Nice Hoops game, but lacking the polish of many NBA games. Still...a nice buy for a college hoops fan !
To start with, if you are looking for a game that has fabulous graphics, great character models, and stadiums that look photorealistic, get an Xbox 360, and play NBA 2k6. This doesnt have that look at all. In fact, it's not a huge step up from previous versions of the game.
What I found I love, and I mean love, is the Legacy Mode. As usual, recruiting, and working up a team in a small conference to eventually find a job in a bigger conference is an absolute blast. Scouting freshman, and following them their entire H.S. career is a neat experience.
The instruction book leaves out quite a bit, but if you are familiar with the series, you pick things up, if not, it would be fairly easy to get frustrated.
Gameplay itself is pretty solid, and the practice modes are fairly essential early on to perfect your release point on jumpshots. The AI also punishes players who insist on trying long, or cross-court passes, which is a good thing.
Online mode is nice, and the league set-up is great, but it's tough getting together a GOOD group of people to play in a large league, better off finding a smaller group.
The only thing missing, from my point of view is an online legacy mode, which I'd love to see in any sports game.
Last note to polish, is the blocky, and poor graphics for Greg Gumbel and Clark Kellog in the studio, and the somewhat poor commentary from Raftery and Lundquist. They seem to pick the SG as the "key" performer in most games, even if that isnt even close to the best player. In fact, it would be perfectly okay if they highlight the best players from either team, regardless of match-up, or position.
I'll look forward to seeing what is in the 360 version, but as a college hoops fan, this is a nice buy. Plenty of fun to be had, and while the series progresses, it still has plenty of polish to be applied.