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ESPN NFL Football (Xbox)

• Developer:
• Publisher: Sega Sports
• Genre:
• Official Website: http://www.espnvideogames.com
• Score: 0 of 5: No Score

*Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelch*

Football season is here and I am geeked up for Sundays. Football is by far my favorite sport and I keep up with it religiously, especially the Cowboys. Of course when football season starts an onslaught of football games get released. Leading the bunch of course is EA's juggernaut Madden, and following close second is Sega Sport's own title. This year Sega Sports took a different approach and got an ESPN license. They decided since cant beat Madden in gameplay (and no they cant) they will out present them in only the way ESPN can.

This game shines in its animations and graphics. The character models are realistic and equipment, character heads, turf, audience, everything is modeled beautifully. The player mechanics are captured so well watching replays looks as close to real life as I have seen a video game get. Fights for yardage, fan reactions, player reactions are all represented. The game itself has helmet less players on the sidelines reacting to the happenings on field. The game has featured mouth movements as well and I swear you can make out players saying, "Hi mom!" while looking at the TV cameras. The stadiums look spot on from the hole in the roof of Texas Stadium to the new Lambo field. Great stuff all around here for the fans of modeling and graphics.

The look and feel of the game is very similar to ESPN's broadcasts of the NFL. If you are an football fan in the least you will notice everything is there from the replay animations, stats sheets, and player profiles all taken right from the broadcasts. Chris "The Boomer" Berman's presentation of NFL Primetime reviews the games around the league. Upon first seeing this and how well done the recapping was I was very impressed. The broadcast jumps into highlights of other games where you see a big play happening. While I thought this was the coolest thing, I realized later that the replays recycle themselves, hence I was disappointed. This of course is something to build off, I can't wait to see how they make it better for next year. Presentation is key in a sports game, and ESPN NFL Football leads all the others in this category.

I don't get it. This game runs smooth in all aspects 90% of the time, and then something strange happens. In a football game where every play counts it often leads you on the short end of the stick. Your players seem to get stuck in thinking about what the AI is supposed to be telling them, leading to an interception or a receiver leaving your defense in the dust. This game has the best timing to make you incredibly frustrated. On the bright side the game plays smoothly for the running game. Running is by far the games strongest suit as your running back can make some great efforts after contact. Passing is where the game lacks in play ability. The routes that are run are what coaches would call lazy. Often times the receiver will break at the wrong point, or even worse not break at all. Not only does this lead to interceptions and the throwing of controllers, but the receivers drop an ungodly amount of passes. The AI defense will smack around your receiver so much that you will be yelling for a flag most of the time. At any point if the ball is tipped your receiver is crunched, which last I checked you cannot do in football. You have no chance in hell to pick up a batted ball. The game ends up becoming very run heavy as most average backs (r atings: 70's) can break tackles with the best of them.

This game is not John Madden. Madden has a tried true fan base, and a tried and true (ultimately dull) gameplay mechanics. This game is a wonderfully presented video game in all aspects from the beautifully rendered players and stadiums to the ESPN quality broadcast. The amount of animations placed in the game is truly a sight to see as players struggle for extra yards or try to take down a ball carrier. For those fans of Madden the game itself will not feel right. However if you are like me and wanted something different then the last few years I would give ESPN NFL Football a shot. Rent it before buying. You know you crave a football game, just know that there is others out there.

Sep 22, 2003 | 2 comments
Mike Carabajal