User Rating: 3.5 | ESPN College Hoops XBOX
After reading the reviews for ESPN's basketball games this season, I honestly don't know what the hype for the series is all about. I've checked out both the NBA and NCAA games and after trying and trying to enjoy them, I simply didn't. First of all, I, like many other sports gamers, thrive for the frond-end options; in this case, the recruiting, hiring and firing of coaches, roster management and anything else that can deepen the experience. So, I went in to ESPN College Hoops with the highest of hopes. Could this game possibly have the depth I've been dreaming of? Surely, as the positive reviews say so. Well, honestly, the front end IS spectacular. When I started my "legacy", I was frothing at the mouth because of the coach modifier. Then, I was able to actually hire my assistants at the beginning of the season, picking who I wanted based on their ratings in several categories. At this point, I'm in heaven. I create my schedule, enter my team into a midseason tournament, change some opponents around to get a higher prestige schedule, set up my starters (who already have announcable names, thanks to ESPN's pregame choice to have the CPU fill in all rosters) and off we go to the first game of the season. Five minutes later, my PS2's fan whirred no more, and I sat disgusted at what I had just taken part of. In my opinion, the gameplay is terrible. In comparison with EA's March Madness, I felt like I was playing a game that was developed for the SNES or PSOne. Controls are rigid, passing is awkward, and defense is almost better left to the AI. There is no crouch position, the right analog stick is virtually worthless, and the only thing I can do to rebound is set my player under the basket and jump. Comparing this with EA's game, where all of these things are as easy to do as turning on the system. The player models look very tight and old-fashioned. Maybe I was too blown away by EA's new 10-man motion capture addition, but it just looked and felt like my digital team was as uptight as the Jayhawk locker room when Roy Williams announced he was leaving KU. Now, I don't want to make this a March Madness 2004 praise-fest; that game has its issues as well. However, with all of the beauty put into the front end of ESPN's game, the incredible recruiting depth (that I really didn't get a chance to see in full effect) and other options, I just couldn't bring myself to enjoy any of that without a fun PLAYING game. Don't even get me started on how terrible the camera is... because it's awful. Just like ESPN NBA's camera was, except now the action tries to follow the ball after it's been shot and creates more of a sea-faring effect than anything. I really had hoped for a good college game this year. Perhaps if one of the "big two" in the sports game industry can combine great gameplay with great front-end options, I could buy a basketball game next year. As it is, this year I'm voting with my wallet, and not partaking in 2004's franchises.
