NBA 2K6
Posted February 10, 2006
Visual Concept's first iteration of the NBA 2K series for the Xbox 360 is a visually bland basketball simulation that has more gameplay features than any other next generation sports game on the market. As the game opens, a picture of Shaq appears and the music kicks in with a bit of force. If you leave that controller alone for a minute, a sample basketball game will automatically load up to showcase what the title looks like.
The menu system looks similar to NHL 2K6, but the design and structure has been refined quite a bit. Navigating the menu isn't confusing and the layout of the selection choices is perfect. Also, the menu seems more animated than NHL 2K6 due to moving backgrounds and thumping tunes playing while you browse. I'm impressed by the game's loading menu as well. Instead of stagnant info screens, an announcer begins calling out the lineups with matching pictures of the players. It's an extra touch that adds to the immersive quality of the ensuing basketball game.
Gameplay:
The number of game modes found within the game is a bit overwhelming. Obviously, the standards are there: Quick match, Season, Tournament, and Practice. Those are fairly self-explanatory and easy to setup. Similar to practice, the Situation mode will create a custom scenario to practice your ball handling skills under pressure. The Street mode will take the game outside on the black tar. You can play full court, half court, one on one, or a quick game of 21 against two other pro stars. The final two single player modes require a bit more explanation.
The Association mode allows for management at the General Manager level, hence an rpg-style franchise mode. The majority of the team management centers around planning for the following year with scouting and player improvement. Scouting involves finding a recruit that matches the team dynamic and viewing their playing ability in the off-season. Player improvement comes in the form of practices and mini-games. The practices will boost your team's overall ability before key games and the mini-games will boost individual player stats for the duration of their career. Successfully managing a team down to the grittiest details will allow the GM to achieve his predetermined goal. The goals range from making money, winning championships, improving rankings, etc... The Association mode is a lengthy, incredibly complete simulation of the ultimate management position in the NBA.
But my favorite mode is Road to the EBC, a create-a-player career that details the rise of a street baller into the ranks of the NBA. When entering the player customization screen, the options to modify the character vary from height, weight, clothing, shoe style, haircut, and even tattoos. The career involves unlocking challenges on the court and making high-profile contacts to make a case for breaking into the professional league. The accumulation of street cred will boost your stats as well as open new cities. Some of the challenges, such as the 1-on-1 games can get monotonous, but the structure is sound. Ultimately, the goal is to reach the Entertainers Basketball Classic at Rucker Park in New York City. Winning that competition will allow you to import the character into your favorite NBA team and compete at the professional level.
If you prefer more of a challenge, step into the online menu. The options available are quick match, lobbies, leagues, and tournaments. Quick Match will zip you into a game with others around your skill level seeking the same. The lobby system is more diverse in that areas are built on your style of play. If you find someone you enjoy competing against, join up with them in a league. League play is almost like a second friend's list that usually guarantees you a good game. Finally, you can enter or create custom tournaments for individual or league play. It's a wonderful method of determining the best of the best. Overall, online play is pretty much lag free and you can generally find decent players to compete against.
The options section is a plethora of selections to tweak the game to your difficulty preference. The first selection will allow you to manage your rosters to determine the best group of players to take the court. The gameplay menu option will setup up length of time, injuries & fatigue, difficulty level, etc. The presentation menu option can adjust the type and amount of replays shown after big plays. I like to turn my replays off as they disrupt the flow of the game. The next three options, NBA Rules, Game Sliders, and Coach Setting, will allow you to adjust what rules you can break, the abilities of the human controlled / CPU players, and play-calling changes. Finally, the controller setup is a good place to memorize button placement and change the preferred layout.
The help menu will open up a couple handy tools for learning how to play the game. The first is a text based version of the game manual. These basic instructions are excellent for people who rent the game. The other tool is a group of videos that instruct on the basic mechanics of the game. Watching a few of these before you being a game will provide a bit of insight into successfully winning, offline and online. Also, you can register the game within the help menu, but there is no worthwhile incentive to complete it.
Beyond the single player and the multiplayer, Visual Artists went to extra effort to create The Crib. The Crib is a penthouse-type apartment to showcase your awards, play mini-games, crank up the jukebox, and eat some Powerbars. The awards range from trophies to snow globes, usually given for accomplishments in the single player game. The mini-games include air hockey and darts. Both are enjoyable diversions, but only in minor spurts. The jukebox allows you to choose from the music selection in the game and the vending machine spits out Powerbars for a small boost for the next basketball game played. The machine is a blatant advertisement for Powerbar, but it does fit in with the concept of endorsements in the professional world. The Crib is an interesting extra that showcases the glitzy rewards from the typical NBA salary.
Once again, the person who creates the achievements at Visual Concepts is asleep at the wheel. The five achievements are so moronically structured and simple that you can attain all 1000 gamerscore points within a single game of basketball. Without any actual rules to govern how achievements are attained, exploitation is possible and unfortunately cheapens the experience. For instance, adjusting the sliders for maximum ball stealing and offensive ability gives the player an unnatural ability to garner four out of the five achievements within the first half of play. Why not tie achievements to the Association mode or the Road to the EBC? Both of those modes seem tailor made for the achievement system. I seriously hope Visual Concepts will hire a programmer that isn't so inept at creating a solid group of achievements.
Graphics:
Visually, NBA 2K6 is a disappointment of lazy proportions. Visual Concepts decided to forgo upgrading this rendition with any improvements beyond higher resolution player models. The highest paid and most popular players have the best looking design to their player models. Unfortunately, the unknowns just get a generic model without much detailed improvement in the facial features. While the fans in the crowd, the announcers at the press table, and the coaches on the bench are slightly crisper in high definition, the models are just copies from the Xbox version. In addition, the indoor and outdoor courts are ripped from the older console versions as well without any discernable improvements.
It's not all bad though. The player animations are smooth as silk due to high frame rates. Visual Concepts took extra care to make sure each motion appears almost effortless with a beautiful fluidity. Sadly, the sharp contrast between the high-res player models and every other unimproved visual element defeats any immersive quality that Visual Concepts attempted to create. They tried to use motion blur to compensate and hide the noticeable differences, but it's not effective nor fooling anyone. Perhaps more time and experience with the console will lead to a version that actually takes advantage of the graphical power in the Xbox 360.
Audio:
Music will be the first auditory element that enters your ears as you boot up the game. The soundtrack, aptly named 2K Beats, is a collection of 46 songs that play into the urban nature of basketball. Through the extras menu, you can preview the music and select which songs will play in the random mix. The list of songs is wonderfully expansive for a sports title. The hip-hop genre comprises the majority of the music, but there are a few other types tossed in there as well.
The sound effects are nothing more than crowd roars, shoes squeaking on the floorboards, and ball dribbling noises, but it is representative of an actual NBA game. You may recognize the announcers at the press table from the broadcasts on TNT. Their commentary is accurate and usually unique for the most part. Although, if you begin to play well with one certain player or start dominating by tons of points, they will repeat the same catch phrases about the current situation. It's a minor annoyance that doesn't happen very often though. Finally, the developer included a neat speaker testing tool in the menu. Depending on the speaker setup, the game will do a directional test to make sure the effects are working properly. It's a great extra that would be awesome to have on the Xbox 360 dashboard.
Conclusion:
NBA 2K6 can be seen in two different lights. For the gamers expecting to showcase a next generation basketball game in terms of graphical and presentation enhancements, they will be disappointed. For gamers expecting to dive into the amazingly vast features and gameplay additions the NBA 2K series is famous for, they will be ecstatic. It's tough to find a balance between the two standards, especially on new, high powered hardware.
Looking ahead, NBA 2K7 has the potential to be one of the most complete basketball games on the market assuming Visual Concepts can actually recreate basketball in the high definition world and setup a basic achievement system. The foundation NBA 2K6 has created is one that can be built on in a number of ways. I highly recommend this game to any basketball fan that wants the most complete basketball title on the Xbox 360, but don't be under the illusion that it will impress anyone visually. Pick up this title when it hits the $40 range.
The menu system looks similar to NHL 2K6, but the design and structure has been refined quite a bit. Navigating the menu isn't confusing and the layout of the selection choices is perfect. Also, the menu seems more animated than NHL 2K6 due to moving backgrounds and thumping tunes playing while you browse. I'm impressed by the game's loading menu as well. Instead of stagnant info screens, an announcer begins calling out the lineups with matching pictures of the players. It's an extra touch that adds to the immersive quality of the ensuing basketball game.
Gameplay:
The number of game modes found within the game is a bit overwhelming. Obviously, the standards are there: Quick match, Season, Tournament, and Practice. Those are fairly self-explanatory and easy to setup. Similar to practice, the Situation mode will create a custom scenario to practice your ball handling skills under pressure. The Street mode will take the game outside on the black tar. You can play full court, half court, one on one, or a quick game of 21 against two other pro stars. The final two single player modes require a bit more explanation.
The Association mode allows for management at the General Manager level, hence an rpg-style franchise mode. The majority of the team management centers around planning for the following year with scouting and player improvement. Scouting involves finding a recruit that matches the team dynamic and viewing their playing ability in the off-season. Player improvement comes in the form of practices and mini-games. The practices will boost your team's overall ability before key games and the mini-games will boost individual player stats for the duration of their career. Successfully managing a team down to the grittiest details will allow the GM to achieve his predetermined goal. The goals range from making money, winning championships, improving rankings, etc... The Association mode is a lengthy, incredibly complete simulation of the ultimate management position in the NBA.
But my favorite mode is Road to the EBC, a create-a-player career that details the rise of a street baller into the ranks of the NBA. When entering the player customization screen, the options to modify the character vary from height, weight, clothing, shoe style, haircut, and even tattoos. The career involves unlocking challenges on the court and making high-profile contacts to make a case for breaking into the professional league. The accumulation of street cred will boost your stats as well as open new cities. Some of the challenges, such as the 1-on-1 games can get monotonous, but the structure is sound. Ultimately, the goal is to reach the Entertainers Basketball Classic at Rucker Park in New York City. Winning that competition will allow you to import the character into your favorite NBA team and compete at the professional level.
If you prefer more of a challenge, step into the online menu. The options available are quick match, lobbies, leagues, and tournaments. Quick Match will zip you into a game with others around your skill level seeking the same. The lobby system is more diverse in that areas are built on your style of play. If you find someone you enjoy competing against, join up with them in a league. League play is almost like a second friend's list that usually guarantees you a good game. Finally, you can enter or create custom tournaments for individual or league play. It's a wonderful method of determining the best of the best. Overall, online play is pretty much lag free and you can generally find decent players to compete against.
The options section is a plethora of selections to tweak the game to your difficulty preference. The first selection will allow you to manage your rosters to determine the best group of players to take the court. The gameplay menu option will setup up length of time, injuries & fatigue, difficulty level, etc. The presentation menu option can adjust the type and amount of replays shown after big plays. I like to turn my replays off as they disrupt the flow of the game. The next three options, NBA Rules, Game Sliders, and Coach Setting, will allow you to adjust what rules you can break, the abilities of the human controlled / CPU players, and play-calling changes. Finally, the controller setup is a good place to memorize button placement and change the preferred layout.
The help menu will open up a couple handy tools for learning how to play the game. The first is a text based version of the game manual. These basic instructions are excellent for people who rent the game. The other tool is a group of videos that instruct on the basic mechanics of the game. Watching a few of these before you being a game will provide a bit of insight into successfully winning, offline and online. Also, you can register the game within the help menu, but there is no worthwhile incentive to complete it.
Beyond the single player and the multiplayer, Visual Artists went to extra effort to create The Crib. The Crib is a penthouse-type apartment to showcase your awards, play mini-games, crank up the jukebox, and eat some Powerbars. The awards range from trophies to snow globes, usually given for accomplishments in the single player game. The mini-games include air hockey and darts. Both are enjoyable diversions, but only in minor spurts. The jukebox allows you to choose from the music selection in the game and the vending machine spits out Powerbars for a small boost for the next basketball game played. The machine is a blatant advertisement for Powerbar, but it does fit in with the concept of endorsements in the professional world. The Crib is an interesting extra that showcases the glitzy rewards from the typical NBA salary.
Once again, the person who creates the achievements at Visual Concepts is asleep at the wheel. The five achievements are so moronically structured and simple that you can attain all 1000 gamerscore points within a single game of basketball. Without any actual rules to govern how achievements are attained, exploitation is possible and unfortunately cheapens the experience. For instance, adjusting the sliders for maximum ball stealing and offensive ability gives the player an unnatural ability to garner four out of the five achievements within the first half of play. Why not tie achievements to the Association mode or the Road to the EBC? Both of those modes seem tailor made for the achievement system. I seriously hope Visual Concepts will hire a programmer that isn't so inept at creating a solid group of achievements.
Graphics:
Visually, NBA 2K6 is a disappointment of lazy proportions. Visual Concepts decided to forgo upgrading this rendition with any improvements beyond higher resolution player models. The highest paid and most popular players have the best looking design to their player models. Unfortunately, the unknowns just get a generic model without much detailed improvement in the facial features. While the fans in the crowd, the announcers at the press table, and the coaches on the bench are slightly crisper in high definition, the models are just copies from the Xbox version. In addition, the indoor and outdoor courts are ripped from the older console versions as well without any discernable improvements.
It's not all bad though. The player animations are smooth as silk due to high frame rates. Visual Concepts took extra care to make sure each motion appears almost effortless with a beautiful fluidity. Sadly, the sharp contrast between the high-res player models and every other unimproved visual element defeats any immersive quality that Visual Concepts attempted to create. They tried to use motion blur to compensate and hide the noticeable differences, but it's not effective nor fooling anyone. Perhaps more time and experience with the console will lead to a version that actually takes advantage of the graphical power in the Xbox 360.
Audio:
Music will be the first auditory element that enters your ears as you boot up the game. The soundtrack, aptly named 2K Beats, is a collection of 46 songs that play into the urban nature of basketball. Through the extras menu, you can preview the music and select which songs will play in the random mix. The list of songs is wonderfully expansive for a sports title. The hip-hop genre comprises the majority of the music, but there are a few other types tossed in there as well.
The sound effects are nothing more than crowd roars, shoes squeaking on the floorboards, and ball dribbling noises, but it is representative of an actual NBA game. You may recognize the announcers at the press table from the broadcasts on TNT. Their commentary is accurate and usually unique for the most part. Although, if you begin to play well with one certain player or start dominating by tons of points, they will repeat the same catch phrases about the current situation. It's a minor annoyance that doesn't happen very often though. Finally, the developer included a neat speaker testing tool in the menu. Depending on the speaker setup, the game will do a directional test to make sure the effects are working properly. It's a great extra that would be awesome to have on the Xbox 360 dashboard.
Conclusion:
NBA 2K6 can be seen in two different lights. For the gamers expecting to showcase a next generation basketball game in terms of graphical and presentation enhancements, they will be disappointed. For gamers expecting to dive into the amazingly vast features and gameplay additions the NBA 2K series is famous for, they will be ecstatic. It's tough to find a balance between the two standards, especially on new, high powered hardware.
Looking ahead, NBA 2K7 has the potential to be one of the most complete basketball games on the market assuming Visual Concepts can actually recreate basketball in the high definition world and setup a basic achievement system. The foundation NBA 2K6 has created is one that can be built on in a number of ways. I highly recommend this game to any basketball fan that wants the most complete basketball title on the Xbox 360, but don't be under the illusion that it will impress anyone visually. Pick up this title when it hits the $40 range.