NBA 2K6

8.2
Great

Gameplay	7.5	"With looks and legs, this game promises to be hard to beat."
Graphics	8.5
Sound	8.5
Value	9.5

By Alan Bell

What's this? A sports game with a license and it's NOT made by EA? You haven't wandered into the twilight zone - this is instead the review for the latest entry in 2K Sports / Visual Concepts Basketball series. Previously heavily ESPN-branded, the absence of which is the most notable difference in this years version, NBA 2K6 is quite different-looking this year. But is that all? Let's take a look...

Basketball games are, well, nothing new. There have been literally hundreds of them over the years and all of the major players (mainly EA and 2K Sports) are up to their umpteenth iteration. It's a mature sub-section of the sports genre and, as such, gamers have come to expect a great deal from each release. Things like a franchise mode, mini-games, in-depth club competition and accurate likenesses are assumed and, not surprisingly, present here. The sheer number of extra modes still impresses - multiple "street" basketball modes, for example, with multiple venues to play them at. Hundreds of accurate likenesses, real-world stadia and much more, all packed in to a single game. As far as value goes, it's hard to beat.

The presentation (i.e. everything up to and after the actual throwing-the-ball-around stuff) is top notch, with no shortcuts taken and no expense spared. Considerable polish is evidenced throughout, from the 3D animated loading screens (complete with commentary, talking about the players in the game that's about to happen) right through to animated 3D crowds, cheerleaders and dozens of sideline cameramen / officials / bench players.

Leading into each match you'll be presented with excellent and appropriate colour commentary, with discussion ranging from hot players to watch to interesting exclusions from the team, player matchups and more.

Graphically it's a mixed bundle - the in-game action is sweet and well animated, with the field and markings crisp and looking great. The cutscenes (like, when you score or a close up replay of a foul, etc) are tight with high-detail player models and smooth, good-looking textures rounding out an impressive player-graphics package. You can clearly tell that this is a late-generation PS2 game.

However the occasional closeup of the low-detail cheerleaders, coach or commentator (yep, you get to see the sideline commentator mid-game) may well have been better left out or at least shot from further away; the decision to scale back the quality on these "extra" details is understandable given the limitation of the platform but the decision to shoot them close up is not. The difference between the low-quality extras and the high quality players is nothing short of jarring.

Additionally, the modern-day players look great and are really identifiable with their real-life counterparts, but the hand-made "classic" players from years gone by don't look anywhere near as good. The 3D crowds (in cutscenes - the more standard "cardboard cutouts" are used in-game) look great and their attitude really reflects the state of the game. If you're expected to do well and you don't, your fans will be obvious and overt in their displeasure.

Aurally it's a well-rounded package. All the usual shoe-scuffing, ball-bouncing stuff is here and well implemented. In addition the crowd sounds really good, quite clearly following the flow of the game itself. The commentator is stitched together well, sounding almost completely natural 99% of the time. Whether he's as good as the old ESPN commentator is something that will likely come down to personal opinion - just know that technically, at least, he's sound, with good colour / sideline commentary to round out the package.

The gameplay hasn't changed a great deal from previous iterations but considering how solid it was last year, that's no bad thing. For the newbies to the series, the controls are tight, well thought out and work extremely well - the practice mode will help you learn these in a no-pressure environment very quickly indeed. There are a couple of moves which seem overpowered / unblockable but they're not very easy to pull off so they don't affect gameplay too harshly.

All up it's a solid package and a great answer to the question posed by the critics - how well will it stand up without the ESPN license? A resounding "Very well indeed, thanks" is all it has to say.

NZGamer.com - NBA 2K6 Facebook