NBA Ballers: Chosen One (Xbox 360, PS3)
The game is so much fun when you get back to its original element of "I'm better than you and I can prove it" that when you get past all of these faults, what you find is a game that still draws you back for more. Why? One word: competition.
NBA Ballers: Chosen One is a battle game. Think Street Fighter meets the NBA, and that's where the game is in its element. Only difference is, instead of a combo leading to Melo punching some dude in the face then running for his life, there are super moves where you get the ball bounced off your head then watch as your opponent break dances on your back as you hunch over in pain. This is the type of trash-talking move the game is built around, and when playing against a friend, the constant back-and-forth of combos, self-alley-oops, and these Shut 'Em Down super moves will provide hours of good times. It's when you're friends go home, however, that you start to see the real weaknesses of the game.
First off, the game's story mode is a bit of a mess and really has a bunch of holes in terms of actually giving you any kind of story to follow. Yeah, yeah, you've been picked to play in this tournament against the NBA's elite where you have the shot to be anointed the NBA's next Chosen One. We've heard it all before, but at least if the storyline was updated after every game, even with some simple text, it might make a bit more sense. Instead, you go from one-on-one to one-on-one-on-one to two-on-two teaming with Marcus Camby with no real reason given other than he is now your partner. That's fine if Camby then follows me through the story or offers to be my designated driver, but next time I play two-on-two, my partner is Amare. Why? Nobody knows. But that's not even where things go south, as there are games of one-on-one-on-one against the computer where there are no clears and no takeouts. That means that after every hoop, you just hang out under the basket, grab the ball and jam it back down. What ends up happening is a headache-inducing cluster around the rim and some really uninspired AI as you watch guys like T-Mac throw up these weak lobs toward the hoop that continuously get batted. To make matters worse, it's as if no time or thought went into the two-on-two games. It's like they just wanted to mention the mode exists on the back of the box; you can pretty much shake your man and dunk every time down the court as there is little to no help on defense.
Other oddities include players occasionally flying through the backboard, times when an offensive Shut 'Em Down super move is shown (like D-Wade making a move off the dribble), when the player featured was actually on defense, the fact that players constantly shoot with the wrong hand, and some of the dribble animations looking a bit robotic, especially when ballers dribble with the wrong hand while driving. And don't even get me started about this bizarre roster that leaves out players like Deron Williams and Monta Ellis, instead sticking us with three Knicks (none named David Lee), not to mention guys like Telfair and Ridnour making the cut. Ridiculous.
The thing is, the game is so much fun when you get back to its original element of "I'm better than you and I can prove it" that when you get past all of these faults, what you find is a game that still draws you back for more. Why? One word: competition. And with Chosen One, the Ballers series really steps it up by placing the combo system into a fastest finger game where a button flashes on screen and if the dribbler hits it first, he pulls a move, then goes for number two. Hit the button first again, and try for move three. But if the defender hits the button first, he knocks the ball loose and the combo is over. In addition, with the combos also come score modifiers, so if you're able to bust a serious combo in your opponent's face and hit the shot, you might be looking at something like a 3 point scoring bonus, and that's a killer when you're playing a game to 11.
T-Mac can't win the big games in his virtual life either.
AI takes Nash to the hole.
Another cool addition to the series is baller introductions. Dwyane Wade pulls up to the court in a fly ride, Amare jumps off a helicopter, Kobe cruises in a yacht. This really adds to the fun of facing these "bosses" in the game. Unfortunately, the intros are limited to just a few players, and you only find them in story mode. Give every player his own intro like Smackdown, and then we'd be talking.
In the end, this is one of the tougher games to actually give a score to as I love the one-on-one game and can see Ballers as a game that stays in rotation whenever friends come over talking junk about my skills on the sticks, but at the same time, I don't recommend the single-player experience at all (unless you want to see the cool boss intros). When I got this game, I was hoping for a Kobe. Instead what I'm left with is more of an Odom. Not bad by any means, just not the superstar I was looking for.
Pros: Any game where I can spike a ball in Marbury's face can't be too bad; the combos and super moves add great strategy; watching LeBron get off his private plane.
Cons: No Monta Ellis; story mode lacks story; seeing Dwyane Wade pull off an awesome offensive super move when he was supposed to be on defense.
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Throwing it down.
The King.
Best in the game.
