The ONLY true competitor to Madden, it is a shame this great series ended with this game. REQUIRED for football fans.
The standard features you expect are here, such as franchise, quick game, and team management. The gameplay is similar to Madden with slight adjustments of button placement and play selection. I honestly couldn't say if Madden or 2K5 played much differently in the actual gameplay. Both give solid, enjoyable, and deep games of football.
The extras are where 2K5 shines. There is the addition of "the crib" where players earn cash to outfit their mansion by achieving goals in games. An avalanche of extras are here, from sportscenter commercials, to cheats, to accessories, to bobbleheads, to bonus games like trivia, darts, and paper football. You could spend years playing this game and not unlock everything this game has to offer. Some of the extras (such as the ability to play "celebrities" such as Steve-O in a game of football) are duds, but with this amount of unlockable material is absolutely insane.
The franchise mode is incredibly deep for those management nuts out there. I'm not one of those people, as I prefer playing to spending my time tweaking my roster, but the depth is amazing. You can tweak almost every thing about your team that you would want to, and it easily skipped if you aren't in to that. There is also the addition of first person football. This is a good diversion, but it is not very deep and is often rather frustrating to play.
The ESPN license is used perfectly. The game presents itself just like a football game on ESPN, or as a recap in Sportscenter. It is a shame that this was bought out by EA. The loading screens are hidden by introductions by Chris Berman, and the menus benefit from the ESPN music.
The music is mediocre other than the great ESPN songs, and the licensed music is only so so. The commentary is solid, if not repetitive after awhile. The graphics are pretty good, but look more generic on the PS2 than they do on the XBOX. The characters look good for the most part, and they move rather naturally.
This game retailed for a mere $20, and sports fans would be stupid not to pick this game up for about $3 at Gamestop. This game is amazing, and perhaps even better than the Madden juggernaut. EA knew this, and squashed this promising series by paying a huge sum for the exclusive NFL license and the ESPN name. So don't expect any more games in this series any time soon. Madden faithful should give this one a go, and newcomers should perhaps try this one before Madden05. A great game in every way.