purchase ESPN NFL 2K5 and make it part of your gaming library, you will not regret it!