It was obvious to the developers at ESPN Videogames that their game absolutely had to make a splash, otherwise their series of football games might buckle in to the pressure from the Madden series. This year, Microsoft decided not release any sports games this fall, therefore NFL Fever 2005 will never see its day. With only one other major competitor remaining, ESPN Videogames knew that they had to give it all they had. They knew that Madden would be compatible with Xbox Live for the first time ever this August, therefore ESPN had to counter that with a plan of their own. They decided to best way to garner interest in their game and win over gamers would be to cut the price of ESPN NFL 2K5 to a mere $19.99, an unheard of price for a top of the line, brand new video game. After spending a few sleepless nights playing this game, it seems that they made the right call.

I was initially introduced to this series when I picked up a new copy of NFL 2K3 for only $9.99 nearly two years ago. Until the beginning of this summer, I was completely satisfied with that game, due to the stellar gameplay and graphics. However, this season the Redskins boast a roster that in no way resembles their roster from two seasons ago, therefore I decided that upgrading by buying NFL 2K5 for $20 was a worthwhile investment. Prior, to NFL 2K3 I had been a huge fan of the Madden series, although my football gaming days go back to NFL Blitz.

The gameplay in ESPN NFL 2K5 is still stellar, on both defense as well as offense. Each team has a playbook consisting of dozens of offensive and defensive plays. Holding the left trigger to bring up a few plays that are ‘recommended’ by your coach is certainly a welcome addition. When you have chosen a play, the possibilities on the field are endless. If you do not like what you see, you can have your quarterback call audibles and quickly change the play. Upon snapping the ball, you gain total control of the quarterback. If you have called a passing play, you simply look for receivers that are running their routes, and fire a pass into their arms. You can fake a pass, avoid getting sacked with a ducking motion or even run the ball if there is no other alternative. At this point I must add that running with Michael Vick on the easiest difficulty setting is way too easy, as I was able to amass 624 rushing yards en route to a 123-0 drubbing of the New York Giants.

The receivers always run the routes that they were assigned, and if there are wide open when a pass comes their way they tend to reel it in nearly all of the time. However, if they are closely covered then only a perfect pass from the quarterback will reach them. The fact that there is no clipping (as in when a ball goes right through a defender’s arm and into your hands) is a welcome sight, and when you perform an instant replay you will notice that the pass split the coverage. After you have caught the ball, the running options are similar to those of the running back.

The running game has been stepped up considerably. Gaining yards isn’t too easy because if you don’t find an open gap then you will be brought down. But if you manage to find a weak spot in the coverage and are off to the races, there is no greater feeling especially with all of the moves that you can now perform. As always, you can juke left and right, stiff-arm right or left, shoulder charge, spin, dive for a few extra yards or even stutter-step now. You can also tap A to gain a speed boost or hold it down to gain a power boost. The most innovative feature though is the ability to perform many of these moves with the right thumbstick. For example, when you are running, pressing the thumbstick up will perform a shoulder charge, which is a logical way to perform moves.

The defensive aspects of the game have always received a boost. After selecting a play, you can also call an audible when you are unhappy with what you see. You can also shift and adjust as much as you like to set-up the ideal defensive situation for you. Getting through the opponents’ offensive line for a sack isn’t as easy as in years past, although it can be done. The defensive ends cover their receivers well, as they follow them at all times instead of stopping and getting burnt as in the 2K3 version. Interceptions occur about as often as they do in real NFL games, which is a fair amount without going over the age. Prolific players like Champ Bailey will be the ones getting most of the interceptions, not second-string players.

The controls on defense have also been altered a bit. Besides a regular wrap-up tackle, you have the option of going for a very hard tackle in hopes of squeezing the ball loose for the offensive player. And besides being allowed to swat the ball away, there is also a button that is used only when going for interceptions, which is something that I felt was missing. All of the standard switching players, speed boost and dive buttons are still intact.

The kicking game has also undergone a needed facelift, as there is no longer a moving kicking meter while punting, kick the ball away or going for the extra point. You simply move it as far left or right as you want to (you need to consider the wind direction and speed when doing this), and then a power meter will pop up. Simple and intuitive. ESPN NFL 2K5 can be a very easy or challenging game depending on what difficulty setting you play on. On the easiest setting, completing passes all of the time, rushing for 5 yards a play and stopping the opposition will present you with no challenge. But as you step up the difficulty, the opponents will be much better and the scores will be far more life-like.

ESPN NFL 2K5 delivers the ultimate presentation in my opinion due to its partnership with ESPN. All of the folks at ESPN such as Chris Berman will provide you with insight and replay. The way the games are presented mimic the ESPN presentation all the way. During half-time, Berman will show you actual highlights and statistics from the first half in the same manner that it is done while watching a football game on ESPN. The most impressive thing is the post-game show, as the actual highlights are followed up by a brief interview with the player of the game. The fact that actual clips are used to complement the statistics gives the game much more authenticity, and the inclusion of scrolling statistics at the bottom of the screen is like the cherry on top.

This game offers an unbelievable new tracking system known as the VIP. After you create a profile, this will track every single thing that you do, and I don’t mean simple things such as your win-loss record. If will record your run : pass ratio, how often you run to the right as opposed to the center or left, what defensive packages you choose the most, whether you prefer running or passing on your first play of the possession, what team you are most likely to use and dozens of other statistics, which is just mind-boggling. And everyone can see each other’s VIP, even if you have only seen them online. But not only can you see everyone’s VIP to gain an advantage when playing them, you can actually play a game against a CPU that mimics their playing style. This shows you how advanced video games have become.

After every game, you will earn “crib points” for you accomplishments. Scoring touchdowns, sacking the opposing quarterback and reaching milestones will all be rewarded. With the crib points that you accumulate, you can spend them in catalogs on various items in order to spicen up your crib. Your crib is similar to a large apartment, which you can deck out with a wide assortment of posters, team furniture and other items. You have a trophy room, a bobble-head doll rack, a TV (you can buy clips and commercials to watch) and a sound system. You can even buys new tracks from various artists (including Aceyalone, a favorite of mine), create a playlist and have those songs playing in the background.

Your crib even has a telephone next to the mini-bar, and sometimes you will get a call from a celebrity (the list includes Steve-O, Carmen Electra and David Arquette). These celebrities will challenge you to a match, which features their all-star rosters and their Virtual Identity Profile, which emulates their playing style. This seemed like a cool feature, all the fact that their faces will pop up after nearly every play and yell a stupid comment hampered the experience.

ESPN NFL 2K5 includes a plethora of modes, ranging from Quick Game to Franchise Mode, from Practice to Situation to even the ESPN 25th Anniversary Mode. Practice Mode allows you to practice all of your skills, and is recommended only to beginners. Situation Mode allows you to put your team in any situation (any score, time left and position on the field that you want) and practice getting better in that situation. Quick Game allows you to play just one game, which is perfect for those that don’t have enough time to delve deeper into the game. ESPN 25th Anniversary Mode commemorates the network’s 25th anniversary, and allows you to relive the 25 most memorable moments in NFL history. First Person Football also makes a return from last year’s version, but I did not spend much time here at all because it’s too difficult to see anything and I prefer controlling my whole team inside of one player.

The franchise mode is quite expansive, as you can manage your team and perhaps even shape them into a dynasty. You have full control over everything, as you can trade players, sign them or even negotiate their contracts (signing bonuses too). There is an annual Draft and Combine, however the newest additions take place during the season. During the week after a game, you must drill your players (your choice of pads or no pads depending on your goals) in an effort to make them better in certain categories. You can give out balls to the best players in the game, hold weekly rally speeches to boost morale as well as many other things. You’ve never had as much control over a team before.

As you can probably tell, you can spend hundreds of hours playing this game by yourself. All of the different modes and will to obtain as many items for your crib is extremely time consuming. However, ESPN NFL 2K5 doesn’t skimp out on the multi-player action either. You can obviously face off against a friend whilst playing a quick game. I’ve played many games against my friend and the superb gameplay keeps both players captivated and fully involves at all times. ESPN NFL 2K5 is also Xbox Live compatible. You can play one-on-one matches against players around the world, set up leagues, participate in tournaments and even keep track of your leagues online. Viewing an opponent’s VIP in an effort to finally beat them adds to the experience. Due to the low price of this game, I am sure that there will always been plenty of players to face off against.

Graphically, I’ve never seen a better football game. The player models are extremely life-like, everything from their musculature to body shape. The faces are extremely detailed, and it is extremely easy to distinguish the top players. The stadiums are also perfect renditions of the real-life stadiums. The player animations are extremely fluid and if watched from afar it might seem like you are watching a game on TV. The ESPN presentation only helps its case. Everything else is also extremely detailed. You cam see the player’s shadows, you can see the glare coming off the player helmets, the falling snow in winter games is realistic. The fans in the stadium also have quite a number of their own animations, ranging from high-fives after a good play to those that hang their head in shame after a loss.

The sound department also did a terrific job. The background music is tremendous because you can unlock tracks via the crib system and play your favorite tracks at all times. You can also use custom soundtracks. The most innovative feature however is the ability to play clips from your favorite songs in various situations. This means that I can have Aceyalone playing every time I intercept a pass or score a touchdown. I’m sure this feature will be used in many sports games to come. The sound effects are on par with most football games, although the noise made during crunching tackles can sometimes be excessive. Finally, the voice acting is superb. The entire cast from ESPN’s SportsCenter lent their voices to make this game as authentic as possible. The commentary is spot on, and all of the plays are called with accuracy and it never seems to become boring or repetitive. The only slight disappointment is that the voices used in post-game interviews for the players all sound the same, no matter if it’s Randy Moss or Patrick Ramsey.

Overall, ESPN NFL 2K5 is like a dream come true. A blend of superb and addicting gameplay, a plethora of modes, the new VIP system, the captivating crib system, engaging online play, stellar graphics and innovative audio create the perfect football game. And the fact that all of this is available for a mere $20 sure makes this enticing. I recommend this game to all sports fans, especially those that enjoy football in the slightest manner. You can never go wrong with buying a game like this for $20. I hope that this game will win over many gamers, and perhaps even Madden fans will decide to give this game a try.

Related Reviews:
Madden NFL 2005
Madden NFL '06

Recommended: Yes