Graphics:
Amazing. Simply amazing. The faces, the jerseys, the muscles. They're all done so well. Last year, ESPN introduced the art of sweating, where players would become more shiny over the game, as if they were really sweating. They've now taken it to a higher level with jerseys. It's something that I haven't really noticed with away jerseys unless it's in replay, but for white home jerseys, while playing, the jerseys become progressively darker, as if the sweat was actually soaking them.(It's the little things
) Everything, in my opinion is that much better this year. The jersey textures have been improved and look more realistic, along with the variety of player models. The arena atmosphere is much better too. 2K5 has adapted 3-D crowds, a new graphical enhancement in sports games. Overall, these graphics are truly the best I've ever seen in a sports game.Glove Guy's score: 10/10
Gameplay and Animations:
ESPN 2K4's gameplay was a flop. A let-down. A sad experience. But it's all been changed. No longer do all teams play the same. No longer is a dinky little hook shot the only post shot available.
Last year's IsoMotion, a play-off of NBA Live's Freestyle, was a letdown. This year has brought improvements. IsoMotion2 brings more control and playability. While it still remains a challenge to master, that's how all sports games should be. Along with the new IsoMotion dribbling animations, 2K5 has a new power dribble, making it look much realistic when a player drives to the hoop.
2K5's hop step has been done really well. It does give you an advantage, but it's not something you can abuse. You have to work to be in the position to actually use it. If you hold down turbo, you can do a nice little spin move, which can be followed with a nice little fading jumper.
The post game, which was totally non-existent last year, has been incorporated in IsoMotion, where you can use the Right Thumbstick to spin off of opponents.. Though I myself am not great at it, I can tell you now, the animations are much improved. ESPN has incorporated a nice little up-and-under finger roll, along with plenty more animations.
Some of the bad(yes, believe it or not, there is some) is that there seems to be a little less control while dribbling around the three point line. It looks extremely realistic, yet there's not too much feel within it. Also, on default sliders, the tempo is a bit higher then some might want, but that can be rectified with a little tweaking.
Glove Guy's score: 9/10
The Assosiation:
Along with all of the features in last year's Franchise Mode(now known as "The Association"), 2K5 has the feature of managing and balancing player's emotions, which can result in a higher or lower team chemistry. Also given is a Weekly Training feature, where you can assign tasks for your team. If you assign a hard workout, it could potentially result in injury or loss of stamia, yet at the same time, boost your team's ratings. If a light workout is assigned, your team's stamina may rise, yet their rating's could decrease. You can also assign a staff of four people, where you have the option to hiar an NBA Legend, a Masseuse, a Biomechanist, a Player Mentor, and more. The menus are a bit confusing and different from last year, but after a week, you'll get the feel for them. One thing I don't like is the inability to sort the free agent pool by rating, but that's just something minor.
Glove Guy's score: 9/10
Extra Features:
Last year, ESPN introduced 24/7, a mode allowing you to create your own player, and have him play against NBA players on street courts around the country. It was interesting, and to some, addictive. This year's version appears more polished. Honestly, I haven't really gotten into it much, but from what I've done so far, the mode seems much more improved over last year's.
You can also attain unlockables such as bobbleheads or all-time teams by reaching milestones or individual accomplishments. Unlike last year, Hall of Fame difficulty mode is actually unlockable, something unattainable last year. Some unlockables are cool, but I think ESPN NFL's Crib Mode is much more interesting.
Glove Guy's score: 8/10
Overall score(not an average): 9/10
To me, this is the best basketball game I've ever played. Hopefully, it won't start getting old, but for now, I'm really happy with my $20 purchase. Both ESPN and Live are great games in their own aspects. I'm curious to see what ESPN does to answer Live's All-Star Weekend for 2006.
The presentation of the game is good, but the commentator is really boring. Bill Walton barely says anything through the whole game. I will say that I'm getting the game this weekend because when I played it I really liked the graphics and gameplay. I didn't get the chance to play the franchise mode and everything, but you can unlock stuff on the game like bobbleheads, all-time teams and things like that. If you get bored of Live, I can play ESPN, but ESPN isn't as bad as the ratings show from some sites.
) so I'll just sell it to some moron.
