Game - ESPN NFL 2K5
 DJHufford  rates it:    Community rates it:
   177 of 390 readers found this review helpful.

Well for the two of you who haven’t heard, EA has cornered the market on the NFL. They have signed an exclusive deal that only allows them to produce NFL licensed games. In my humble opinion, this will hinder innovation. Thus, I wanted to take one last shot at reviewing the last non-EA NFL game.

Obviously, as we are so close to the 2005-2006 season, the first thing I had to do was update rosters. I signed on to Xbox live and found the latest update. It was a snap to download. Problem was, it was only through January 05. So all the things that have happened since then, I had to manually update. Now of course, I wanted to include the rookies. Luckily, there was a "create a player" feature. This was not too difficult and I was able to put all the first rounders on in no time.

Then it was time to get a game under my belt. I decided to go with medium difficulty. I selected random teams and played the Atlanta Falcons against the 49ers. Michael Vick is a beast. The controls are about the same as every other modern football game. Running may be a slight bit unrealistic. Apparently, every running back is able to turn on a dime like Barry Sanders. But no real complaints there. That just adds to the enjoyment. The A.I. is decent, although somewhat predictable. By the fourth quarter, I ripped a bicep on Tim Rattay and took him out for 2-3 months.

The extra features in the game are really quite deep. It takes a page right out of NBA Ballers in that you can purchase and furnish your own “crib”. It gives you loads of ways in which you can customize your player, and his lifestyle. And you will get everything you’ve come to expect out of a franchise mode. You can set your own prices on everything from hot dogs to ticket prices. You have to manage your teams finances like a certified CPA.

Overall, this is a decent alternative to that other franchise. If you have the patience to keep the rosters up to date, it can be serviceable. It doesn’t bring anything new to the table, but it doesn’t have to. It’s quite fun. It will become dated rather quickly, so enjoy it now. The twenty-dollar price point is attractive as well.

Added:  Sunday, July 31, 2005

Related Link:  Official Website
Language: eng[ Did you find this review helpful?  Yes  No ]
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