NBA Ballers: Phenom
Take to the streets and ultimately the courts
Tags: NBA Ballers: Phenom Categories: PS2 Reviews, Reviews, Xbox Reviews
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Apr 5th, 2006
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| NBA Ballers: Phenom (title page) | 1 - 2 | ||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Sports | Yes | ||
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There has been a strong momentum shift away from the “realistic simulation” style games of EA and 2KSports when it comes to basketball. EA Sports BIG has the NBA Street franchise and Midway has the NBA Ballers. UbiSoft even has a “street” style hoops title coming in a couple of months. Whether it be a “street” or “arcade” style, or a combination of the two, the straight “sim” just isn’t cutting it for basketball fans anymore, and this is where NBA Ballers: Phenom comes in.
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Midway’s Ballers franchise takes its roots from previous arcade style basketball games, but puts a new “street” twist the whole affair. Now players have a story to get through which helps to get players a bit more invested in playing, making this more than just another “me-to” game. The blend of street and arcade gameplay really comes together in NBA Ballers: Phenom in a decent package, but ultimately falls a bit short.
Taking the role of a young up-and-comer in the world of street basketball – unfortunately betrayed by his partner. This leads to one of the better additions in NBA Ballers: Phenom, 2-on-2 gameplay. There will be a number of tournaments where players will be able to have a friend join in and get in on the action.
Starting with the character creation, this is quite possibly the deepest near RPG like basketball game yet. Various equipment that becomes available will increase stats that the player has for example. The environments are expansive and the overall feel is that of a sports quest throughout the game. It’s a nice twist on the genre.
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The story revolves around the player looking to get revenge on his former street-baller partner during the week leading up to the NBA finals. Wandering around the Los Angeles area (including surrounding neighborhoods) will provide the necessary opportunities for advancing the story as well as just opening up the various scenarios to play.
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It really all comes down to getting the basketball through the hoop. There are a number of variations on the theme throughout the game, but it really comes down to the amount of skill on the court. Since this isn’t a strict “realistic sim” style game, you can expect some over the top moves, but NBA Ballers: Phenom seems to find a good middle ground between arcade and street play that makes it accessible without being overly ridiculous.
Online play is included, but only for one-on-one matches. I don’t know why two-on-two wasn’t included. That was a major mistake. Its nice to be able to take the created player online, but it really is all about the modes, and having a major one missing – especially when it is available offline – is unforgivable. At least the one-on-one matches are widely customizable.
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The soundtrack is… for lack of a better word, grating. I’m not sure why the current trend is to only have hardcore hip-hop soundtracks in sports titles, but it’s gotten old. The voice acting is a bit cheesy, but at least some effort was put into it.
Graphically the game runs fairly smooth, but overall it’s a bit outdated. Here we are at the end of the current hardware cycle and the graphics looks like they came from 2 to 3 years ago. I’m not expecting Far Cry Instincts levels of graphics, but I definitely would expect better than True Crime: New York City.
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Is NBA Ballers: Phenom ultimately worth picking up? If you enjoy playing basketball games it is. This is different enough from the others out there that makes it at least worth picking up. For the die-hard hoops fans this is of interest, mostly for the story aspect. The gameplay can be a bit… awkward at times, but veteran players of basketball games shouldn’t have much of a problem. While the appeal for NBA Ballers: Phenom is fairly broad, the controls just aren’t as smooth as one would like to see to include those that haven’t been playing each game as they are released.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
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+ RPGesque (story, stats, quests, etc.) + Good balance between arcade and street style |
7.4 |
| What Doesn't | |
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- Graphics are weak - Low quality sound - Incomplete online play |
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| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| With a bit of polish this could be the franchise to beat. As it is, it is going to play second string benchwarmer to the NBA Street franchise. There's some innovation here that deserves to be rewarded, but it's being held back by the shortcomings. | |
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Tags: NBA Ballers: Phenom
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Apr 5th, 2006 and is filed under PS2 Reviews, Reviews, Xbox Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
