Score: By: Andrew Castenmiller Date: Saturday, 02 October, 2004
Club Football 2005
Game Type: Action
Developer: Codemasters
Publisher: Codemasters
Platform: PS2, Xbox, PC
Club Football is back this season after a solid debut. Up against like likes of FIFA 2005 and Pro Evolution Soccer 4 it’s going to be difficult for Codemasters to make Club Football 2005 stand out. Read on to see how it fares.
Let’s start with what the Club Football series is all about. Each game is based around a certain club, for example Real Madrid Club Football, Arsenal Club Football etc. Many may see this as just a marketing ploy by Codemasters. Thankfully these licences are put to good use. Not only are menus, kits, faces and stadiums perfected to reflect your club, you also get an “extras?menu. This is most definitely a plus point about Club Football 2005. It’s as if owning your own interactive DVD of your club. You get full squad profiles (including classic player profiles) with photos and more photos that can be unlocked. My favourite extra is the ability to unlock famous goals that your club has scored. Not only can you unlock recent great goals but important goals scored in your clubs history. It’s good to see the licenses have been put to their full use rather than just have slapped on a club’s name on the cover.
Graphics: 8/10
The attention to detail in game is great. Stadiums are highly detailed and there are plenty of them too from all over Europe. They are so detailed that while you are playing you can see footage of your game being shown on the stadium video screens in real time. Stadiums also seem to feel like they should. Playing in England feels different to playing Spain.
Another highly detailed area of the game are the players, particularly their faces. Whichever Club Football game you buy you can be assured that the majority of your team’s faces will reflect how they look in real life. Some players in particular look so accurate that you feel they’re actually in the TV screen. Others aren’t so good but you can’t complain about the lack of detail in the faces.
Other graphical areas of the game pass with flying colours. Kits are also highly detailed and you can even spot fans in the crowd wearing them. The crowd visibly react how they should as well, for example they’ll rise and celebrate when a goal is scored. But if you score a goal in front of your opponents they’ll sit still, not moving. It’s little details like these that Codemasters get right.
Animations: 7/10
The animations are hit and miss in Club Football 2005. The PES series from Konami has set the bar high with near perfect animations, while FIFA’s animations aren’t half bad either. Club Football 2005 is still third on the list when it comes to animations. Players just don’t seem to run or dribble properly and shooting isn’t much better either.
Pre-set animations during cut-scenes are however top notch. You’ll see players reacting to goals, fouls and even off-sides in a realistic matter. The cut scenes that play when the ball goes out, such as a player receiving the ball for a throw-in, add to the broadcast feeling of the game. Thankfully they don’t get annoying either as they typically only last two or three seconds.
Sound: 8/10
Sound overall is well done. The chants you’ll hear from the crowd sound very real. It’s as if they’ve been taken out of a real football match. The team specific chants are accurate as well. If you’re playing at Highbury and Henry scores a goal afterwards you’ll hear the crowd chant “Thierry Henry, Thierry Henry etc…” The atmosphere is just terrific, whichever country you play in.
Unfortunately the sound doesn’t fair as well in other areas. The commentary is better than last year’s poor effort, with more phrases. But it still lacks behind the likes of FIFA in that department. It gets repetitive relatively quickly and still suffers regularly from pauses between words. After a few matches I just turned it off as I enjoyed the game a lot more without the commentary. With just the crowd sounds and sound effects the game sounds very good.
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