ESPN NFL 2K5

"Get this because it is $19.99. And only because it is $19.99"

NFL 2K3 was the first Visual Concepts football game to incorporate a little ESPN into the successful and awesome NFL 2K series that started on the Dreamcast. In the 2K4 game, VC went completely ESPN, and the game was renamed ESPN NFL Football (2K4). The big thing with ESPN was presentation. ESPN style overlay and menus, and the game itself looked like you were watching it on ESPN Sunday Night Football. Presentation in a way made up for the gameplay hang-ups that VC's game had, especially when compared to the Madden NFL series's gameplay. This year, some improvements were made, but the game still has quite a few problems that VC didn't attempt to fix.

Graphics: 8/10

The graphics in this game are beautiful. The jerseys look amazing, the field looks amazing, and the stadiums are awesome. This year the game was built from the ground up for the Xbox, so it took advantage of the HDD and the power of the machine. The lighting is great, everything looks awesome. If polish was everything, this game would own all other football games to date. Polish isn't everything though, and the player models are pretty bad. Not so bad that it ruins the game, but the players look blocky, and their faces look terrible. The faces look like VC took a picture of the faces, and stretched it out across a cylinder. The faces don't look very 3D in other words. On top of the players looking blocky and odd, they move like robots. It's a shame that the models weren't re-done this year, because with the Xbox build of ESPN NFL 2K5, decent models would make this game at least a little better.

Gameplay: 5/10

This is where ESPN really suffers. Along with robotic player movement, the AI is terrible. Even on All-Pro, I ran for 400 yards in one 5 min. quarter game with Tatum Bell, the Broncos rookie RB. I ran for 500+ with Jamal Lewis against an All-Star team. Last year, this could all be blamed on the "Uber Back" glitch that made running backs nearly unstoppable on every difficulty. No momentum system made for easy 400 yard rushing games. This was said to be fixed this year, and a small momentum system was added, but anyone could still easily run for a ton of yards, which is very unrealistic. On top of that, the passing is either amazingly easy, meaning you can bomb to a good WR all game long on any difficulty, or amazingly hard, meaning you can't hit a WR in a little bit of coverage if your life depended on it. When you nail the timing down, you will have a legendary passing game, but if you miss the window, say goodbye to possession of the ball or any chance of catching the ball. This mostly happens when you are playing on the higher difficulty levels though. Defensively, the gameplay is ok at best. While you can move all positions of your D around to help cover the field, after the ball is snapped, the gameplay shows its bad spots. Like on offense, there is no speed burst button that you can hold down to sprint. You have to tap A over and over, which can get real annoying on offense, and ruins plays on defense. When the ball is in the air, and you are trying to speed over to the WR to knock the ball down or get the pick, if you happen to change directions while trying to sprint, your player could stop moving the direction you want to go and just spin around aimlessly. If you do, however, happen to get to the ball, there is a 1/5 chance that even if you hit Y at the right time and in the right place, your player will tip the ball away. I have seen countless times, my CB or LB just wave his arms in the air in front of the ball, and in one account the ball actually traveled through Al Wilson's hand and into the hands of the WR it was intended for. Small things like this further spoil an already tainted gameplay engine.

Sound: 8/10

Sound is a great thing ONLY on the Xbox version. The custom soundtrack option is awesome. Hearing my own music in MY crib on MY jukebox is pretty cool in itself. Also, being able to add the actual music I hear after touchdowns and before kickoffs at INVESCO Field @ Mile High into a video game makes it more realistic, and more enjoyable. You can use the stadium music editor to make clips of any song you want to play in the game, and even in the menus, as well as your crib. The music the game comes loaded with it ok, but not very good. No big licenced bands or artists, and like in every game, the music gets old. Being able to add your own music is a lifesaver. The in game sound is ok as well, where as you will hear taunts from the Defensive players toward the QB, you will also hear the EXACT same grunting clip on every single snap. The QB also will come to the line and call the signals. All in all the sound is great if you have this game on the Xbox, but if not, it's just ok.

Presentation: 9/10

The ESPN overlay and presentation is spectacular. The Crib is a great add on, and First Person Football is also a fun novelty. Everything is absolutely perfect... almost. While the menus are easy to navigate, and the overall presentation of the game in it's entirety is sweet, there is one thing that is bad. The addition of adding the VIP feature is amazing. VIP will keep your profile and actually learn your style of play, so a friend can download your VIP and play your likeness at home with the computer AI. That way when you meet again, they will be ready for you. This is great and all, but the problem is, VC added a feature where you play D-List Celebrity's VIPs. Your phone in your Crib will ring and either Carmen Electra, Funkmaster Flex, David Arquette, Jamie Kennedy, or Steve-O will be on the line wanting a game against their 100 OVR All-Star teams. This would have been done a lot better with NFL players, or NFL Alumni instead of there people. To make things worse, after almost every play, a pic of the person you are playing will pop up and they will say one of about 10 lines they recorded. This gets very old and quite annoying. On top of that, sometimes the game will play the wrong voice clip, and you will see Carmen Electra looking at you seductively, and hear Funkmaster Flex yelling mindless jibber jabber at you. The whole thing is just stupid, and the disc space could have been used for something better. All in all though, the presentation is rather awesome.

Tilt: 7/10

Where as this game is $19.99, that is all it is really worth. The gameplay is a carbon copy of last year with a few slight improvements, and the presentation is good as it was last year. However, if this game cost $49.99 like it had in the past, I would give it a 4 or 5 instead of a 7. Value plays a huge part in this game, and its rushed release shows that not a lot of care was given to fix the problems that plagued the game last year, and still do this year. Pick this up because it is 20 bucks, and it will hold you over until August 9, when the real NFL game hits the shelves. I would tell you to rent this, but it's not worth a 7 dollar rent. You already are paying for half the game to have it for 4 days. Buy it, and play it for a couple weeks, then play it when you get bored with Madden. Otherwise, wait until Madden or until 2K6. Maybe the bugs and hang-ups will be fixed by then.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 07/25/04