	ESPN NFL 2005
	Developer: Visual Concepts Publisher: Take Two Release Date: Out Now Players: 1 - 4	Words By:
ESPN NFL 2K5 is the latest in SEGA sports long running 2K series and is available at a budget price…. Now I know some of you will be thinking “oh no a budget game” but trust me this is a highly polished and great looking NFL game. The first thing you notice when you load 2K5 is the great TV-style presentation, it makes you feel like you’re watching the coverage on TV and you even get a presenter bloke that tells you about the upcoming match while it’s loading. Also when the game first loads you can choose to create a “VIP save” which lets you choose your favourite team and logs all your stats as well as wins/losses, it also shows you stats like where on the field you like to pass/run and how many passing/running yards you’ve made in your ‘career’. With your VIP save you also get access to your crib (that’s your house if you’re not up to date on your street slang hehe) where you get to buy all sorts of things like furniture and sports memorabilia, there’s also a trophy room that stores everything you’ve won. If that wasn’t enough it gives you a lot of customization; things like player celebrations, stadium music and teams can all be changed to suit you. Now that’s all the non playing stuff so let’s get down to the playing. If you’ve played any NFL game before you’ll know what to expect. Choose your play from the play book then away you go. Depending on what play you choose (run/pass/kick) you’ll need to do something different. For example if you choose ‘pass’ you’ll need to press X to give the ball to your quarterback, then choose a receiver, then throw the ball to him…. where as if you choose ‘run’ all you have to do is run and try to get to the end zone. There are a huge amount of plays to choose from and if you don’t know what to do or can’t decide you can always press R1 for the coach’s choice. When running with the ball there are a lot of moves to pull off to try to avoid the oncoming defence. You can spin, sprint, stick out a stiff arm and even make a heroic dive over the defenders. Without the ball you can tackle, sprint and try intercept/block passes in mid air. 2K5 also features a really cool feature called First Person Football™ which you might have guessed lets you play the game in a first person viewpoint, it’s like a whole new experience and a lot of fun. When I saw the game in motion I was really amazed at how good it looks. The animation is so realistic at you’d think you’re watching a real game. Player models are highly detailed and have reflective helmets and facial animation shadows. You can even zoom in and see the pain on the players faces when a crunching tackle comes flying in. There are also some cool cuts to the crowd with them cheering or moaning at your touchdown (or lack of). While some sports games feature some fairly poor commentary this game gets it dead on, really impressive, commenting on players, passes and even the crowd. The players also make some cool sounds, be it talking trash or the ‘argghh’ noises when they get tackled. So overall I think ESPN NFL 2K5 is now my favourite NFL game, with its great TV-style presentation, excellent graphics, decent commentary and all at Ł20 it’s just the logical choice. Too bad this will likely be the last one in the series now that EA have snapped up the exclusive rights to the NFL and ESPN.

Best Bits
- Looks great, sounds great, plays great.
- All official.
- The VIP.
- Ł20!!!

Worst Bits
- Finding mates that know how to play it.


by: SteMacD