The history of Visual Concepts' NFL franchise is an intriguing one, filled with many twists and turns, both good and bad. Since the series' inception with NFL 2K on the Dreamcast in 2000, the line has faced a multitude of challenges and changes, including several jumps back and forth between different consoles, a long-standing and seemingly perpetually uphill battle against EA's Madden NFL series, and an eventual licensing deal forged with ESPN. For this year's iteration, gone is the well-known NFL 2K brand name, replaced with a more obvious nod to the aforementioned ESPN license, ESPN NFL Football. What hasn't changed, however, is the time-tested and critically acclaimed style of gameplay that has made the Sega Sports brand of football one of the best in the business, and with a number of new features, ESPN NFL Football has the potential to be a fantastic addition to an already impressive line of games. We recently had an opportunity to spend a great deal of time playing near-complete builds of the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions of the game, and while there are still a couple of kinks here and there, the overall product seems to be coming together wonderfully.

ESPN NFL Football has the potential to be a fantastic addition to an already impressive line of games.

The Visual Concepts brand of football gameplay is widely regarded as one of the most realistic and enjoyable ever created, and ESPN NFL Football will likely live up to that esteem. The gameplay feels like it was left largely untouched for this year's game, but with some definitive improvements to the overall flow and style. The biggest difference we noticed was in the running game. One of the least realistic--though sometimes the most fun--aspects of the series' running game was the fact that you could often turn on a dime and have your jukes and other dodge moves take effect immediately. This aspect has been altered slightly for a more realistic feel, though not so much as to take away from any of the fun. Also, to counterbalance this, these moves feel a little more effective now, and breaking tackles seems a little bit easier, so you won't just get dive-tackled the second you try to perform a juke. Much of the passing game this year has been left untouched, though you may notice fewer randomly dropped balls. Each time we saw a receiver drop a ball, it was for a pretty obvious reason, unlike in last year's game.

The defensive game hasn't been changed drastically either, but some important upgrades have been implemented. The pass rush is definitely much more realistic, and no longer will you go lengthy stretches of time without a single sack while the CPU sacks you eight times a game. In addition to that, coverage in the backfield has definitely changed for the better, as defensive backs will no longer jump to try for a ball that is nowhere near them. Additionally, defensive backs and linebackers have gotten much better about properly covering their zones and assigned players, and incidental contact no longer appears to result in pass interference calls, which was a bit of a problem in last year's game. That's not to say that the series' coverage aspect is completely perfect, but at this point, it's far and away the best it's ever been. The one defensive aspect that has actually gotten harder is tackling, as defensive players can no longer simply dive at an opposing player and bring him down immediately. Dive-tackling is actually now much less effective, and bigger players like defensive linemen don't seem to jump nearly as far as the defensive backs do.

The biggest and most noteworthy change has to be the new coach challenge system, which allows you to throw the red flag and challenge a call made on the field.

As far as new additions to the gameplay go, a couple of new elements have been added. The biggest and most noteworthy of these changes has to be the new coach challenge system, which allows you to throw the red flag and challenge a call made on the field. Creating something like this is a tricky prospect, as in order to make it work, you are effectively asking the game to make purposeful mistakes. Thankfully, it appears that Visual Concepts has struck a balance that keeps the game from making any boneheaded mistakes, and instead allows for only some very minor incorrect calls here and there. In the instances we had to challenge a play, we found that the CPU would appropriately overturn calls or let them stand based on replays, rarely ever leaving us frustrated. Another upgrade to the gameplay this year is the new charge system, which is effectively a new version of the game's turbo meter. Charging your player up works just like the turbo, as you'll hit the charge button and a meter underneath your player will begin to fill up. Once your charge meter is full, your speed and momentum will increase, allowing you to break away from defensive players or tackle offensive players more effectively.

ESPN NFL Football contains a number of feature-level improvements on last year's game, including two brand-new game features: first-person football and the crib. First-person football, upon initial inspection, seems like just an additional camera perspective, placing you inside the helmet of a player and letting you experience firsthand what it's like to be on the field. However, there's significantly more to it than just a camera angle. To begin with, first-person football isn't just a selectable camera view--rather, it is its own separate mode, selectable from the main game menu, and it's fairly easy to see why. The game itself is very, very different when you're in first-person mode, as your field of view is far more limited. To counteract this, during the game, each player has a threat meter that detects the direction and urgency of an opposing player's threat. While it's not perfect, the threat meter definitely gives you a good idea of which direction not to head in.