NBA 2K4 was one of my most played games last year. The level of gameplay depth was amazing; I played a season with a couple of friends and by the end the on-court mindgames we were playing against each other made it feel like sports Street Fighter.
According to EB's website, the ship date's been bumped up to this week - the 28th. Check out the video Gamespot's got running alongside their preview, check out the movement of the players, it looks freaking incredible. They seem to have absolutely nailed the way momentum works on a basketball court, and the effect is alot more dramatic than what VC did with NFL 2K5. It's going to add a ton of depth to the way you play on both ends and how you space yourself on the floor, because you can't just go 0-60 in an instant anymore.
It's tough to tell from what I've seen so far, but the game also looks like less of a block fest than last year, which can only be a good thing - Chris Bosh is good and all, but I probably shouldn't be able to make him average 4.7 blocks in a season on superstar. There's a bunch of new features, but the interesting stuff boils down to:
- Isomotion has a bunch of new moves, and can now be done in the air for those Jordan mid-air shot change moments.
-- Franchise mode now features individual player personalities, so now you get to have mid-season Iverson meltdowns and Kobe telling you how to run your own damn team at the merest hint of a 3 game losing streak. How you respond determines whether that player reacts positively or negatively, and affects team chemistry. Don't yet know what Sprewell's coach strangling stat is.
-- Player models are even crazier, with player's individual heads, rather than just faces, mapped out. Improved lighting and shadow effects and billowing uniforms too.
Anyway, after last year I'm all over this on day 1. It's only $20 US, like NFL 2K5. No word yet on whether Randy Moss is going to be in it again, though.
