I know there's a few threads already for this, but this game deserves many many threads
I'll be frank, I love this game. I've had a week to play it now, so here's my impression of the game in about 8-10 hours of play.
At first, I didn't like it, mainly because I was so used to Madden. This game seemed to move too quickly and I didn't feel like i was in control. I've played the game for a few days now, and now that I'm used to it, it's a much more powerful game than Madden ever was.
The graphics...awesome. I'm big on detail, and the player detail and lighting effects in this game are right up there with the best the X box has to offer. No big, clunky players like in Madden, no drawn-on jerseys like in madden.
The Play Control... incredible. I love pulling the R trigger to scramble around, then release the R trigger to bring back up the passing icons. This is an amazing innovation that Madden needs to imploy. It feels totally natural.
The running game is really really fun as well. You have so many options. You can charge up and lower your head to run through guys, juke and cut or spin around them, jump over them ala
Larry Centers, or use the R thumbstick to do all kinds of crazy
Barry Sanders-esque moves. Simply the most incredible running game control I've ever seen. Truly the most awesome part of the game IMO.
Ok, now the defense... At first this seemed hopeless, mainly because I was used to Madden. I didn't realize that if you put a CB in a zone and blitz the LBs that the WR would come open on inside routes (quite realistic, mind you). Now that I've figured that out, I've learned how to blitz from double coverage and use man-to-man to slow teams down. Controlling a linebacker or safety is much more fun than in Madden, mainly because the characters cut and change directions much more quickly in this game than in Madden. In Madden, the player models are big and bulky and they don't have much agility. I also like controlling defensive linemen in this game. I can't seem to get too many sacks from the DEs, but the DT's are ripping it up for me, especially Dockett. He has 8 sacks for me in about 5 games.
The kicking game is much simpler and more fun than Madden's as well. My girlfriend likes to play me sometimes, and she could never get the kicking game in madden. In madden, it's click once to start the swing, click again to set the power, click again to set the accuracy. In NFL2k5, it's aim, click to start the swing, click for power. 2 clicks as opposed to 3. More casual gamers will like this.
The VIP profile is spooky. I played a few games, and then played against my VIP profile. It was sick, it was like looking in a mirror. The computer played just like I do, making the same mistakes I make and running the same gameplan I run. This is the coolest thing I've ever seen in a sports game, ever, bar none.
First person mode is quite fun too, it reminds me of playing high school football.
OK, first was the good, now the bad.
1. The running animations are dreadful. The players all run too upright, Eric Dickerson style. This looks terribly cheesy as you run down the field.
2. If you run out of bounds w/o being tackled, the player just STOPS at the sideline, no momentum carrying him past the white stripe. Physically impossible.
3. Clipping. There's a lot of model clipping in the game, even in something as simple and routine as a handoff. This should be corrected.
4. Defensive money plays. If you run the bear defense with zone coverage and both outside guys (WLB and SS) blitzing, you will stop the computer most of the time. It works too well against mobile QBs too, as I was easily able to contain Vick with this defense. That shouldn't happen. His ability to scramble should be almost unstoppable.
5. Substitutions. Ron McKinnon went down with a head injury for 8 weeks. No problem, I thought, I'll just sub Gerald Hayes in for him. NFL2k5 would NOT allow this because Hayes is an OLB, not an ILB. Frustrating. You can't even sub a LB in at DE for passing plays.
6. Trades. I put Emmitt Smith on the trading block. Yes he's old, but he's like a 76 overall, and in Madden, that'd get you usually a 60-something overall player and a draft pick. In NFL2k5, I put Smith on the trading block for a 4th round pick. 1 team told me they'd love to trade their 4th round pick for Emmitt and my 4th round pick.
7. The announcers. Annoying as all hell, yet still better than Madden and his
"90% of the game is half mental" mindless drivel.
8. I can't save a franchise game in the middle of a game. I can only exit or sim to the end. This sucks, as I rarely have time to sit down and play through a full 60 minute game.
9. No play editor
Damnit. These guys still need to learn from FBpro98, the most powerful football sim and play editor ever.
Overall I'd give the game a 9 out of 10. Fine, fine product, and I can't wait to see where they take this franchise next year. Madden finally has some competition, and it's only going to be good for the genre as this market has shifted from EA's totalitarian regime to a nice competitive oligopoly.
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