ESPN College Hoops 2K5

THE BAD:
-a few AI glitches
-allows too much continuation
-horrible announcing

SUMMARY:
If you care about working for your shot, pacing yourself up the floor possession-to-possession, or working the run-and-gun fastbreak like Bo Kimble’s 1990 Loyola-Marymount side, then this is the college hoops game you have to have. It does all of these things better than the competition, and adds in a logical and brilliant free-throw meter for when you get bashed on the wrist trying to lay it off the glass. Instead of a tricky meter to time the shot, you actually watch the player take aim, and release when it seems like the player should release. It's simple, smart, and it's never been done. The rim physics are tops, too. Once you fire up a longball, it might play on the rim before it finds net, or slip into a rebound opportunity. Plus, most hoops games challenge you to bang it inside over and over, or just fire up three-pointers. This is a rare game that invites you to pop a deuce from the wing, because a defender’s playing off.

But even with some great gameplay in place, this game features some niggles that’ll turn your game (and your love for it) to occasional mush. The biggest gripe is that the AI, which plays like a set of Ivy League-brained stand-outs for most of the game, then goes to a C. Webb in the game's last minute. If you’re up a few buckets, or just a point, and have the ball with 30 seconds ticking away on the clock the AI won’t foul you. They’ll gaze longingly at the way you wear your gym shorts (with the clock ticking down). They’ll admire the sweat beads on your forehead (with the clock ticking down). They’ll think about all the good times, and the bad times (all while the clock goes kaput). Game over, you win, without ever being put on the charity stripe. Tragic. Another bit that’ll drive you to the nuthouse is continuation on a shot. The game allows entirely too much of it, so if you get fouled you can still fire up a shot and it’ll count if it goes in. This wouldn’t be so offensive, but eight times out of nine, it won’t benefit you. Only the CPU will be racking up freebies. Plus, the offense bunches together entirely too much. Unless you’re adept at play calling, you’re going to end up trapped, or fighting for a lousy shot, because they’re cozying together like it’s 50 below zero in the arena.

Still, the biggest complaint outside of the no-foul D is the announcing. At times these guys shine with comments like, “He answers the dunk with a dunk of his own!" But more often they go silent when the action’s white-hot. Drop a three-pointer to win a game by one, and they’ll announce that the guy hit a big shot with the kind of enthusiasm reserved for being handed a half-eaten McDonald’s Filet-o’-Fish. While their subliminal tutorial is good for learning your players’ skill set with pronouncements like, “Shooting long range isn’t his game," they have little in the way of flow and chemistry. And it’s even worse when they talk about how a player’s been lighting it up “all night” when it’s 5-5 two minutes into the game.

The key to college sports games is identifying (and not being frustrated by) the gaping difference between the Kansas Jayhawks and the Bethune-Cookman Whatevers of the world. ESPN does a great job of showing off this divide in its legacy mode, where you take the role of an upstart coach who’s been offered a position at a handful of the gimpiest programs in Division I. Think Dartmouth and Nicholls State. You do the involved recruiting with the help of your underling coaches, along with balancing the team you already have. While it’s sometimes a struggle to keep your team’s head above the .500 water, it’s a good challenge that’ll keep you interested, even if a handful of your players can’t hit an open jumpshot. The problem here, though, is that it’s maybe too involved. You’re thrust in with little tutorial, and it’s a struggle to get a grip on balancing recruiting and the rest of your coaching duties. And once you’re jazzed up about your three-game winning streak, you don’t want to bother with sending your assistant coach to some high school kid’s house for a visit. Still, legacy mode is the game’s feature addiction, and will keep you beyond entertained.

It’s half a step behind EA’s March Madness, but with a $20 price tag ESPN College Hoops 2K5 costs less than a hot dog at the Final Four. If you're a fan of more realistic sports games and you're shopping for a college hoops game, you can't go wrong.