I've been an avid 2K basketball gamer since the Dreamcast days. I've loved the authenticity of the series, the little details, the animations; everything. This morning I woke up, and checked the boards to see what's happenin' and lo and behold a NBA2k7 demo is out. After playing 10 games, ladies and gentlemen we may have what could very well be the best basketball game of all time, and possibly one of the greatest sports games of all time. Period.
Where do I start. I guess I'll talk about the gameplay differences first. I've put in countless upon countless hours of 2K6. I've ran leagues for it last year and played numerous franchise seasons, and this year I'm running a 16 team IGN league, so gameplay wise I'm very familiar with this series. First off the game does have a slower pace than NBA2k6. You CANNOT drive at will anymore. The defense WILL stop you. Last year if you knew what you were doing with the Isomotion stick, you could abuse the defense. I should know. I used that stick like it was nothin' pullin' off step backs, up and unders, spins moves, hop steps you name it. I tried doing all of that today in the demo, and it did not work so it appears as if they've toned that down just a notch which is good.
Another thing that is different this year is the ability to call your plays, adjust tempo, and even make subs all in real time without pausing the game. It took me a game to get used to it but after that I was pullin' off subs and adjusting the tempo in no time. Hell when you choose to make a sub, you even SEE the guy get up off the bench and go to the scorer's table. It's crazy. I believe you press left on the d-pad to adjust coach settings, down to make subs, and right to call your plays, and up to make a green symbol show up under a player(you can use this to make them go where you want). It's awesome after you get used to it.
I also tried another cheap tactic that was successful in NBA2K6 and that was stealing the ball when the opposing team would try and inbound the pass. Last year when the opponent was getting ready to inbound the ball, if you could guess who he was passing to with the right timing of the right stick it was a pick-off guarantee. While it sounds good on paper, in practice it kind of ruined the game somewhat and made it cheap. I'm happy to say, at least in the demo that that has been toned down considerably. I've tried deliberately to steal the inbounds pass and was unsuccessful so that's another plus.
Animation-wise Live 07 is in trouble, there is no way around this. The amount of individual shots just in this demo will drive a basektball fan crazy. The different shots, layups, and handles are done with the greatest of fluidity(yes I made that up). I really can't explain this part too much in words, you'll just have to play the demo and find out because it really is hard to explain how impressive this is.
Graphically, this game shines. The graphics are phenomenal. Player models are dead on, and even their haircuts look damn good in HD. From fades to curly hair(Nowitzki) it looks very very good. The only thing about that is I haven't noticed Dirk's hair moving, so I don't know if they have physics for hair or not(I'm sure they do, just maybe not in the demo). The presentation is 5x what it was in 2k6. Different camera angles keep you involved in the action, and during timeouts the mascot will be seen cheering and the fine ass cheerleaders will go out on the court and do their routine, and you can sit there and watch all of this. When it's time to get back to hoops, they run off the court still cheering and head back to the sideline. It's a very nice touch.
As you can see I'm damn impressed with the demo of this game. It's 4 minutes of gameplay which doesn't seem like much, but when it's over you choose to restart right then and there and the game will load back up. This IS NOT AN ARCADE GAME. The controls are still complex, and even more so with the new ability to adjust your settings on the fly but for 2K vets like me it's no problem, I feel right at home. For newbies, I suggest you stick with it. If you do you'll find out that what you're playing could very well be sports game of the year.
And it's just a demo. That's what's scay. I can't wait for the full game.
