PlayStation 2

ESPN NFL 2K5

If you keep trying harder, sooner or later, you?ll reap the rewards. Each season, Sega?s ESPN NFL series has been making steady progress in its quest for video-game football stardom. This year, the design guys at Visual Concepts have turned ESPN NFL 2K5 into the most entertaining show in video-game football.

There’s nothing like a friendly little rivalry between game studios to benefit the evolution of a franchise, and this year ESPN is hell-bent on not only annihilating the competition, but dominating the sports genre across all consoles for all sports.

For the past five years, Visual Concepts and Sega (or ESPN Videogames if you want to get technical) have gone all out in their attempt to overtake EA’s popular Madden NFL football franchise, with an equal mix of critical acclaim and market apathy despite said critical acclaim. While the series slowly gains more and more fans with their increasingly solid titles (and the change to the ESPN name, one that surely adds name value comparable to John Madden), Madden still dominates – as shown by the over 5 million copies sold for the 2004 edition alone. This year, however, Sega is not only out to compete with the Madden juggernaut – they’re out to undercut and beat Madden to the punch.

Several weeks ago, there were rumors flying around that Sega’s latest football game, ESPN NFL 2K5 was going to be released at the budget friendly $19.99 price point. Many people thought that this is just another rouse, because there is no way a developer would release a brand new game, unless it has serious quality control issues, at this price point. Well you can put all your fears aside about this game, because it is like their previous football games, except much better. Read on to find out all of the new things that Visual Concepts have integrated into their latest game.

There has never been a better $20 game than ESPN NFL 2K5. End of story. For the price of a two-week rental, you can buy a footballer that is every bit as deep, feature-packed and addictively playable as Madden. For the price of a night at the movies, you can own a game with great graphics, realistic football action, compelling and revolutionary sports gaming concepts, and an extensive online head-to-head experience. Such value is difficult to come by in the expensive world of console video games, but value is just one of the things that make this year's installment so special.

For fans of the NFL, ESPN NFL 2K5 is a must have because it's simply one of the best NFL games ever created. I still play the Xbox version of ESPN NFL 2K4, which was an excellent game also, and I'll definitely be picking this up on the Xbox too. Those of you who haven't yet purchased a NFL title should really consider this game. Global Star has released the game at the lowly price of just £19.99 which is excellent. Even at £39.99 this game would be highly recommended because it's just so playable and impressive. The only thing missing is the online game which may or may not be an issue depending on your opinion of online gaming. As a single player game though it's pure class and a shining example of what a sports game can be. Visual Concepts next game might not have the ESPN or NFL logo attached to it but to me it won't matter what's it's called because as long as it's of this calibre I'd buy it no matter what.

If ESPN has a weakness, it lies in its whiney play-by-play. Unlike Madden, ESPN doesn't use professional commentators and it shows when they mispronounce player names. In general they call a good game, but they get cut off whenever you press a button. Overall ESPN is a brilliant package. It's really a toss-up this year between this and Madden

So, when all is said and done, and after all the price drop and release date hullabaloo, does ESPN NFL 2K5 manage to come together to make a compelling, quality football game? The answer is an unflinching and resounding "Yes." Don't think of ESPN NFL 2K5 as a budget game, because it's about the farthest thing from the average budget title that you can imagine. If anything, this game should be called the "Steal of the Century," because you're getting all the benefits of one of the best football franchises of all-time for an incredibly measly 20 bucks. If this price isn't enough of an excuse to get you to give ESPN NFL 2K5--arguably the best football game on the market right now--a fair shot, then you are out of your mind. As for the rest of you who are not suffering from bouts of insanity, go pick up ESPN NFL 2K5, and do so with the peace of mind that you're getting no less than the deal of a lifetime.

Perhaps the biggest positive with this game is the price. With a RRP of only $49.95 in Australia, and many shops selling it for much less then that this really is great value, even without online gameplay. It's a crying shame, however, that the ESPN license now shift over to EA, not because they won't use it well, but because Visual Concepts were just gathering steam to push innovation and excellence in competition with EA. ESPN NFL 2K5 is a worthy addition to any gamers collection.

You have to give Sega and developer Visual Concepts their props. They've soldiered on with long odds against a tough opponent for many years now. Since its Sega Dreamcast debut, the NFL 2K series has played a great game, but been creamed in sales by EA's flagship Madden series. This year they're calling a trick play, hoping to catch EA flatfooted: ESPN NFL 2K5 hits stores a full three weeks before Madden, and at an incredibly friendly price of $19.99. And Madden should be nervous because Sega has definitely brought its "A" game.

We all love bargains, right? Any time you can get a quality product at a good price, you can walk away from the deal happy. It was no surprise, then, that gamers everywhere were overjoyed when Sega announced that the latest version of their popular football franchise, ESPN NFL 2K5, would be released for a piddling $19.95. There were some grumblings that perhaps the game wasn't as good as previous years, or that Sega was trying to move into the bargain game section. Thankfully, this is not the case, and gamers will be getting a lot of bang for their buck this year.

A good friend once said to me that you should always keep things simple, especially if you know nothing about the matter at hand. All I really know about American Football is there seems to be an advert break every few seconds, the players run into each other from squat positions after said break, one guy runs back a bit with the ball before throwing it to another guy 30 feet in front of him, who gets mauled into the ground before the next ad break. It’s not my cup of tea, I'd rather watch paint dry (or the cheerleaders, to be fair) than the average game of NFL. Even the Superbowl this year failed to attract my attention away from a football match I'd recorded onto DVD from Sky a few days before, Accrington Stanley versus another similarly obscure Conference side.

While the majority of the gameplay is above average, the game's bevy of technical issues kill any hopes that a hardcore fan would be satisfied with this game in the long term. Yes, it can fill the football void until Madden comes out, and casual players are likely to enjoy it just fine, especially for the $20 price tag. However, the bottom line is that there's no excuse for a game to be released with this many major problems, especially when Sega has decided that this is the year for people to really try it out to see how it compares to Madden.

ESPN NFL 2K5 est le digne héritier d'une longue série. Cela dit, à part les quelques petites améliorations de gameplay plus que bienvenues qui enrichissent le jeu, il n'y a pas de réelles différences avec l'épisode précédent. En clair, si vous possédez NFL Football, vous pouvez faire l'impasse sur ce nouveau volet. Sinon, son achat est chaudement recommandé.