First off, let me say I am not a fanboy of either Madden or the ESPN/NFL2K series. I owned both last season for the PS2, and enjoyed them both greatly. With that said, I'm about to tell you why ESPN NFL 2005 is going to be amazing this year.
The IGN first-look article. This article details most, if not all of the new features in this year's game. As most of you football gamers know, the ESPN/NFL2K series hasn't gotten much love the past couple years, although most critics have rated it even with Madden. Well, with the new features Visual Concepts is adding this year, hopefully this is the year the true competition starts up.
Let's get started, shall we? The following are quotes from the article itself:
Chris Berman finishes talking over a series of rumblin', bumblin', stumblin' highlights where Curtis "My Favorite" Martin scores the game winning touchdown. As the replay ends, Berman kicks it down to Suzy Kolber for a postgame interview. In the background, you can still hear the chanting crowd: "J-E-T-S, Jets! Jets! Jets!" With no Broadway Joe in sight, Suzy is safe to proceed, asking Martin about the game, and the Jets runner gives a few shout-outs before sprinting back to the locker room.
While this scenario seems like any typical Sunday, it isn't. In fact, it could be any day of the week. All you need is an Xbox or a PS2. That's right. This is exactly what's going to happen in ESPN Videogames' new football title, ESPN NFL 2005. Only thing is, it's not the real Boomer, Suzy, or Martin, it's their virtual stand-ins. Polygonal representations of a situation that happens after every game in real life, but has never been replicated in a video game?until now.
Now that's amazing. Hopefully they'll include enough sound clips, so that we won't hear the same things said every other game.
Starting around Week 8 of your franchise, a special guest will visit the studio, draft expert Mel Kiper. Using 100's of portraits of NFL players and blending them together, ESPN 2005 will put faces to the names of fictitious rookies about to enter the draft, and Kiper is the man to help hype and sort out the ballers from the fallers. Every rookie will have his own face and name that Kiper recorded, so the virtual Kiper will break down the draft by position during The Franchise Show.
Should make the draft feel more real, and I think will make it much more interesting to participate in the off-season duties.
The first feature is called Weekly Preparation. In the NFL, the fans see what happens every Sunday.......the players and coaches work diligently week in and week out to prepare for Sunday, and now you will have a hand in this preparation. The week starts with you setting the tone of your head coach's weekly press conference and team meetings. You check out the scouting report on your next opponent, then decide what film needs to be watched by your coaches and players. If playing as the 49ers, for example, you can tell your assistant coaches to watch film of the opposing defensive backs, either by players or formations. You can then bring in individual players like Brandon Lloyd to watch film on a specific corner, or you can bring in your entire wide receiver corps. You then train this group or player through exercise/training programs to help increase their attributes. You can even choose whether or not you want to give your players a day off. Everything you do not only takes time off of the clock, but affects player attribute points. Heading into a week where you know you'll need a big passing game, you can actually increase a player like B-Lloyd's attributes by up to six points. Don't give him a day off, and yeah, he might be able to train more, but he could also become more fatigued during Sunday's game.
Now this is innovation. Sounds better than Madden's Owner mode they implemented last year.
The second Franchise addition is a visual simulator. Think ESPN's Gamecast Live with a video game twist. 49er ball, run, pass, run, punt. You can watch what happens in a speedy simulation, meanwhile adjusting your sliders to affect the game.
This will be a boon to slider perfectionists out there.
The third improvement to Franchise comes in the name of contract signings. You can now finally setup contracts on a year-per-year basis, even including signing bonuses into the mix to make this portion of the game more realistic. This will also enable virtual owners and GM's the ability to try and manipulate the salary cap more toward their advantage, back-loading contracts so that you can sign that one free agent who could potentially lead your team to Super Bowl glory.
'Bout time. I like the year-per-year basis.
The biggest new gameplay addition is Maximum Tackle. If you hold the tackle button, your player will attempt a textbook wrap-up. Tap the button, however, and you'll unload with a dynamic hit, blasting the ball carrier toward the turf and increasing the chances for injuries and fumbles. This will enable fast-fingered defenders to even combo the tackle, wrapping up the runner with his first player, then switching defenders and fly in for the fiercer blow.
Sounds as if both Madden and ESPN are upping their tackle antics this year.
Speaking of running with the ball, the game will also feature all-new run animations, including spins, jukes, cuts, and plants. Forget the days of the joystick jockey running full speed to the left, then breaking back right without slowing down. This season, you'll actually see as a player plants his foot, then cuts back the other direction, slowing down just like a real runner would. The dynamic weather will also become more of a factor, as it's easy for a guy like Clinton Portis to make his cut on dry turf, but if he tries to make too harsh of a cut in the snow or rain, he might end up falling on his ass.
If this is done right, this will also be awesome. Madden has this "feature", but it's not implemented properly IMO.
Another addition is the new Quarterback Evade button. If you thought Michael Vick was dangerous in last year's game, now he's even going to be more difficult to get your hands on. Tap the right analog stick as a defender flies toward you and watch as your quarterback ducks or steps up in the pocket to clear room for a throw. The more agile the quarterback, the better he'll be at evading the rush. Sounds like another year of Falcon video game dominance.
Hopefully they don't screw this one up, because if they do, I can see lots of frustration playing online.
Play calling has also received an upgrade, as the game will keep track of every play you choose, and the plays you use more than once will be put into a Favorite Plays column for you to easily scroll through and select.
Sounds nice.
If you were a fan of the Cribs feature the game offered last year, you'll be happy to know that this year's pimped-out room will be three times bigger. This year, it will even involve an economy to unlock special items, whereas you earn points for accomplishing different goals, then it's up to you on what you want to spend your points on. There will be catalogues and catalogues of items to buy, including new mini-games like a dartboard and shuffleboard, there will be a placement system for you to hang posters and trophies, and you will even be able to unlock touchdown celebrations that you can then assign to your players before a game.
Great. I loved the Crib feature of last year's game. I felt like they could've done more, and looks as if they will this year.
ESPN is about to take custom celebrations to an unheard of level, as you begin the game with 40 selectable dances from the worm to the slam dunk. Like I said, you can then assign different dances to different face buttons and bust-a-move on your opponent from the end zone. Buy new dances with your points, then use them late in games to further humiliate opponents.
Awesome. I love being able to do custom celebrations.
Last year's other huge, and probably most talked about feature was First-Person Football. Gimmick or gem, it's not going away. This year, you'll be able to switch between first and third-person games at will.
I liked this feature last year, but never used it. Now that you can switch back and forth on will, it may see a little more playtime from me.
BEST new feature!!
If that's not enough, ESPN NFL will also incorporate living rosters into online play. So now, not only will you be able to play in leagues and tournaments with friends, but you will also be able to make trades, track injuries, and even check out all of your stats and schedules on the Web. In fact, everything you can track in season mode you will also be able to track online. But it's the living rosters addition that will make hardcore fans smile. Trading players with friends is one thing, but then to actually see it incorporated into your league, that's the kind of online functionality gamers have been dreaming about.
This is what fantasy football is all about. This feature is GOLD in my book, and gets my award for best new feature
🙂.
Another addition to the overall look of the game is the addition of all new cut scenes. Last year, there were only about 40 of these cut scenes, and while they looked cool at first, the majority of gamers simply ended up buttoning past them after a few games. This year expect over 200 new cut scenes to add more variety, including scenes from the locker room to fans tailgating in the parking lots before games.
This is good to hear. The ones last year got repetitive pretty quickly.
Well, that's most of the good stuff from the article, along with some things about the game being rebuilt graphically for the XBOX. Needless to say, I can't wait to hear what EA has up their sleeves, and this season could be interesting.
