I rented the game last night and played all night. After that I came to the conclusion that its not bad at all, in fact with the right tweaks I think it could be a good game. Playmakers were waiting for you. Here is my short review.
For those that got the demo. I can tell you it doesn't do the game justice. You have to go into each arena to really appreciate the feel of the game and the detail of each arena. It is remarkable to see all these arenas.
Graphics/animations: This is where it shines the brightest. You actually see Manu's hair move. The details are also well done on players and the courts. Now with that said there are some players that don't look that good. Mainly white guys like Ridinour and some of the other mid level players. Nash looks identical to whose real counterpart, as does Manu. The jumpshots are a thing of beauty. Marion, KG, JO to name a few shoot like they do in real life. I also saw Manu throw down a dunk awkward like he does in real life, with a kind of twisting motion off the wrong leg. One last thing about the graphics. The hair is amazing on Ben, Manu, Nash, Dalembert, A.I, Melo, Dirk etc. Their braids move and the hair is stringy on Nash and Manu. The sweat is not done that great however, it doesn't look that natural.
Gameplay: Think live 05 meets live 06. The dribble moves are live 05. However there is fast breaks and plays ran like 06. The fast breaks are crazy. Your big men run as well as your guards. I got a couple dunks on the break with big ben. There are a number of dunks in the game and they all look great, however they happen a little to often. You can easily get 30 dunks in on the hardest level, sliders can probably fix this. The floor spacing is the best I have seen. Now you can actually draw and kick better than I have seen in a game yet, note: even on superstar. Plays are ran. In the playbook menu there is a play animation screen, so you can see how they are ran. They took out the on court diagram, which kind of sucks. The pistons have plays ran for Rip for mid range. The players also have a catch and shoot motion, which is nice. The on the fly strategy is a work of art. You can switch mathcups, pressure, fast break settings, sub, and change your off,def strategy on the fly without pausing. Teams do play like themselves, although Duncan didn't get involved to much when I played the Spurs. It might just have been my defense on the perimeter. It is very hard to stay in front of your man on the perimeter. There are superstar moves you just can't control them. I have done a number of fancy passes, they were just random depending on d position and handler position among other things. Not bad
Audio: Marv and Steve really do a good job in this department. One time I accidentely ran out of bounds. Kerr said " Hey you, those little white lines out there are out of bounds lines, you can't cross them with the ball". The crowd is pretty good they stand and cheer when the home team is doing well and sit when there not. I didn't hear any team chants but they might be there. They do holla three when one is shot. So that was nice. The players need more emotion or at least some. That is a big drawback, but not a gamekiller.
Anyway that's my short review, as always I will field questions if you PM me, or reply on this thread. I think this game really deserves at the very least a rental, especially if you are a live head. Heck the arena's alone deserve that. Just my take
For those that got the demo. I can tell you it doesn't do the game justice. You have to go into each arena to really appreciate the feel of the game and the detail of each arena. It is remarkable to see all these arenas.
Graphics/animations: This is where it shines the brightest. You actually see Manu's hair move. The details are also well done on players and the courts. Now with that said there are some players that don't look that good. Mainly white guys like Ridinour and some of the other mid level players. Nash looks identical to whose real counterpart, as does Manu. The jumpshots are a thing of beauty. Marion, KG, JO to name a few shoot like they do in real life. I also saw Manu throw down a dunk awkward like he does in real life, with a kind of twisting motion off the wrong leg. One last thing about the graphics. The hair is amazing on Ben, Manu, Nash, Dalembert, A.I, Melo, Dirk etc. Their braids move and the hair is stringy on Nash and Manu. The sweat is not done that great however, it doesn't look that natural.
Gameplay: Think live 05 meets live 06. The dribble moves are live 05. However there is fast breaks and plays ran like 06. The fast breaks are crazy. Your big men run as well as your guards. I got a couple dunks on the break with big ben. There are a number of dunks in the game and they all look great, however they happen a little to often. You can easily get 30 dunks in on the hardest level, sliders can probably fix this. The floor spacing is the best I have seen. Now you can actually draw and kick better than I have seen in a game yet, note: even on superstar. Plays are ran. In the playbook menu there is a play animation screen, so you can see how they are ran. They took out the on court diagram, which kind of sucks. The pistons have plays ran for Rip for mid range. The players also have a catch and shoot motion, which is nice. The on the fly strategy is a work of art. You can switch mathcups, pressure, fast break settings, sub, and change your off,def strategy on the fly without pausing. Teams do play like themselves, although Duncan didn't get involved to much when I played the Spurs. It might just have been my defense on the perimeter. It is very hard to stay in front of your man on the perimeter. There are superstar moves you just can't control them. I have done a number of fancy passes, they were just random depending on d position and handler position among other things. Not bad
Audio: Marv and Steve really do a good job in this department. One time I accidentely ran out of bounds. Kerr said " Hey you, those little white lines out there are out of bounds lines, you can't cross them with the ball". The crowd is pretty good they stand and cheer when the home team is doing well and sit when there not. I didn't hear any team chants but they might be there. They do holla three when one is shot. So that was nice. The players need more emotion or at least some. That is a big drawback, but not a gamekiller.
Anyway that's my short review, as always I will field questions if you PM me, or reply on this thread. I think this game really deserves at the very least a rental, especially if you are a live head. Heck the arena's alone deserve that. Just my take
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