Thanks to Electronic Art’s recent purchase of the use of the real teams/players of the NFL, this looks set to be the last ESPN NFL title. So, of course we’d hope that the series would leave us with a good taste in the mouth, showing off just what we’re going to be missing because of EA’s financial muscle.
First things first, the idea to release this latest round of ESPN sports titles at a budget price is obviously something we’re quick to praise. Rather than sticking yet another £39.99 price tag, you’ll be hard pressed to pay more than £19.99 for this little title. Now although I may not be the most hardened American football fan, and know all the ins and outs of the sport, I do know my games, and at that price, ESPN NFL 2K5 is a major bargain.
The EA sport games have always been about the show as a whole rather than how the game itself plays. You have to have the flashy videos and licensed soundtracks to tempt the more casual gaming consumer. But that’s not what ESPN NFL 2K5 is all about. Visual Concepts are much more willing to offer a less flashy, but infinitely more enjoyable game to get your teeth into.
By far one of the most impressive parts of the game is the sheer beauty of the in game aesthetics. Not only do the players themselves look startlingly real, but the quality of the animation is second to none. While many games can all too easily remind you that your playing a mere video game with slight oddities in animation (running on the spot at full pelt into a wall for example) there’s no such fault that can be levelled at this particular title. The tackles crunch, bodies jar, and players act like they actually have a touch of momentum rather than freakishly turning on the spot in a split second. Watching replay’s show off these amazing visuals all the more as you can spot in the background two players crunch into each other with the same kind of dedication as your controlled character does in the foreground. All too often the focus is on your player-controlled character, even in sports games, and this can act to the detriment of a true feeling total immersion.
The sounds too, something that’s often overlooked and considered less important than the visuals, they too are something quite special. The in game sounds themselves, the roar of the crowd, the sounds of hits and tackles between two massive players all sound nigh on perfect. Unfortunately the commentary team only succeed in becoming all too tedious all too quickly. When there’s nothing in particular to commentate on you’ll start to hear repeated phrases which can be massively off putting.
In game itself, the ease of rushing which has always been something that fans have complained about has been combated with the implementation of player momentum. As mentioned earlier, the players now lack the ability to turn on a sixpence, now needing to make an extra step or two to adjust the direction of their weight. With this in action, your rushing game needs to reach a much higher skill level to pull off massive running plays, and the joy gained from making these kind of plays is multiplied ten fold by the new difficulty. Similarly, passing plays have become much less random. Whereas previously your star receiver would randomly drop catches, it’s now much more skill based. On easier skill levels it does become quite easy to make huge passing plays, but that’s counter-acted by the impressive AI shown on the high skill levels, meaning you’ll need to show true skill to make any headway.
Tackling too takes a slight overall too. Whereas before it was a choice of either diving at the onrushing player, or simply running into them, you now need to choose just how strong a tackle you wish to make. A hold down of the button will give your opponent a hard slam, whereas a tap of the button will give him a small shove, knocking his weight and momentum to one side. Again, it’s something else that needs to be mastered.
I may not be the world greatest American football fan, but I know the sport to a particular extent, and just what makes game’s based on the sport enjoyable. For sports titles a whole, at the base of everything you need a solid experience. An experience that offers no strange anomalies that can cause major frustration. What Visual Concepts have brought us is a game that offers this solid experience as a whole, and combined it with a touch of class that only a few sports titles can truly wish to be in possession of. Don’t let the budget price put you off. This is one game that most would be more than willing to splash the full price out upon.
Chris Pickering
