ESPN NHL 2K5

ESPN NHL 2K5 is an ice hockey simulation made by ESPN Videogames (now 2K Games) and published on the Xbox and PlayStation 2 consoles. ESPN's Gary Thorne on play-by-play commentary and Bill Clement on color commentary calls all the action. This is also the last NHL Game to be published by Sega, and the last to branded by ESPN.

ESPN NHL 2K5
Martin St. Louis on the cover of ESPN NHL 2K5
Developer(s)Kush Games
Publisher(s)Sega
SeriesNHL 2K
Platform(s)PlayStation 2, Xbox
Release
  • NA: 30 August 2004
  • EU: 4 February 2005
Genre(s)Traditional ice hockey simulation

Gameplay

The game includes an extensive franchise mode where the player can perform many team management functions, including hiring staff, managing player contracts, editing players, scouting new players and sending players back to minor teams for training. It also includes more traditional game modes like season, playoffs, exhibition and shootout. The game manual is also built into the software.

The 2004's edition of the game also introduces an advanced control setting which allows much more flexible control of the player, using the entire control pad rather than only a few buttons.

The North American release of the game features a number of specific game additions, including the ability to play the Heritage Classic, the first time an official outdoor hockey game was represented in a video game.[1]

The cover of ESPN NHL 2K5, features Tampa Bay Lightning's Martin St. Louis. The cover of the Canadian edition surrounds the "NHL 2K5" lettering with a maple leaf.

Controls

The controls in the game allow the player to have full stick control on both offense and defense. On the offensive side they can control their dekes by moving the right analog stick. This does a deke in the direction the analog stick was pushed. Also on offense when they want to deke out a goalie they hold the preset button (ex: for Advance hold L1+O) and move the stick with the left analog stick and then release to shoot. This provides for exciting dekes, but also on offense they can protect the puck from poke-checking defensemen by hold circle and choosing where they want to protect it with the analog stick. On the other side the defensive stick control allows them to skate backwards and also swing their stick across the ice to hit the puck away from the opposing player.

Reception

The game received "generally favorable reviews" on both platforms according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[2][3] It received runner-up placements in GameSpot's 2004 "Best Traditional Sports Game" and "Best Budget Game" award categories across all platforms, losing both to ESPN NFL 2K5.[15]

See also

References
  1. Sapieha, Chad. "ESPN NHL 2K5". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  2. "ESPN NHL 2K5 for PlayStation 2 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  3. "ESPN NHL 2K5 for Xbox Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  4. EGM staff (October 2004). "ESPN NHL 2K5". Electronic Gaming Monthly (183): 99.
  5. Reiner, Andrew (September 2004). "ESPN NHL Hockey 2K5 [sic]". Game Informer (137): 103. Archived from the original on October 31, 2005. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  6. The Enforcer (December 2004). "ESPN NHL 2K5". GamePro: 144. Archived from the original on April 4, 2005. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  7. Gee, Brian (October 7, 2004). "ESPN NHL 2K5 Review". Game Revolution. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  8. Navarro, Alex (September 1, 2004). "ESPN NHL 2K5 Review". GameSpot. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  9. Steinberg, Steve (September 8, 2004). "GameSpy: ESPN NHL 2K5 (Xbox)". GameSpy. Archived from the original on December 17, 2005. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  10. Valentino, Nick (September 6, 2004). "ESPN NHL 2K5 - PS2 - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on December 30, 2008. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  11. Goldstein, Hilary (September 1, 2004). "ESPN NHL 2K5". IGN. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  12. "ESPN NHL 2K5". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine: 99. October 2004.
  13. "ESPN NHL 2K5". Official Xbox Magazine: 78. October 2004.
  14. Hill, Jason (February 17, 2005). "Terrific compilation". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  15. The GameSpot Editors (January 5, 2005). "Best and Worst of 2004". GameSpot. Archived from the original on March 7, 2005.
Preceded by
ESPN NHL Hockey		 ESPN NHL 2K5
2004		 Succeeded by
NHL 2K6
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