New IGN Article was posted tonight:
"May 14, 2003 - When Dominique Wilkins took the court, fans took notice. The thing about Nique was, no matter what he did, dribble, pass, whip around a tomahawk jam, he did it with such flair and flamboyance that you couldn't help but pick your jaw up off the ground and cheer in amazement. His nickname was "The Human Highlight Film" and it might be the most fitting name in sports history.
Someone over at developer Visual Concepts must be a fan of Dominique. You see, almost every move in NBA 2K4 seems to be a highlight. There are no chest passes, just passes behind the back, over the head, and one-handed lobs that turn into alley-oops. Players don't just walk down court, they strut. Blocks are swats, steals are swipes, and fast breaks have turned from the cluster of bodies in the paint to choreographed dances of dazzle and dunks.
The biggest complaint Sega heard from ballers, not just in their NBA series, but across all sports games, is that the games were too sim heavy and lacked certain elements of fun. NBA 2K4 answers those complaints with a sense of style and panache loud enough to silence even the biggest mouths in the bunch.
Besides the obvious additions of highlights and alley-oops, the biggest change in 2K4 is actually its pace. Gone are the days of methodically bringing the ball up court. It's like the game's on constant fast break mode as rebounds turn into 3-on-2's or 2-on-1's down at the opposite end of the court. What's most impressive about these breaks is not necessarily the speed or the flashy dishes, but the spacing. Players actually run in passing lanes that enable you to feed the ball more freely to streaking players. One play I was able to pull off saw Allen Iverson snatch a board and speed up court. I passed the ball to the right to the streaking Eric Snow who in turn tossed a one-handed alley oop to the flying Keith Van Horn who dunked on Shaq's head for the score. It looked and felt like real NBA basketball, well, except for the part about Keith Van Horn slamming on Shaq, but other than that it was pretty sweet.
Another gameplay feature that adds to the fun is the new Give and Go play you can run (ripped straight from NBA Street Vol. 2. Basically, you can pass the ball to a teammate but keep control of the passer. When the defense turns toward the man with the ball, you're able to roll to the hoop and call for the alley oop. A great way to score in the clutch, especially with high-flyers like Kobe or T-Mac.
Even with some of this new gameplay info, though, there's still a lot to learn about NBA 2K4. We know there's a multi-player franchise mode where you can actually play against 29 other franchise teams, but don't know any other details. We know there's a mystery bar under each player and that it somehow ties into their biorhythm during the game, but Sega's not ready to let loose the secret behind it just yet. We also know that the one-on-one play between dribbler and defender has actually been described to us by Visual Concepts as a cross between Virtua Fighter and Virtual On. What that curious piece of information means in terms of gameplay, however, I guess we'll just have to wait to see. But as long as Shaq's not busting a foot sweep on a mech version of Allen Iverson I think they'll be okay. Then again, I might be onto something.
Whatever it means, I know Dominique is sitting at home with a big smile on his face. The highlights are back, and the moves are bigger than ever.
-- Jon Robinson"
"May 14, 2003 - When Dominique Wilkins took the court, fans took notice. The thing about Nique was, no matter what he did, dribble, pass, whip around a tomahawk jam, he did it with such flair and flamboyance that you couldn't help but pick your jaw up off the ground and cheer in amazement. His nickname was "The Human Highlight Film" and it might be the most fitting name in sports history.
Someone over at developer Visual Concepts must be a fan of Dominique. You see, almost every move in NBA 2K4 seems to be a highlight. There are no chest passes, just passes behind the back, over the head, and one-handed lobs that turn into alley-oops. Players don't just walk down court, they strut. Blocks are swats, steals are swipes, and fast breaks have turned from the cluster of bodies in the paint to choreographed dances of dazzle and dunks.
The biggest complaint Sega heard from ballers, not just in their NBA series, but across all sports games, is that the games were too sim heavy and lacked certain elements of fun. NBA 2K4 answers those complaints with a sense of style and panache loud enough to silence even the biggest mouths in the bunch.
Besides the obvious additions of highlights and alley-oops, the biggest change in 2K4 is actually its pace. Gone are the days of methodically bringing the ball up court. It's like the game's on constant fast break mode as rebounds turn into 3-on-2's or 2-on-1's down at the opposite end of the court. What's most impressive about these breaks is not necessarily the speed or the flashy dishes, but the spacing. Players actually run in passing lanes that enable you to feed the ball more freely to streaking players. One play I was able to pull off saw Allen Iverson snatch a board and speed up court. I passed the ball to the right to the streaking Eric Snow who in turn tossed a one-handed alley oop to the flying Keith Van Horn who dunked on Shaq's head for the score. It looked and felt like real NBA basketball, well, except for the part about Keith Van Horn slamming on Shaq, but other than that it was pretty sweet.
Another gameplay feature that adds to the fun is the new Give and Go play you can run (ripped straight from NBA Street Vol. 2. Basically, you can pass the ball to a teammate but keep control of the passer. When the defense turns toward the man with the ball, you're able to roll to the hoop and call for the alley oop. A great way to score in the clutch, especially with high-flyers like Kobe or T-Mac.
Even with some of this new gameplay info, though, there's still a lot to learn about NBA 2K4. We know there's a multi-player franchise mode where you can actually play against 29 other franchise teams, but don't know any other details. We know there's a mystery bar under each player and that it somehow ties into their biorhythm during the game, but Sega's not ready to let loose the secret behind it just yet. We also know that the one-on-one play between dribbler and defender has actually been described to us by Visual Concepts as a cross between Virtua Fighter and Virtual On. What that curious piece of information means in terms of gameplay, however, I guess we'll just have to wait to see. But as long as Shaq's not busting a foot sweep on a mech version of Allen Iverson I think they'll be okay. Then again, I might be onto something.
Whatever it means, I know Dominique is sitting at home with a big smile on his face. The highlights are back, and the moves are bigger than ever.
-- Jon Robinson"
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