ESPN NHL 2K5

"NHL 2k5 sounds so much cooler anyway..."

Alright, i bought this game with no thought of how it was going to be. I haven't played a hockey game in ages so i decided to buy this, since it was going for the "ESPN/SEGA" price of $20. And i have to say....i'm hooked, as if it had nicotine. No other Simulated Sport game has ever hooked me in, like how NHL2k5 did. I like it sooo much that i feel i have to write a review for it, so here's the review:

Presentation:
Very awesome, of course when you're reading this you should know its an ESPN sport title. So you expect all the ESPN goodness in this, and you shouldn't expect any less. Sega (being the great company they are) grabs this license by its t!ts and milks it all the way down to the last drop. The logos, the interface, the font, the music, the commentators, the announcers, the individual backgrounds for your menu for your favorite team...all perfect. It really does set the feel of the game, and it feels great.

The fans look great this year (all look the same, but detailed great), some carry little hockey ornaments like the Puck Head, those two sticks they pull out and start clapping with, the face paint, and of course your teams Jersey. There's some cut scenes of fans to make the game feel like you're actually watching it on tv, but some are just stupid (a fan holds up a sign that says "You Are Own3d"), they all feel a little slow, and get a little repetitive.

One thing i love about this game is the ability to put your music (from your X-Box of course) as the song playing in the Menu, or the song that will be playing when you enter the arena. So, if you don't like the feeling you get from ESPN's music, then you can change it to your own. This option gets really complex if you want it to be complex. You can set the song(s) you want to play when you tie late in the game, you can set the song when your opponent ties....and so on and so on. Good feature, that i'd want to see every game on the X-Box having.

Graphics:
The graphics are phenomenal!! You can't really tell if the faces match the player, so they all kinda look the same. Only difference you would be able to notice is the skin color. The arena's are beautiful, the crowd looks alright (sometimes...during cut scenes their body looks like they have bulletproof vest's on), the skaters all look very detailed, and the rink looks awesome. Alot of little details, not much time. The shadows are amazing, they look as if there was real light shining down on them. I don't want to get too much in detail about this, because you really have to see it for yourself.

Animations are very nice, and move the way they're suppose to move. Lighting is great, the colors are very bold. There's not too much clipping, although there is clipping. All very nice, but not enough for a 10.

Sound:
Ahh...here's the only thing i did not like about the game (it could be my speakers, but i doubt it because i have played this game on three different TV's with all different speakers...all had the same problem). The in game sound, sounds great. But everything outside the rink has volume problems. Everything i do, the crowd just seem to be louder than the Commentators. I tried almost everything, i wanted to hear both sounds but they never reach the same harmony as i hear on ESPN Television. Another bad volume problem is that if you have your custom music in the game it tends to be much louder than the music the game has to offer. So when i stated a game with my "fixed" volume, and custom soundtrack, you'd just hear crowds cheering, sticks smacking, commentators commentating, announcers announcing, and loud music all fused together to sound like undistored distortion. All the volumes seem to be level-ly loud except for the Commentators, who seem to be just a tad bit low.

Gameplay:
very smooth, very flamboyant, and very realistic. Sega really used all of the X-Box controller, from every button to every pressure on the both thumb sticks. You really feel like you have control of who ever you're playing. Sega revamped their fighting engine. Their "TOTALLY RE-DESIGN FIGHTING ENGINE" just let you move anywhere you want to while you're fighting. The fighting system is still clunky, alot of clipping, not really too much strategy. They have this new stick attacking system using the Right Analog stick which they call "Intense Contact Controls" where you point the direction (using the Right Analog stick) of your opponent and it will trip, slash, spear your opponent depending on the angle you are in. You can really smack them by clicking down on the stick first then point, then it would smack them in the chest with your stick or on the leg with your stick causing them to fall on the ground and causing you a playing in the penalty box. This feature i found to be very random, and least useful in the whole game, but if they work on it maybe i might use it.

NHL2k5 (just like every sports title in america), has franchise mode. Now i really can't review this due to the fact that i don't know what they upgraded from last year. But as we all know Franchise mode creates more Replay Value in sports games, and NHL2k5 doesn't fail with this one. There's a bunch of mini-games, there's tournament mode, and the Skills challenge (which are all very fun, especially if you have friends around).

Like every ESPN title on the X-Box, this game is also Live (the game is playable online). You can create tournaments, and fantasy leagues. Not much lag, and pretty much no problems so far.

"All and all":

Great game, great price, you will not be disapointed. This is a game you can show off to your friend who bought the PS2 version and make him say "WOW! i want an X-Box, just to buy the same game!".

Presentation (8/10)

Graphics (9/10)

Sound (8/10)

Gameplay (10/10)

"All and All" (9/10)

Rental? No way, especially on the ESPN/SEGA price of $20.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/03/04