ESPN NBA 2K5 [Xbox]

Basketball is definitely one of the most difficult sports to recreate in video games. It's stop-start, high scoring, slow and then quick-paced, and the physical contact can play havoc on the physics. The plays are simple, continuous, yet deep. It's a reactive game, and its fans know exactly what it looks like. ESPN is bringing its plucky series into another head-to-head showdown with sports leader EA, but this year, they've got some new moves and a very attractive price point.

ESPN NBA 2K5 offers everything its rival does. You can play a tournament, a full season, quick games using any NBA team, and dynasty mode (dubbed "The Association") to manage the nuts and bolts of a team. Other options, like street ball, switch things up and let you portray favorite players in their street garb. Missing from ESPN, but present in NBA Live 2005, is the All-Star Weekend, which means there's no dunk and three-pointer contests. In both games, you can use sliders to precisely modify the game to make it easier or harder, based on the way you play.

ESPN, however, has solved one of Live's greatest problems: Passing. In Live, players stop to catch a pass. This is not only unrealistic but unsatisfying and it makes fast break fans cry. In ESPN, players can catch on the run, and this opens up the game considerably.

One of ESPN's unique features is its "IsoMotion" control. Basically, one of the thumbsticks allows more fluid control. Slide your player around defenders on the lay-up, spin in the air while jamming, hop-step backward to fake the defense and nail the jumper. It's all good, only last year it was crazy good. Players relied on and exploited it too much and it unbalanced the game. It looks like they've done this by upping the defense, not by limiting the control. Basically the AI plays better, uses the fundamentals better, and consequently players will find it harder to use IsoMotion to fake the D. Well done!

ESPN offers 24/7 mode, which is basically a create-a-player mode with a slight RPG twist. You create your man and then play him through the training ground to collect points to unlock new levels on the map. There are even bosses to defeat on the court, and this mode doubles as a nice tutorial to develop the skills that'll make you the envy of the dorm, living room, or a terror online.

As with its predecessor, ESPN plays well on the PS2 and Xbox over the Internet. One cool feature is that 24/7 mode is available online. So you can play one-on-one versus your friends or strangers. It's amazing how much more personal this makes the online experience. It's a wonderful feature and addition to the series.

The sound effects are good. From the sneaker-on-wood floor squeaking to the grunts and shouts of players, it's all here. The fans cheer appropriately and boo when the momentum shifts against the home team. Fitzgerald and Walton are on hand for commentary, and it's decent, impressively accurate, though repetitive. Once again, ESPN is a winner in terms of presentation. An animated and polygonal Stuart Scott offers voiceover for his ESPN telecast-quality half-time and post-game shows.

ESPN is the leader right now when it comes to making the players look, move, dunk, dribble, collide, and jam realistically. The courts look great, lighting is excellent, and the action and presentation are, in a word, superb. Where ESPN stumbles and falls is with facial modeling. The big stars look right but they haven't put the time EA has into getting all the players to look exactly right. Also, for all the praise heaped on ESPN's presentation, the interview segments have to go. They're robotic, creepy, and the interviewed player rarely sounds like the real deal. It's exactly the wrong line to cross and without it, the presentation would almost be TV-quality.

Put simply, ESPN NBA 2K5 is an excellent basketball game. It offers loads of gameplay, solid physics, unparalleled animations, and terrific graphics. It would be a bargain at $50, let alone the $20 it's selling for.