NBA 2K7

"EA should take a leaf out of this..."

As a player who's stuck with Live since 1999, it's hard to make the conversion. But after the truly horrible NBA Live 07 which I borrowed for computer for a week, and the rather mediocre NBA Live 06, I decided that I needed a change. So, I hit up on YouTube, checked out the footage. Mostly Xbox 360 stuff, but boy, seemed much better than Live. So, after saving up, I got the game with my Christmas money. I wasn't disappointed.

Sound:

Generally, the sound is very good. The crowd will cheer at the right time, the hardwood squeaks and thumps as a result of the shoes running and jumping, and the rim makes the right noises when dunked on. The commentary lines are decent, but Kenny Smith has the habit of making stupid comments about non-existent "brilliant spin moves", and Craig Sager's sideline report is often random, pairing up one team's coach with "working on offense/defense".

I don't like rap/hip-hop, so I can't really comment on the soundtrack. Most of it is rap, so I usually just ignore it, or mute it if I don't want to listen to the stuff.

Gameplay:

This is where 2K7 really drills a hole through Live. The game feels great, the stats seem realistic, and the game isn't a pointfest, or blockfest. You need to play good defense just to smother shots, and can't just drive hard into the paint and dunk without getting called for a charge.

The tip-off involves tapping X as fast as possible, which is a hopeless case in higher difficulties. The dribbling of the ball looks rather awkward, as they don't actually turn a bit to the side as they move forward, and they don't move smoothly. However, the 360 version seems to have this rectified, so probably more on technical issues with the aging Xbox.

The shot stick is a clever little innovation, which makes shooting much easier, and better to time. You can choose between dunking and the lay-up, although the regular dunk doesn't look that great, and one of the lay-up animations look awkward with everything done in one hand. Isomotion lets you pull a few moves to beat opponents, which is made easier if Iverson is being used instead of the Shaq.

Pick and rolls are difficult to execute, but allow an open dunk or an open shot. You can also call other plays, such as isolation or post ups with on-the-fly coaching, activated by the D-Pad, and also allows you to call defensive plays and make subs without pissing off your mate in a two-player game.

Defense seems to play very well. You need to have good timing to get a steal, and hacking away constantly will cost you a foul. Good hard marking can cause smothered shots, but timing the jump is important in swatting the ball away. Rebounds require more sync-jumping, but once mastered, is rather easy to clean the glass.

The A.I is well-balanced by their difficulty level, and can be made harder or easier by twiddling with sliders. Auto-coaching may be infuriating, so you can turn that off as well.

And finally, is the new feature, signature style-reproducing the shots of players in real-life. Although the Xbox 360 has a lot more for just about every starter and a few bench players, it's still great to see Shawn Marion's frog hop, or Kobe's fadeaway.

Graphics:

The graphics are pretty good considering the Xbox's age. Most faces are well-modelled, although some look terrible, such as Yao Ming and Dirk Nowitzki. The courts are shiny, and the jerseys still look glossy and realistic. No problems here.

Replayability:

This game should have you going for at least another year, unless you have 2K6, which apparently, is just as good.

The game modes are countless, with exhibition, season, and the famous Association Mode, 2K's Dynasty Mode. For those street ballers, you have some street-based modes, but there's no 24/7 story mode on Xbox, so you may be hitting the hardwood again sooner than possible.

The Crib lets you cash in the points you earn for completing tasks, into buying jerseys of your favourite players, and buying bobbleheads, posters, and mini balls and mini-games such as darts and air hockey. Plenty of stuff to get if you want to fill the place up.

Overall:

This game is superb, despite some animation flaws. 2K have showed the way in how to make a great b'ball sim, with graphics, sounds and most importantly, the gameplay leaving enough satisfaction for at least a year. If you've got 2K6, rent it and see if you like it. If you have Live, toss it away for just this year and buy this instead.

Gameplay: 17/20
Sound: 8/10
Graphics: 9/10
Replayability: 10/10
Total: 44/50
GameFaqs: 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/24/07