Reviews:
NBA 2K6
Platform: Xbox 360 Also On: PS2 | Xbox
Publisher: 2k Games Developer: Visual Concepts
ESRB Rating: Everyone Genre: Sports
Recommended by 13 out of 54 users.
by Matt Leone 11/14/2005
Over the course of the NBA Live/NBA 2K series rivalry, there has never been a more significant difference between the two games than there is right now with the 360 titles. It seems that for every aspect one of the games does right, the other one falters, making for one of the easiest choices in terms of which game you want to buy along with your new console -- as long as you know what you want. Unlike in some of the previous years, the issue here isn't the overall quality, but what you want out of a basketball game.
NBA 2K6's main strengths come from its legacy. Since the 360 version is basically a feature-for-feature port of the game that just came out on Xbox and PS2, players can expect a refined, polished, and balanced game engine that doesn't take too many risks. The big new feature players saw on the current generation versions -- the right analog stick shooting -- is back and does a good job of simulating the feel of setting up for a real life shot using the game controller, and the realistic, slower-paced gameplay is as solid as it's ever been. In other words, if you've played NBA 2K6 on either of the current-gen consoles, you know exactly what to expect from the 360 version in terms of controls and feel.
The one area of the game that's likely to cause the biggest debate is the visuals. Unlike what's already been stated above, the graphics in NBA 2K6 have definitely been upgraded from what players saw on the PS2 and Xbox, but it's arguable just how significant that leap forward has been on 360. If you look at screenshots released for the game, you'll notice they are tightly focused on the superstar players and tend to blur out the backgrounds. That's because the backgrounds don't look so hot in the actual game -- sure, fans are comprised of 3D models, but upclose and during cutscene moments, they look blocky, pale, and downright ugly. In fact, the actual arenas that you're playing in aren't terribly impressive either. The game incorporates a nice depth-of-field motion blur system, but it feels like an attempt to cover up the dated looking backgrounds.
The character models, on the other hand, look pretty nice when you catch them from the proper camera angles. Though not featuring as much detail as those in EA's NBA Live (thus making them a tiny bit cartooney-looking in comparison), they appear less awkward with fewer goofy expressions. So the players look extremely good given the graphics engine present here, but that engine can't compete with Live's right now. 2K Sports, for the first time, will now be playing catch up to EA with their visuals.
(As a side note, we should point out that 2K6's graphics benefit greatly from a high-definition television. While both games obviously look better in HD, 2K6 makes a bigger leap than you might expect when moving from a normal to an HD set.)
And that's 2K6's biggest setback -- it doesn't have the instant visual appeal, next-gen look, or out-and-out raw emotion that gamers want to see in a next-gen sports game. The actual mechanics of the game are quite strong (the shot stick and free throw system are perhaps the best mechanics we've seen in a basketball game to date), and it has all the depth and options we've come to expect from a veteran basketball series. If you're an optimist, NBA 2K6 feels like a natural evolution of the franchise more than something that makes you want to rush out and buy it to show off your shiny new console. If you're a pessimist, well, the game isn't much more than a high-definition port of its excellent current-gen counterparts. Shouldn't we expect more out of a next-gen sports game?
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1UP
The fundamentals aren't always pretty. 7.0
scale: 1-10
Average Editors' Rating
Reviews:
Amped 3
Platform: Xbox 360
Publisher: 2k Games Developer: Visual Concepts
ESRB Rating: N/A Genre: EXTREME_SPORT
Recommended by 11 out of 25 users.
by Garnett Lee 11/14/2005
Amped 3 wants to ride with the cool kids so badly it hurts; only you're the one who winds up doing the wincing. It brings to mind all those guys who co-starred in 80's Molly Ringwold flicks. You know the ones: They dorked out the whole way through the films and then, at the end, figured out that they actually were OK doing what they did best and all the rest just came off making them look ridiculous. Amped 3 reaches the same conclusion (and yes, that makes it the Anthony Michael Hall of videogames).
Like those characters, the issue isn't the core premise. The snowboarding action holds up its end of the deal. It's in the transparent, heavy-handed attempt to create a hip style that all goes wrong, highlighted by a bizarre in-your-face story mode. Too much late-night cable TV augmented with who knows what else resulted in a pop culture psychedelic mishmash à la Pee-Wee's Playhouse multiplied by about ten. It's chock full of sock puppet theater, French pantomime humor, stop action films with action figures and stupid accent anime parodies just to name a few.
It might not be so bad to put up with the menu and loading screen art, but you have to play through story mode to unlock all the areas. If nothing else, by the time you get around halfway through it's all so agonizingly bad that it becomes laughable. Some of the annoying challenges you have to complete to advance, though, are not. Awkward sledding, snowmobiling and hang gliding segments not only frustrate advancement, but leave you wondering why such annoying parts were put into a snowboarding game. At least the whole affair only takes a few hours, after which you'll be able to move on to the snowboarding you came for in the first place.
And that part is pretty solid. Amped 3 does a nice job of making you feel like you're up on the mountain at a ski resort and free to go pretty much where you want to. A trail map, just like you'd pick up in real life, shows you all the lifts and calls out events you can do. Select one and a second button press takes you right to the closest lift ready to drop in. And there are plenty to keep you busy. From photographers looking to shoot you pulling a certain trick to a number of skill tests, like those from the story mode, you won't run out of high-score opportunities. But you can also just board around if you want, impressing the rest of the skiers on the hill.
Unlike the ill-fated attempt at over-the-top style, the trick system retains its conventional roots. You can get some truly sick air allowing combos you'd never hit on actual powder, but the moves themselves are all more or less believable. A variety of grabs and grinds are initiated by combinations of the X, Y and B buttons. Timing comes into play to link them together and the subtle half-push of the left stick to pull a "style" trick is back as well. Along with the balance meter for grinding rails, the Tony Hawk influence continues with the addition of "butter" board tricks that can be performed anytime you're on the ground by rocking the stick back and forwards. Skillful use of these will let you keep chains going to rack up major points.
Like the action, the visuals tend to the conservative side. It's not that any of it looks bad. Draw distances stretch way down runs, and, for that matter it all moves super smooth with equally responsive controls. The one big technical complaint is that the camera gets into some bad angles, particularly in uphill situations, and you can not easily reposition it.
But neither does any of it scream "next-generation" at you. The textures and character models are more detailed, and there's more going on in the environments, but it all looks more like a high-resolution version of what you'd find in current games. For instance, the top of a snow-covered peak would be the perfect place to showoff some of the 360's awesome lighting effects for the over-exposure from glare reflected off of the snow, but they aren't there.
Of all the missed opportunity, the most mystifying is the lack of Live multiplayer -- a feature its Xbox predecessor, Amped 2, made great use of. It defies common sense how a feature so well suited to the game's day-on-the-slopes feel has actually been dropped in the move to more advanced hardware.
Adolescents are like that, though. They just do things you don't get as they go through their growing pains, and Amped 3 is definitely in the midst of its own. The crazy displays for attention and rebellious personality leave little doubt of that. Underneath the show there's still a snowboarding game that's fun to hang out with, but only in doses.
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SITE SCORE
1UP
Tries a little too hard when it doesn't need to. 7.0
scale: 1-10
Average Editors' Rating
