NBA 2K3

"The standard by which we judge excellence"

NBA 2K3

Introduction
There's 6 seconds left in the game, and you are down 2 points. You have battled through an entire season, and it has boiled down to this. All of your hard work, dedication and your enduring commitment to the game of basketball has placed you in the NBA Finals, and you’re in Game 7. You check quickly to see who’s hot and who’s not (using the Biorhythm feature) and you see that your shooting guard is On Fire. “That’s my plan,” you think to yourself. “Let’s get him the ball and get him open. If he gets an open shot, then it’s over.”

You pass it in to your point guard, who calls a play to get your shooting guard open. He gets it, wide open, and takes a 3 point shot. Your heart skips a beat as the ball goes in the air. It hits the rim and finds a spot in the hoop. The crowd goes nuts as you win the game in the closing seconds.

NBA 2K3 is one of the most amazing basketball titles that I have ever played. The realism is astounding, and the gameplay will leave you coming back for more. This year’s installment comes with sharper looking graphics and excellent commentary, which will make every game different. Any basketball fan will want to get this game. It is truly the pinnacle of basketball games out today.

Visual

Finally! The fans aren’t cardboard cut-outs anymore! Even though this upgrade is small, it adds a hell of a lot of realism to the game to see some 3 dimensional fans in the arena (not all are, but the courtside spectators look as real as the players themselves). Another great feature that’s been upgraded is the changing faces of the players. If you go into Instant Replay and watch closely, you will see that there is great concentration in the face of a player who’s driving the lane. Also, after a terrific play, the players celebrate, their faces will change accordingly. Even though you won’t notice this during the game, it looks pretty cool on the Replay. Of course, the player models look fantastic, and the arenas looks frighteningly real.
Score: 9/10

Audio

The music in this game, unfortunately, is disappointing. There are only a few different tracks to listen to, and they usually pertain to a single part of the game (for instance, the Street mode will have one track, while the menu will have a different one). To make it even worse, these tracks aren’t even that great to being with.

The other part of sounds, the actual vocals, are pretty damn sweet. The players talk smack, and whatnot, and the commentary is very thorough. The arena sounds are very similar to the real thing, which saves this score.
Score: 8/10

Gameplay

This is one of the best parts of the game. The gameplay in NBA 2K3 is everything you could ever want, and more. From the incredible realism during the games to the ESPN presentation of the menus and games, this is the reason that you buy NBA basketball games. There are a plethora of new moves that can be executed in many different situations. The new dunk animations bring more excitement to the game then there was before. New low-post moves and new celebrations make this game worth playing over and over again. A truly incredible portion of the game, as they have fixed all the problems with the already great NBA 2K2.
Score: 10/10

Replayability

This is a mediocre part of the game. NBA 2K3 is great and all, but it can get tedious, and quickly. If you are playing a season, you won’t feel inclined to play 4, 20 minute games in succession. You need to change things up a little for you to play this game in long sittings. Still, in the long run, you will still come back for more.
Score: 7/10

Conclusion

This game is the acme of basketball games on ALL consoles. Please, if you have a PS2 and you have the money, go out and buy this game! It’ll be worth it.

Overall Score: 8.5
Rounded GameFAQs Score: 9 (I’m feeling generous).

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/10/03, Updated 03/10/03