I've been playing this game for a couple weeks now, and I've been putting off reviewing it for anyone who hasn't played it, so here I am, finally getting around to it... I don't know why I'm doing this actually, but it's probably because I'm only taking one 3-hour blowoff class so I've got a lot of time on my hands... anywhere here goes.
The graphics are amazing. I didn't play NFL 2K4, but I played Madden 2004, and I don't remember it being THIS realistic. The fan cutscenes look pretty good, even though it's the same group of people all the time, and the same goes for the cheerleaders, although they look like they were made out of legos.
I've found several annoyances in this game, though. There are two in particular that drive me NUTS... First, the ref takes FOREVER to call Two Minute Warnings or end of quarter, end of game sequences. Hell, for two-minute warnings, the play ends, you watch a little replay, get back to the huddle, choose your play, and as soon as you get out of the huddle... THEN the ref decides to blow the whistle. So you get to go back and do it all over again. Second, there are too many dropped passes... Laveraneus Coles, Santana Moss, Randy Moss, JERRY RICE for god's sake, nobody can keep their hands on the ball. It's like the makers put it in some code as a joke to make sure every QB always has a completion % under 50.
Now... for my tastes anyway... The Crib sucks. I don't see the point. It has nothing to do with football, but it's a nice distraction. I liked the Madden Cards better, because every single one of them was functional, even though they were totally random, and the Crib at least tells you what you're gonna get and how many Credits you need.
Second, the music sucks... The makers need a lesson in demographics. Not everyone that plays Football games likes rap music. Madden had a nice variety of music.
The controls are very mushy. I remember playing Madden 04 and, when controlling Vick, he FELT fast. LaDainian Tomlinson felt FAST. Bryant Young didn't feel fast. Well there are also varying degrees of control in 2K5... you either get sluggish, very sluggish, or no control whatsoever. Controlling some players is like driving an old Ford Crown Victoria... you're moving, but you just can't feel what your tires are doing.
The menus are kind of complicated, you have to go through 30 submenus to get where you're going, but the biggest complaint I have is the lack of a default autosave feature. I've lost many games in my season because I'll turn off the xbox after being used to Madden's autosave.
These little things, I think, keep this game from being great. It's a good game though, and the price is great, but you know what they say... you get what you pay for.
NFL 2K5
Re: NFL 2K5
I've been playing this game for a couple weeks now, and I've been putting off reviewing it for anyone who hasn't played it, so here I am, finally getting around to it... I don't know why I'm doing this actually, but it's probably because I'm only taking one 3-hour blowoff class so I've got a lot of time on my hands... anywhere here goes.
Nah, I have two 5 hour blowoff classes..don't feel bad.
The graphics are amazing. I didn't play NFL 2K4, but I played Madden 2004, and I don't remember it being THIS realistic. The fan cutscenes look pretty good, even though it's the same group of people all the time, and the same goes for the cheerleaders, although they look like they were made out of legos.
Graphics are pretty good..better than any before it, that's for sure. Though, I didn't think the chearleaders looked like lego people..
I've found several annoyances in this game, though. There are two in particular that drive me NUTS... First, the ref takes FOREVER to call Two Minute Warnings or end of quarter, end of game sequences. Hell, for two-minute warnings, the play ends, you watch a little replay, get back to the huddle, choose your play, and as soon as you get out of the huddle... THEN the ref decides to blow the whistle. So you get to go back and do it all over again. Second, there are too many dropped passes... Laveraneus Coles, Santana Moss, Randy Moss, JERRY RICE for god's sake, nobody can keep their hands on the ball. It's like the makers put it in some code as a joke to make sure every QB always has a completion % under 50.
All games are like that with the two minute warning..ever played NFL Fever 2k4? or 2k3? I got em both...the two-minute warning is called when the clock hits two minutes, not when its convenient. If you pick your play with 5 seconds left, then yeah he calls it before you can start the play.
The reason there are dropped passes is because the game brings a whole new level to quarterbacking AND receiving. Receiving isn't like every other game where you just run to where the ball is and its yours..you have to hit Y (on xbox) to catch the ball. The quarterback also has to be on balance and not in a state where a quarterback in real life couldn't make a decent throw himself.
Completion %'s come as you learn how to move and handle the quarterback..like I said, passing isn't as easy as it used to be in other games..this game its more realistic, it's not just a gimmie and you dont have 90% pass completion.
Now... for my tastes anyway... The Crib sucks. I don't see the point. It has nothing to do with football, but it's a nice distraction. I liked the Madden Cards better, because every single one of them was functional, even though they were totally random, and the Crib at least tells you what you're gonna get and how many Credits you need.
The Crib isn't too bad. You're right it has nothing to do with football, but it shows how much of the game you've completed and how hard you've worked to deck it out. Someone with a decked crib would obviously have much more experience than someone without, or with a slightly hooked up crib. The only truely useful part of the crib, however, is the celeb phone to play the game.
Second, the music sucks... The makers need a lesson in demographics. Not everyone that plays Football games likes rap music. Madden had a nice variety of music.
Eh..music isn't important. At least if you're playing through an xbox..I do primarily listen to rap, but the game music is wack anyway. XBOX allows you to copy CD's to it, and listen to them in the game rather than the games default music..I rarely ever listen to the default music of any XBOX game I play, if it allows for use of tracks copied to the XBOX.
The controls are very mushy. I remember playing Madden 04 and, when controlling Vick, he FELT fast. LaDainian Tomlinson felt FAST. Bryant Young didn't feel fast. Well there are also varying degrees of control in 2K5... you either get sluggish, very sluggish, or no control whatsoever. Controlling some players is like driving an old Ford Crown Victoria... you're moving, but you just can't feel what your tires are doing.
What the hell? This is another area I have to completely disagree with you on. Running fast requires WORK now. The faster you tap the button, the faster you run. So learn to tap faster. What you aren't realizing still, is that the game is more realistic. Players in real football don't full sprint the entire play believe it or not. This game makes you manipulate powering up to deflect a tackle or running to get past people. Players are fast if you make them fast..if you use fast players right, they're as fast as they need to be.
The menus are kind of complicated, you have to go through 30 submenus to get where you're going, but the biggest complaint I have is the lack of a default autosave feature. I've lost many games in my season because I'll turn off the xbox after being used to Madden's autosave.
This isn't Madden..again, it all depends on the game. This no autosave is actually a nice feature. A lot of people don't like losses. The only problem I have with saving is when you have multiple profiles and after playing a quick game, you want to save both. Whatever the active profile is can be saved immediately, while to save the other one you have to go find it through the menus. The submenu's aren't TOO bad..there are a lot, like you said. But each has a purpose..it all depends on how knowledgable you are about the game and what you're willing to go into and change. I play people online that use features I never even knew existed...to them, all of these menu's and catagories and fields you can change are worth it. Some people like to perfect their teams..this game just has an intricate way to let you do it.
These little things, I think, keep this game from being great. It's a good game though, and the price is great, but you know what they say... you get what you pay for.
I personally think the game is great. Granted, Madden is going to have a bunch of the features this game has, and Madden has always been the top seller and still will be. Theres just a lot more to this game than people realize...it's not about just playing, its about perfecting your team and actually playing god, deciding everything that happens if you want. If you don't want, you can assign your 'assistant coach' the responsibility and never have to worry about it.
This is all opinion however, that's yours and this is mine. I just thought a few things you said were quite ludacris, and felt so inclined to comment so people get more than just a point of view of distaste.
Nah, I have two 5 hour blowoff classes..don't feel bad.
The graphics are amazing. I didn't play NFL 2K4, but I played Madden 2004, and I don't remember it being THIS realistic. The fan cutscenes look pretty good, even though it's the same group of people all the time, and the same goes for the cheerleaders, although they look like they were made out of legos.
Graphics are pretty good..better than any before it, that's for sure. Though, I didn't think the chearleaders looked like lego people..
I've found several annoyances in this game, though. There are two in particular that drive me NUTS... First, the ref takes FOREVER to call Two Minute Warnings or end of quarter, end of game sequences. Hell, for two-minute warnings, the play ends, you watch a little replay, get back to the huddle, choose your play, and as soon as you get out of the huddle... THEN the ref decides to blow the whistle. So you get to go back and do it all over again. Second, there are too many dropped passes... Laveraneus Coles, Santana Moss, Randy Moss, JERRY RICE for god's sake, nobody can keep their hands on the ball. It's like the makers put it in some code as a joke to make sure every QB always has a completion % under 50.
All games are like that with the two minute warning..ever played NFL Fever 2k4? or 2k3? I got em both...the two-minute warning is called when the clock hits two minutes, not when its convenient. If you pick your play with 5 seconds left, then yeah he calls it before you can start the play.
The reason there are dropped passes is because the game brings a whole new level to quarterbacking AND receiving. Receiving isn't like every other game where you just run to where the ball is and its yours..you have to hit Y (on xbox) to catch the ball. The quarterback also has to be on balance and not in a state where a quarterback in real life couldn't make a decent throw himself.
Completion %'s come as you learn how to move and handle the quarterback..like I said, passing isn't as easy as it used to be in other games..this game its more realistic, it's not just a gimmie and you dont have 90% pass completion.
Now... for my tastes anyway... The Crib sucks. I don't see the point. It has nothing to do with football, but it's a nice distraction. I liked the Madden Cards better, because every single one of them was functional, even though they were totally random, and the Crib at least tells you what you're gonna get and how many Credits you need.
The Crib isn't too bad. You're right it has nothing to do with football, but it shows how much of the game you've completed and how hard you've worked to deck it out. Someone with a decked crib would obviously have much more experience than someone without, or with a slightly hooked up crib. The only truely useful part of the crib, however, is the celeb phone to play the game.
Second, the music sucks... The makers need a lesson in demographics. Not everyone that plays Football games likes rap music. Madden had a nice variety of music.
Eh..music isn't important. At least if you're playing through an xbox..I do primarily listen to rap, but the game music is wack anyway. XBOX allows you to copy CD's to it, and listen to them in the game rather than the games default music..I rarely ever listen to the default music of any XBOX game I play, if it allows for use of tracks copied to the XBOX.
The controls are very mushy. I remember playing Madden 04 and, when controlling Vick, he FELT fast. LaDainian Tomlinson felt FAST. Bryant Young didn't feel fast. Well there are also varying degrees of control in 2K5... you either get sluggish, very sluggish, or no control whatsoever. Controlling some players is like driving an old Ford Crown Victoria... you're moving, but you just can't feel what your tires are doing.
What the hell? This is another area I have to completely disagree with you on. Running fast requires WORK now. The faster you tap the button, the faster you run. So learn to tap faster. What you aren't realizing still, is that the game is more realistic. Players in real football don't full sprint the entire play believe it or not. This game makes you manipulate powering up to deflect a tackle or running to get past people. Players are fast if you make them fast..if you use fast players right, they're as fast as they need to be.
The menus are kind of complicated, you have to go through 30 submenus to get where you're going, but the biggest complaint I have is the lack of a default autosave feature. I've lost many games in my season because I'll turn off the xbox after being used to Madden's autosave.
This isn't Madden..again, it all depends on the game. This no autosave is actually a nice feature. A lot of people don't like losses. The only problem I have with saving is when you have multiple profiles and after playing a quick game, you want to save both. Whatever the active profile is can be saved immediately, while to save the other one you have to go find it through the menus. The submenu's aren't TOO bad..there are a lot, like you said. But each has a purpose..it all depends on how knowledgable you are about the game and what you're willing to go into and change. I play people online that use features I never even knew existed...to them, all of these menu's and catagories and fields you can change are worth it. Some people like to perfect their teams..this game just has an intricate way to let you do it.
These little things, I think, keep this game from being great. It's a good game though, and the price is great, but you know what they say... you get what you pay for.
I personally think the game is great. Granted, Madden is going to have a bunch of the features this game has, and Madden has always been the top seller and still will be. Theres just a lot more to this game than people realize...it's not about just playing, its about perfecting your team and actually playing god, deciding everything that happens if you want. If you don't want, you can assign your 'assistant coach' the responsibility and never have to worry about it.
This is all opinion however, that's yours and this is mine. I just thought a few things you said were quite ludacris, and felt so inclined to comment so people get more than just a point of view of distaste.
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xxegonomicxx
Re: NFL 2K5
Yea definitely man, and I encourage more people to do the same... different points of view are what makes forums work.
See the reason I didn't like this game is because, like Maddox said on "The Best Page of the Universe," games are becoming TOO real. If I sit down and have to control every single detail, I will find no enjoyment. Pretty soon... I give it til NFL 2k7, we'll have to tie the players shoelaces as well using a complicated 20-keystroke combination that spans 3 submenus.
And the tapping the button to run, I don't like doing that. I tap fast enough where I can outrun just about everyone with Kevan Barlow of the 49ers, but I don't like having to tap. This isn't an arcade game.
If one has to go through so much work to just get a first down, why don't we just actually go outside and play the game?
Oh and one thing I forgot... I miss the ability to control your lead blocker that was in the last Madden game. I've noticed my lead blocker misses a lot of easy shots that would spring HUGE holes for me and instead tends to run towards the secondary.
Now here's why I really don't know the game as in depth as you: I didn't read the instruction manual even once. I shouldn't have to sit down and study a manual to learn a game, my preference is a game where you can just pick up the controller, turn on the machine, and go at it.
And I think you misunderstood what I said about two-minute warnings. My complaint is that he DOESN'T call it when the clocks hits two minutes, it's called afterwards. Here's a more detailed scenario:
You have the ball, with 2:02 left on the clock, which is stopped. You hike the ball and throw a complete pass that takes 5 seconds off the clock; Therefore you hit the ground and there is 1:57 left in the game. The clock stops, but there is no cutscene to the ref calling the two-minute warning. You see a replay of the previous play, then you get back in the huddle and choose your play, and it isn't until after you leave the huddle with your new play that the ref calls the two-minute warning. It should have been called the second the receiver hit the ground, not after the cutscene and after you choose a play.
See the reason I didn't like this game is because, like Maddox said on "The Best Page of the Universe," games are becoming TOO real. If I sit down and have to control every single detail, I will find no enjoyment. Pretty soon... I give it til NFL 2k7, we'll have to tie the players shoelaces as well using a complicated 20-keystroke combination that spans 3 submenus.
And the tapping the button to run, I don't like doing that. I tap fast enough where I can outrun just about everyone with Kevan Barlow of the 49ers, but I don't like having to tap. This isn't an arcade game.
If one has to go through so much work to just get a first down, why don't we just actually go outside and play the game?
Oh and one thing I forgot... I miss the ability to control your lead blocker that was in the last Madden game. I've noticed my lead blocker misses a lot of easy shots that would spring HUGE holes for me and instead tends to run towards the secondary.
Now here's why I really don't know the game as in depth as you: I didn't read the instruction manual even once. I shouldn't have to sit down and study a manual to learn a game, my preference is a game where you can just pick up the controller, turn on the machine, and go at it.
And I think you misunderstood what I said about two-minute warnings. My complaint is that he DOESN'T call it when the clocks hits two minutes, it's called afterwards. Here's a more detailed scenario:
You have the ball, with 2:02 left on the clock, which is stopped. You hike the ball and throw a complete pass that takes 5 seconds off the clock; Therefore you hit the ground and there is 1:57 left in the game. The clock stops, but there is no cutscene to the ref calling the two-minute warning. You see a replay of the previous play, then you get back in the huddle and choose your play, and it isn't until after you leave the huddle with your new play that the ref calls the two-minute warning. It should have been called the second the receiver hit the ground, not after the cutscene and after you choose a play.