ESPN NFL 2K5

"ESPN goes for it all. SuperBowl or 5 and 11 year"

Here it is, the madden killer, the little known but great game, too bad it's not true.

Graphics:9/10

Simply put the graphics are great. The faces are fantastic, Terrell Owens looks like Terrell Owens, the jerseys are down to the face mask shape (over 20) perfect,. The best looking football game next to NCAA 05 I've ever seen. So why the nine? Animation. Why why why why why when I wrap tackle someone in the legs from behind does he fall backwards 85% of the time? Why do my wide outs run right through double teams?

Sound: 8/10

The players talk! The coaches talk! The fans talk! The announcers...suck. Problem 1: Virtual Chris Berman, do I really need to say more? Problem 2: YOU CAN'T COACH THAT!!! over 30 times a game. Problem 3: Marvin Harrison is a great WR watch him break this double team! Marvin Harrison is a great WR watch him break this double team! Marvin Harrison is a great WR watch him break this double team! LEARN NEW LINES. NOW.

Game Modes 3/10

Nothing at all stands out here except the 25 greatest moments which are wonderful to play and the only reason this isn't getting a 1. What else do you get? The Crib, the single worst idea for a sports game ever. Whoever thought that having a little home thing with tons of useless crap in it should be shot. Let's not use that extra data to fine tune the gameplay (more on that later) lets use it so the player can have things like Air Hockey and posters of Carmen Electra! Great idea Tom! Everyone will love being annoyed by little pop-ups saying you have a phone call every 5 seconds! Here's a raise!

Control:1/10

OK. Now a confession. I'm a Madden player, I think Madden has the best control of any sports game I have ever seen. ESPN's goal this year was to get people (Read: Madden Fans) like me to sample this. So why in the the hell did they not at least give a control setup close to madden? O is not the switch character, I should not be pressing X to run on defense, and I sure as hell should not be using R1 to catch. The number of times even in the short amount of time I've had this I've giving up way more yards then I should have on defense is pathetic.

Gameplay: 4/10

I'm breaking Gameplay into 2 halves before the game and during it

Before Game

This had such promise it was amazing, Position drills, player training, film watching, weight training all during the weeks leading up to the games. The problem? B-O-R-I-N-G Sega simply got to caught up in this and made it way to big with hardly any interaction with it. Make it like Madden Mini-Camps, make me lift the weights by doing button combos, I want to play the 7-on-7 drills, not sit there and click menus until a little clock fills up, all that does is make me bored and want to turn the game off.

During Game

If there is one thing that must be done well in any sports game, its gameplay, sadly this comes up a yard short.

Offense

This game had to though of with offense in mind, a normal score for me on the all-pro was 48-45, 52-38. Never did I have a game where one team didn't score more then 20 real football my ass.

Defense

The big new thing out for defense for ESPN is Maximum tackle a idiotic idea that I dare anyone whose fingers don't move as fast as light to use. When you hit someone a red circle will appear in you're player circle for you and your opponent if in about oh 4 milliseconds to hit the tackle button again you will deliver a crushing hit stopping the ball carrier in his tracks if the ball carrier does it right he'll either push you off or drag you for a couple more yards. One problem CPU'S DON'T NEED FINGERS. I have never, ever stopped someone dead, the CPU is inhuman in hitting it and will get 1 or 2 yards whenever need be

Final Verdict 4/10

I have tried to be un-biased to this game as I could be. I pre-ordered it, I almost did cartwhells when I found out it was only $20. I went to get it the day it came out, threw NCAA out of PS2 and started playing for almost the whole day. It just cannot compete with Madden even with the $20 price tag I can't recommend this just rent it once maybe you will love it like some of my friends. As for me, back to NCAA.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 07/22/04