ESPN College Hoops 2K5

"It would be a perfect game if I wasn't so picky..."

Before you read any further, consider this: If you are thinking about getting a college basketball game, or you can't decide between this game and March Madness, GET THIS GAME! You will be happy you did.

ESPN College Hoops 2K5 has scored big in just about every category a basketball game needs to. Gameplay and atmosphere are the two biggest categories for this type of game in my opinion. College Hoops does a fantastic job on both accounts. Let's break 'em down.

-- Gameplay --

Okay, you have your standard basketball game when you start up. You can run, shoot, pass, lead pass, etc. The controls are very similar to just about every other b-ball game on the market. The difference with ESPN Hoops are the gameplay sliders. They really do make a dramatic difference in your team's performance. Blowing out your teams? Shooting 70% from the field? You can lower your shooting in close and notice a huge change not only in team shooting, but also in rebounding. Are your teammates a little too dumb on the defensive end? Increase their defensive awareness, and they jump into the passing lanes more frequently.

Bottom Line: If you want and evenly matched game, you can adjust the game sliders to your preference and keep the exciting games coming!

-- Atmosphere --

How does a game capture atmosphere? I dunno exactly myself, but somehow ESPN College Hoops does. The constant cheerleader chanting and the crowd noise (or lack their of if the home team is getting beat badly) are always noticed. The announcers help keep the college "feel," even though they aren't always sure of what is happening on the court. By adjusting the game sliders, you can keep close games coming all the time, and especially against the best teams, you can see the top players taking control of the games, just like you would in real life. Teams go on sudden runs that can really change the outlook of the game.

Bottom Line: You get the idea that every game is important, even when playing against the creampuffs. You'll see it when you play the game.

-- Extras --

Here's another strong area of the game. The number of classic teams are staggering. The best part of it all is, you can swap players from each team to make certain classic teams better. For example, the '96 Georgetown team is rated higher than the '84 Georgetown team. But, with College Hoops, you can take the 1984 team's best player, Patrick Ewing, and move him to Allen Iverson's 1996 team. Now they are awesome! Even better is that you can transplant these classic teams into your season! Want both of the Georgetown teams in your league? No problem! My personal preference is to make one really good team, but take the best players from their history to make 'em awesome! Wake Forest already really good? Make 'em even better with Tim Duncan from 1997! Or keep Carmello Anthony from the 2003 team another year and add him to Syracuse's 2005 team!

Bottom Line: I love classic teams, and with almost unlimited customization, I can play a lot of seasons, but not have any of 'em be the same!

-- Negatives --

Yeah, yeah, this game isn't perfect. It only got a 9 out of 10. Why? 'Cuz I am so darn hard to please, that's why!

To start with, there are many times when your players get blocked on lay-ups and dunk attempts, where your opponent clearly knocked the ball out of your hands, but the computer thinks that YOU were the last to touch the ball. See? I told you I am picky. But there is more. Here's my quick list of the picky things I don't like:

-- The block thingy I just mentioned.
-- Classic teams lose to nobodies too often. Generally, there are two sides of the tournament bracket with upsets, while the other side has next to none.
-- The shoot button and block button are the same button (square). So if you try to block someone, and you succeed, your players will sometimes get the loose ball, and immediately shoot it from the other side of the court 'cuz you are still holding down the square button.
-- The computer can hit full court shots with amazing accuracy. I lost a game by one point to #1 North Carolina in the last 0.8 second 'cuz of a full court shot. Did the computer attempt to pass the ball to mid-court and heave a 3-pointer? Nope. Instead, they handed the ball to the point guard at their own end line, and even with my PF and C right on the guy, he threw a football pass the ENTIRE length of the court and swished in through! Never happened in real life before, but it has happened 3 times out of about 40 games I have played. Weird.
-- The game considers "lay-ups" to be where your player drives and throws up an awkward shot. That means that when you are attempting to drive to the hoop, if you can't get by your opponent (which you usually can't), if you hit the shoot button, instead of pulling up for a jumpshot, your player will throw up some weird shot. If you have your lay-up slider set really high, you can make 95% of these, no matter how ungodly they look.

Bottom Line: I'm picky, and I want everything to be perfect before I offer up a 10 for a game. But really, you can't go wrong with this game. For $20, it's the best steal in the game store! Go get it! Peace.

-- J-Man

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/17/04