GameTavern - 2005 Sports Games

New information on the Dynasty mode in ESPN NHL 2K5. It is sounding quite nice with the scouting, coaching, and minor league teams!

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ESPN Videogames is on a roll. First they shake up the football gaming world by offering the amazing NFL 2K5 for $19.99…in July, no less. And now they're preparing for the second release under the new 20-bones price plan, a game that should ease the ills of hockey fans upset that the real season might never get under way.

And to make sure that hockey gamers will be able to live out everything that would've happened if it wasn't for greed (which in this case, is not good), the developers of ESPN NHL 2K5 have completely overhauled their Franchise mode to focus on what matters most, the players. But before you sign players, you need someone to coach them, so when Franchise mode begins, that's exactly what you need to do, hire a coaching staff. From defensive and goalie coaches to scouts and even minor league coaches, you'll be given a coaching budget and depending on how much you want to spend for each position, that will go a long way in determining how you will shape your team. Some coaches are good leaders, some good motivators, some bring an aggressive style of play with them, and depending on how much you want to spend for each position, your coaching choices will end up having a profound impact on your team.

One of the main areas where the more you spend the better is scouting. You can send scouts off throughout the season to check out teams for potential trades. He'll come back with detailed reports about players, the good (great passer, good scorer), the bad (needs to toughen up, not physical enough), and even provide a stock rating of whether the player is on the rise or on the decline. Each player will be assigned a role like NHL Star or journeyman so casual fans can quickly tell the difference between Dany Heatley and Garnet Exelby. And since the scouts are looking at an entire team when they go on a trip, it really helps when looking for a younger player who you might not know in terms of throwing one last player into the trade as the scouts also offer projections of how they think certain players will perform in the future. The thing is, though, if you hire the cheapest scouts, their information might not always be accurate, so buyer beware.

Scouting also comes into play after each season as you can send your scouts scouring the world for the next hot prospect. In a 14-week period, you can send personnel to scout players in Asia, Central Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, Scandinavia, and Western Europe. Scouting prospects will be fairly realistic in terms of origin, so you might want to send more scouts to Scandinavia than Asia, although you never know where you'll find that diamond in the rough…or in this case, ice.

When the scouts first come across certain prospects, all that you'll know about them is the basic info: Name, age, position. But as you invite the players to work out, you can actually put the players through the various mini-games from All-Star Weekend to test their skills, more will be known as even their various attribute ratings will begin to be filled in along with naming a comparably skilled player currently in the NHL. You can then even go in and play a game with all of the top prospects from a specific region to see if their attribute points turn into great players once the puck is dropped.

But that's not all there is to developing your prospects as once they've been drafted you can send them to your minor league team, a team who plays their games at the same time as your NHL season so you can actually check the stats on a game-by-game basis to see who is ready to be called up. Unfortunately, the game does not have the AHL license, so while the cities of all of the minor league teams might be accurate, there are no official team names. In addition, the rosters are comprised of real players as anyone who has laced up a pair of skates and has played at least on NHL game can be included, but any other prospects are purely fictitious in nature. Those who have the time, however, can always use the player editor to go in and change the names to make them as accurate as possible. And while you won't actually be able to go in and play the minor league games, you can manipulate the rosters and edit the lines in order to get certain players more playing time to see if they're ready for the call-up.

After each season, you'll be able to go in and check the satisfactory rating for each of your coaches, as a happy coach is more likely to do a better job, and just like anything, money might not be able to buy you love, but it sure buys happiness (especially when it comes to polygonal puck heads).

If you're not into the whole reality thing, NHL 2K5 also offers a couple of new features that will cater to the both the hardcore and the casual hockey fan. The first of these is called Dream Team mode. These are 20 Dream Teams handpicked by a variety of hockey personalities and players, from Gary Thorn to Chris Drury, as well as collections of players from specific regions in the world like Eastern Europe. Each person behind the teams picked out a logo, designed the uniforms, and selected the players, so while some are merely the best of the best, Drury's team is more of a collection of his best friends from the game and college buddies. This provides a cool challenge as you work your way up the ladder because you never know who you're going up against next.

The other new mode, might just be the most fan friendly and fun in the game, and it's called Party Mode. No, this has nothing to do with Carmen Electra (not that there's anything wrong with that), as Party Mode might just be the best new thing to hit hockey video games since the days of making Gretzky's head bleed. Here's how it works: There's Battle, Arcade Quick, Arcade Tour, and Elimination. The two arcade modes are basically no rules (you can adjust to include some rules if you want, but why would you), 2-on-2, 3-on-3, 4-on-4, or 5-on-5 games. Controls are set to basic pass-shoot-check, and if you win a fight, you can make it where you're actually awarded a goal. Elimination games are simple "First to X amount of goals wins" using the no rules rules of the two arcade games. But where Party Mode shines is in the game entitled Battle.

In Battle, each gamer (up to four) selects a specific hockey player to run through a variety of action-packed mini-games with names like Breakout and Gauntlet (Satan needs food, badly), only they'r enot the classic games you're thinking of. Instead they are every-man-for-himself tests of skill where one minute you might be racing through an obstacle course with the other three players chasing you, trying to knock you down and slow your time, while the next minute you're trying to score as many goals as possible. There are also games where you're teamed with another player as you try to pass the puck as accurately as possible on points of the ice designated by different point values. One of the most fun is freeze tag where the person who is it must check another player to make the tag. If you check the player who is it, you score bonus points, and you score even more by checking them over the boards. There are 15 mini-games in all and you'll even be able to play these games online, 2-on-2 or 3-on-1, depending on how many people you have over when you log on.

After playing through seven of these games, I have to say, I was quite addicted as it's a quick, hard hitting way to pass some time between franchises, especially when some friends come over as it's the type of thing that's easy to pick up and play, but you definitely have an advantage the more you learn the essential skills of the game, not to mention, memorize the obstacle courses.

When playing through the game on the Xbox, you'll also be able to customize all of the arena music. From the player intros, to fights, to specific songs played after each goal, it's all up to you. Hardcore fans can even put in all of the music specifically for every arena in the game to make things as real as possible, even if reality this season might just mean those arenas are empty.

The thing is, with a game this good, do you need the real thing? Okay, so I'd still rather see the Sharks win it all in real life, but at least with the game, I know there's a future for my team. I just wish I could say the same thing about the future of the real NHL.

It looks like the polygonal pucks might be the only ones that drop come September.

Notes: The game is scheduled to ship the week of September 12th, but look for it to ship early ala NFL 2K5. Online leagues with living rosters will be supported, as will widescreen 480p. Don't expect to see a NHL V.I.P. system as V.I.P. was built specifically for the NFL title. The Skybox has been enhanced and is more pimped out, even adding a second floor (when was the last time you saw a second floor in a Skybox?). Fantasy arenas include the Circus, Wild West, Pond, Medieval, and Classic Video Game. There's a no-helmet mode to go a long with big head mode, you can play the Heritage Classic, and while the old-time players aren't included on the classic teams, if you edit the names, the announcers will recognize the greats, calling out the likes of Gordie Howe. You can create teams, customize logos, and even help customize your own arenas. You can then replace any of the NHL teams with your created team and play them in Franchise.

Sounds good, eh guys? I hope the mini-games are super fun, so I can play it in my dorm room with people in my hall. Its cool how they will have the Heritage Classic game, with programmed voices (even though you have to type the names in yourself).

Hopefully this game can deliver, because I definitely do not want to pay full price for a hockey game this fall, lol.