NBA Inside Drive 2004
Posted January 5, 2004
Continuing to build it’s XSN Sports lineup, Microsoft released the latest revision to the Inside Drive line of NBA games, but a distinct lack of updates help this game blend back into the background when compared to the other major players in the game, EA and Sega.
Gameplay:
Without adding significantly to the ever evolving sports arena MS might just be digging themselves a hole. The changes that are added such as XSN support and a well executed “Drive” camera angle aren’t enough to elevate the game to the next level.
Compared to the default camera angles seen in other basketball games, the Drive option presented here is a breath of fresh air into an otherwise somewhat stagnant room. While not revolutionary, the execution of the camera leaves very little for me to harp on. The camera follows your active player from behind, and rotates and zooms when the ball is moved around the court. This adds a dimension to the game that standard overhead camera angles can’t, but for those who may not like the camera fear not, overhead or side views are present.
Controlling your player is fairly well executed for the beginner and with some nice touches for the advanced player. New players can opt for the easy option, which omits the advanced options, such as pressure sensitive passing and even does away with the skill involved when making free throws. Options such as jukes and dekes as well as post moves are mapped to the right thumb stick, or alternatively to a slightly more complex combination of buttons.
Standard to most sports games these days is the Season mode which enables the player to work their way through multiple seasons and build a dynasty. This mode is available here as well, with players retiring, gaining skills and swapping teams as the years progress. Custom players are also easily created in the game with a lot of room for them to grow from a rookie to a superstar from year to year. A nice feature is the incentive based character advancement; where in season mode if your created character achieves certain tasks from the mundane making a shot to being names player of the game he earns points which can be added to his skills to elevate his game to the next level. This is the reason I continue to play my seasons to see how my character grows into a triple threat, dunker, blocker and three-point master.
As with the other two team based games on XSN, you can play full or shortened seasons as well as organized tournaments on Xbox Live. One of the best features of the XSN tag is the statistic tracking when playing an official game. It’s a lot of fun to see how you rank in three point shots made vs. attempted compared to the guy who you are scheduled to play against. It not only helps build your ego, but it can help you plan your game.
The worst part of the game not only reported by me, but even by random players I faced on Xbox Live has to be the amount of fouls called. The referee AI is set way to strict, with attempts at steals resulting in fouls more often then not when set on its default level. If you neglect to alter this option, you’ll find yourself very frustrated when playing.
Another foul related complaint is the automatic fouling when a team is trailing by a few points. For approximately the last minute of a game when a team is trailing, either your team or the CPUs team, they will intentionally foul the ball carrier to force a free throw in hopes of a miss. Of course this option can be turned off or down, but without prior knowledge of this option, it could again introduce some unnecessary frustration.
Graphics:
Graphically, I was neither blown away nor disappointed by NBA Inside Drive 2004. Character models are smoothly animated and have a sufficient number of polygons to make them look smooth. Sadly, only the starters or the big name benchwarmers get their actual likenesses into the game, while the remainder of the characters get the generic head.
One minor disappointment with the graphics comes from the crowd which consists of a repeating pattern of “people”, so when one stands to either wave or cheer, you see a consistent spacing between active crowd participants.
Audio:
Seems that Microsoft has some connections somewhere in the hip-hop world, as some custom tunes are included in the game which not so subtly mentions playing “ball on Xbox.” Music during gameplay is limited and includes that standard sports themes that are present at any and all professional sporting events, and custom soundtracks are not supported.
The commentary is well done and features Kevin Calabro, Kenny Smith and Marques Johnson. If one is speaking and a spectacular play is performed onscreen, another will interrupt and apologize before commenting on what has transpired. Even with the fast pace that is inherent in this sport, the commentary never seems to fall behind the play and is rarely repetitive.
Conclusion:
While not a bad game by any means, people who are content with Sega and EA NBA games will not see much of a reason to jump ship to the Big Green’s franchise. Without any innovation to set it above the crowd, NBA Inside Drive 2004 seems like a minor upgrade to last years model, with the XSN label integrated to try and make up for its lack of change. So if you are in the mood for some ball and don’t have a preference to any of the games, but desire the coordination of online seasons and tournaments this could be the game for you.
Gameplay:
Without adding significantly to the ever evolving sports arena MS might just be digging themselves a hole. The changes that are added such as XSN support and a well executed “Drive” camera angle aren’t enough to elevate the game to the next level.
Compared to the default camera angles seen in other basketball games, the Drive option presented here is a breath of fresh air into an otherwise somewhat stagnant room. While not revolutionary, the execution of the camera leaves very little for me to harp on. The camera follows your active player from behind, and rotates and zooms when the ball is moved around the court. This adds a dimension to the game that standard overhead camera angles can’t, but for those who may not like the camera fear not, overhead or side views are present.
Controlling your player is fairly well executed for the beginner and with some nice touches for the advanced player. New players can opt for the easy option, which omits the advanced options, such as pressure sensitive passing and even does away with the skill involved when making free throws. Options such as jukes and dekes as well as post moves are mapped to the right thumb stick, or alternatively to a slightly more complex combination of buttons.
Standard to most sports games these days is the Season mode which enables the player to work their way through multiple seasons and build a dynasty. This mode is available here as well, with players retiring, gaining skills and swapping teams as the years progress. Custom players are also easily created in the game with a lot of room for them to grow from a rookie to a superstar from year to year. A nice feature is the incentive based character advancement; where in season mode if your created character achieves certain tasks from the mundane making a shot to being names player of the game he earns points which can be added to his skills to elevate his game to the next level. This is the reason I continue to play my seasons to see how my character grows into a triple threat, dunker, blocker and three-point master.
As with the other two team based games on XSN, you can play full or shortened seasons as well as organized tournaments on Xbox Live. One of the best features of the XSN tag is the statistic tracking when playing an official game. It’s a lot of fun to see how you rank in three point shots made vs. attempted compared to the guy who you are scheduled to play against. It not only helps build your ego, but it can help you plan your game.
The worst part of the game not only reported by me, but even by random players I faced on Xbox Live has to be the amount of fouls called. The referee AI is set way to strict, with attempts at steals resulting in fouls more often then not when set on its default level. If you neglect to alter this option, you’ll find yourself very frustrated when playing.
Another foul related complaint is the automatic fouling when a team is trailing by a few points. For approximately the last minute of a game when a team is trailing, either your team or the CPUs team, they will intentionally foul the ball carrier to force a free throw in hopes of a miss. Of course this option can be turned off or down, but without prior knowledge of this option, it could again introduce some unnecessary frustration.
Graphics:
Graphically, I was neither blown away nor disappointed by NBA Inside Drive 2004. Character models are smoothly animated and have a sufficient number of polygons to make them look smooth. Sadly, only the starters or the big name benchwarmers get their actual likenesses into the game, while the remainder of the characters get the generic head.
One minor disappointment with the graphics comes from the crowd which consists of a repeating pattern of “people”, so when one stands to either wave or cheer, you see a consistent spacing between active crowd participants.
Audio:
Seems that Microsoft has some connections somewhere in the hip-hop world, as some custom tunes are included in the game which not so subtly mentions playing “ball on Xbox.” Music during gameplay is limited and includes that standard sports themes that are present at any and all professional sporting events, and custom soundtracks are not supported.
The commentary is well done and features Kevin Calabro, Kenny Smith and Marques Johnson. If one is speaking and a spectacular play is performed onscreen, another will interrupt and apologize before commenting on what has transpired. Even with the fast pace that is inherent in this sport, the commentary never seems to fall behind the play and is rarely repetitive.
Conclusion:
While not a bad game by any means, people who are content with Sega and EA NBA games will not see much of a reason to jump ship to the Big Green’s franchise. Without any innovation to set it above the crowd, NBA Inside Drive 2004 seems like a minor upgrade to last years model, with the XSN label integrated to try and make up for its lack of change. So if you are in the mood for some ball and don’t have a preference to any of the games, but desire the coordination of online seasons and tournaments this could be the game for you.