NBA Street V3  Review for Xbox

Monday, March 14, 2005

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Title: NBA Street V3 .............................................. System: Xbox .............................................. Genre: Sports Action .............................................. Publisher: Electronic Arts .............................................. Developer: Electronic Arts .............................................. Release: February 8, 2005 .............................................. Online: Yes .............................................. ESRB: Everyone (E) .............................................. Like many of you, I grew up spending quarter after quarter on Midway’s NBA Jam at the arcade. The game was ultra-addictive because it was a fast sports game that helped any gamer step out of reality for a few minutes, as they were able to slam-dunk after dunk, and the unforgettable “He’s on fire!” was always refreshing in the heated last few close seconds of the game. As I grew older, I’ve secretly been looking for a title to match the excitement Jam brought me… especially for someone who doesn’t even like basketball… I found that in NBA Street V3. Gameplay This year’s big new NBA Street features are the “Trick Stick”, some well-implemented game play refinement, online multiplayer play, and the Slam Dunk contest. While many gripes may still remain, NBA Street V3 is definitely the best title in the Street series yet, and the most entertaining basketball game on the market. Two modes that should be instantly familiar to fans of the previous titles are Game On and Street Challenge (and don’t really need any explaining). Previous Street games had separate street ball and NBA modes; NBA Street V3 brings them together into one mode. Your custom character and your favorite NBA players can be on the same team. This is how it should have been from the start. V3 uses a new highly detailed character creator to create your team captain. You’re able to adjust size, weight, eye width, nose slant, and a slew of other interesting details to help set your unique character apart from the rest. In a thoughtful touch, your captain’s size will affect the way he is able to increase his attributes and skills. For example, if you make a little guy, then handling and quick’s will come for a small dollar, but if you make a huge Shaq-like giant, upgrading these qualities will be much more expensive. Alternately, big players can upgrade attributes commonly associated with size more easily. This method makes a lot of sense and fosters a rational distribution of points without forcing you in any particular direction. Once you’re done decking our your character to your approval, you’ll need to choose a location for your home court and decorate it a little bit with new backboards, fences, blacktop, buildings, benches, trash cans, etc. However, there is only one currency in NBA Street V3, style points, and it’s split between upgrading your player’s attributes & skills, buying him new clothing & gear, and hooking up your court with new eye-candy. As a result, I found it hard to justify ever spending points on anything except maxing my player’s skills. This time-scheme should had been noticed, retuned and refined before releases. The Street Challenge was designed nice as it throws multiple events your way at the same time, and lets you choose between them based on the kind of mood you’re in. It is poorly done, however, in that you wind up playing and dominating the same exact events literally dozens of times. Since there isn’t anything to micromanage, the Street Challenge becomes a tedious game of repetition after only a few hours. V3 has a new morale system that dictates whether or not players will want to join your team if you’re winning, and leave your team if you’re losing. But this system is hardly noticeable. The only aspect of it that got my attention was the way the same player kept on asking to join our team with the exact same message, even though we’d cut him for better players three times. I soon became tired of the Street Challenge mode after a few games… so I thought I’d give the Slam-Dunk contests a shot. During the Slam-Dunk competitions you compete against several other ballers all of whom are trying to accomplish extremely stylish, sophisticated dunks. All these really amount to though is taking off and pressing the R-stick in conjunction with some turbo buttons. Once you’ve taken your turn you have to wait for all the other competitors to dunk. You end up doing more watching than playing, and after you’ve tried it a couple times, you’ll probably abandon it for good. V3 is fast-paced, kinetic and a lot of fun to play. Its controls are probably the most fluid I've ever seen, and while it isn’t deep in the conventional sense, you can bust so many crazy moves and maneuvers that even hardcore players will have a blast testing it's limits. Graphics V3 features fluid animations and excellent graphics. NBA Street V3 benefits from fancy light-filters and good texture-mapping on every system, but the superb motion-capturing and hit detection are what makes blocking feel so right, and pump-faking defenders into the air before draining a three is such an invigorating experience. I honestly have to say that V3 features some of the hottest graphics I've seen in a sports game period. Everything is top notch in this title. Audio The sounds in V3 are not only a bit bland and boring, but the music choice is whack. While I did like it more than the garbage EA chose to play in NFL Street's recent release... that's not saying much. The audio department, while not the worst... it's the worst part about V3 without a doubt. A little added TLC to this area would have easily guaranteed at least a 9.8 or even a 10 from me. Xbox Live Online play is a blast through EA’s service with all its little perks like messaging and ladders. Here, you can play with the regular NBA teams or create a custom team with a created player. If you pursue the latter avenue you’ll win points by defeating opponents that can be spent on. While playing against human competition brings out the very best in NBA Street V3, I was disappointed that you can only play against one human competitor at a time, rather than an awesome 3 on 3 match-up. Overall NBA Street V3's is one of my favorite sports titles ever. During my serious gametime with it, I had my gripes. It is an arcade title, which means it really can't be compared to the Live series, so if you're looking for a super realistic experience you're not going to find it here. But if you're looking to waste a few hours with some friends and a couple cold ones... V3 has what you're looking for plus some. Any huge EA BIG fan needs to scoop this one up now... and if you're not a fan, get this once is goes platinum. NBA Street V3 is a must buy.   The Core Score Overall 9.5 Fun 9.5 Gameplay 9.5 Graphics 9.5 Audio 8.5 Replay 9.5   How we score games