| ESPN NFL 2K5 review |
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Sega is not a name synonymous with sports really, is it? Think again. Ever since the Master System days, Sega have had a major stake of some sort in sports titles. The World Cup in 1990, their license with superhero quarterback Joe Montana, gritty road racing franchises, the pick-up-and-play arcade Decathlete titles – every base you could think of, Sega have covered in some way. When Sega came to Planet Multi-format at the expiry of the Dreamcast’s welcome in the mainstream, they had a reputation to rebuild, particularly in their once proud sports division. With the Saturn having been hidden from the public’s eye, and the Dreamcast only enjoying moderate success, casual gamers had been faced with a diet of EA Sports, and for most, the thought of buying a Sega alternative hadn’t crossed their mind. Why should they when Madden had offered them everything they wanted for almost ten years?
Simple: the ESPN license.
Here in Europe, the ESPN license doesn’t mean a whole lot, but in America, the famous cable channel is believed to be the worldwide leader in sports. With such a tag on your product, you can be sure that quite a few armchair coaches will sit up and take notice. With ESPN, presentation is key, and Visual Concepts, the developer of Sega’s American sports titles, have made sure to integrate it securely within every feature in the game. When you take control of your team, you are firmly plunged into the game thanks to official overlays displaying the score, time remaining, the last play made in textual detail, a news ticker for other events around the league, replays from different camera angles and full breakdowns of player performances. It helps to create a real illusion that this could be actual television and succeeds in making sure that anyone, from a novice to a pro, can clearly see what elements of your team are making progress, and those which are struggling to click. You really feel that you can build your team like a Chelsea or an Arsenal, understanding each of your weak points and finding your own personal favourites out of the game’s huge roster.
As a result, ESPN NFL 2K5 puts all of the need for boring analysis of team stats to one side, and allows you to get on with playing the game, making the passes, and running the ball. The atmosphere is second to none, as the opposition will trash talk to your quarterback to try and shake his confidence, the home team crowd will chant an infamous call of “DEFENCE” over and over when the opposition is faced with a make-or-break offensive play, and the look and feel of the stadiums is imposing and accurate in every way. Taking a road trip to Lambeau Field to play the Green Bay Packers is an unnerving occurrence purely down to the roaring Green Bay maniacs in the crowd. Likewise, playing in New York’s Giants Stadium is a jaw-dropping sight.
The actual gameplay veers towards offering a full on hard-hitting simulation, albeit with a certain arcade nature to the design of the controls. The balance keeps the game going at a relatively high pace and full of exciting moments in exchange for a streamlined technique system, whilst offering an extensive side to the coaching element of play and offering a number of styles which must be learnt to deal with the various offences and defences. The basics of American Football are simple enough; the team that are on attack will put out an offensive side that must try and move the ball 10 yards in 4 plays against the defending team. If they succeed, then they get another 4 plays to try and move the ball a further 10 yards. If they fail, then the ball is turned over to the other team, who will then put their own offence out on the team. There are, of course, a lot more rules than that, and ESPN NFL 2K5 makes the whole process as painless as possible. Choosing a play is a simple case of cycling through your comprehensive playbook, and hitting the relevant button. Once you’ve made your selection, you’ll find yourself down on the field and in position to hike the ball.
For those who aren’t all that savvy with the sport, they can have the AI select the best possible play for the situation leaving them to concentrate on firing the ball forward, but in truth, those who will get the most out of it are those who understand the many different types of tactics and how to use them. Those willing to learn will find no better satisfaction than stringing together a brilliant four-play drive for a touchdown.
Playing any position in the game is easy to get used to, but a challenge to play with precision. Quarterbacks will find themselves quickly reading their receivers runs so that they can get the pass off before they are hit for a loss of yardage, receivers will learn how to run their routes and break away from the coverage in order to get a free catch, and cornerbacks must be able to react with speed to stop the offence from getting an easy pass in. The game’s impressive tutorials will allow you to get the fundamentals in place, but the true assistance comes from the clear animation. Hundreds of different motions look devastatingly real, and it’s not too hard to pick the precise moment in the movement where a tackle should be hit, or an interception should be made.
Sadly, NFL 2K5 still features a great deal of flaws despite the improvements made over the pervious instalment. The largest group of these are perhaps the defensive flaws that plague the game. The engine seems to be directed more to big, fast offenses and this is particually evident in the poor coverage that your secondary defense will play. Defending against the pass sometimes descends into a test of luck, and it is particually frustrating when you find your players stumbling around and leaving receivers wide open. Likewise, the overpowered running backs can break through most defences, and ironically defending against the run can backfire with the offence easily able to break off into an 80 yard run, steamrolling even the heavier and stronger members of your line.
ESPN NFL 2K5 packs great longevity into its package, offering a full franchise mode that, although slimmer on content than Madden’s, still has enough things to keep you occupied right up until you transform your team into a full blooded success with a handful of Superbowl championships to your name. Looking past that is the Situation mode, which replicates a number of famous NFL games requiring you to repeat history on each, as well as The Crib, an area where you can purchase things like bar stools and team branded sofas for display in your ‘apartment’. For those who enjoy human competition, there’s also full and near lagless Xbox Live competition thrown into the mix. Online leagues and tournaments are fully available for those with the time to invest in them, and many will find that the lack of the AI’s own glitches will make playing human competition far more enjoyable. Unfortunately there is a rather unscrupulous community equal in number to those who play respectfully.
ESPN NFL 2K5 is a great sports simulation, although whether you should choose it or EA’s Madden 2005 offering is a personal choice between offensive minded or defensively minded gameplay. Where Madden’s defensive co-ordination has been tightened up, ESPN’s is a little slacker, with offensives able to turn up the heat on the occasionally sleepy and slow rearguard with little effort. None the less, all self respecting NFL fans and rookies alike should look at ESPN. |
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System: Microsoft Xbox
Genre: Sport
Developer: Visual Concepts
Publisher: SEGA
Players: 1-4
Version: United States
Reviewed: Apr 2005
Writer: Rob Bowker
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Pros:
- Full price quality gaming at a low price
- Great use of the ESPN license with amazing presentation
- Extensive lastability
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Cons:
- Limited commentary gets repetitive swiftly
- Certain defensive plays are flawed and fail to function
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