The NBA Ballers franchise debuted on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox consoles in 2004 in an effort to capitalise on the trick-heavy arcade style experience that titles like NBA Street and the classic NBA Jam series had been previously marketed with great success. Forget the franchise mode and managing the fatigue levels of your star players, this is over the top basketball that would even have the awe-inspiring members of the AND1 crew taking notes.
While NBA Street focused more on street ball skills and highlight worthy tricks, NBA Ballers added its own little spin to the genre by allowing gamers to 'live the life' as you progress from basketball prodigy to a dapper perennial All Star in a rags to riches inspired story mode, but with a two-year hiatus between titles, will the gameplay upgrades and new features be enough to entice gamers back to the NBA Ballers series to have a bash atNBA:Ballers: Chosen One?
My ball!
Story Mode has returned and this time it looks set to improve on previous iterations with the inclusion of Public Enemy rapper Chuck D playing the role of sports host as he will present custom-made television episodes before each of your games as you go on your quest for the Chosen One Trophy. As well as presenting these episodes, Chuck D will also provide commentary for all of your on-court action.
The story portion of the game is broken down into six episodes, with each episode containing five chapters. Each chapter will have you bring your A-game as a new NBA stars will step onto the court wanting a challenge. Much like the story modes in wrestling titles, NBA Ballers: Chosen One will allow you to customize many aspects to your baller. As you progress through the main mode, you will be given the opportunity to make a personalized entrance (complete with your own entourage) a slick ride to drive you to the court, as well as your own theme music and the attitude you convey towards your gaggle of fans.
Have you got the guns to match up against Kobe Bryant?
Behind the flashy presentation, Midway hopes that you will be impressed with their improved trick system. Along with the standard fare of trick moves and counters, Midway has also implemented a super move system that bestows your baller with some freakishly insane abilities with a basketball. What really makes this a cool feature is that many of the super moves have been tailor-made to suit specific NBA stars. Fancy to cut a rug like LeBron James? One of his super moves allows you to break-dance up the court and trip up your opposing player. One of Kobe Bryant's moves takes inspiration from living part of his life in football obsessed Italy by having him perform a booming bicycle kick that allows him to score points from anywhere on the court. Like with other trick-based titles, these super moves are unleashed on your opponents by building a trick meter. The more tricks you can pull off before you score, the more your meter will build.
The real treat comes from applying super moves to your character in story mode. As you work your way through the basketball ranks you'll have the opportunity to take down several of the NBA's finest, allowing you to unlock access to their super moves to help you progress even further. Midway reports that by the end of your player's career in Story Mode, you'll have as many as thirty-five super moves to choose from.
Your defense will need to be better than this to contain the NBA's finest.
With a bunch of mediocre arcade-styled sports game lining the shelves of stores, you'd be sensible to take the hype with a grain of salt. But the fast-paced basketball action coupled with a beefy combination of tricks, 80+ NBA stars and the inclusion of colour commentary by Chuck D make this one title that every sports fan should give a chance.
Hopefully it's a good game.
Loading...
