NBA 2K6 – Review

To be honest, I’m not a big NBA fan, so when my friend Eden (Spike) and I decided to take a look at NBA 2K6, I didn’t hold out much hope. Most basketball games don’t overly enthrall me, especially as it seems that unless you’re a whiz on defense you don’t stand much chance of actually winning a game. Spike tends to agree, although she knows more about NBA than me. There are no surprises when it comes to expectation with NBA 2K6; it’s basketball, which means very tall men squeakily running about on polished courts while shooting hoops from every conceivable angle. The question here is whether 2K have managed to pull off something wonderful with this latest series iteration or have merely delivered a ho-hum sports game.

The game modes in NBA 2K6 remain true to the existing Xbox and PS2 incarnations and feature all modes from both, including The Crib, 24/7 and, of course, the season modes. This means you can compete in a single season, but also take a generated character from the streets and into the NBA, customizing your crib as you go—very cool. The game also features Live online game modes, which is to be expected now on the Xbox 360 format. Another little addition is the inclusion of mini-games, such as darts and air hockey, which can be unlocked as the game progresses and prove nice for a little break from the central gameplay. The main foundation of this game is getting to the NBA Championships and it is a fairly long haul. You compete in a variety of different challenges that all serve to boost your player skills and reputation. You’ll collect new shoes, celebrity phone numbers, NBA numbers, and more, on the way to becoming the ‘main man’ in the NBA. You also have the rather cool option of being able to design and name your own player, assign them a jersey number, height, weight, skin tone, hair, college—hell, you can even design their shoes! The only thing you can’t do is make them female, but we’ll get to that a little later on in the female gamer section. The premise of this game is good and it is certainly fun to compete in different games, but be warned, it can be pretty frustrating at times. As a prime example of my usual docile nature, I often found myself proclaiming, “Oh, come on!” after missing yet another basket. Spike, however, more often blurted words that I simply can’t repeat here. In fact, the most tame example I can reveal was, “Oh, as if! You stupid lanky ass!” Yes, this NBA 2K6 has its moments of difficulty but, overall, it is fairly user friendly and won’t provoke too many instances of controller throwing—at least not until further on in the game. There is certainly plenty of depth to this title and you should expect to lose many hours of your life building up your character, or, if you’re Spike, hours of your life becoming so annoyed at missing baskets or not having good defence that you’ll wish you had never agreed to play the game in the first place.

Graphically, NBA 2K6 is a strange hybrid of a game. It features some of the nicest in-game character models, with fantastic animation and also nice touches such as clothing movement and flow. However, the graphics tend to fall apart concerning the lack of effort placed on the backgrounds, which are static and non-moving, even when portraying a busy shopping street or any other environment that would be awash with real life movement. Spike actually laughed out loud at “how crap” the background graphics were and, to be honest, I’d have to agree. There are nice variations on the areas you play in, but it would have been better to have some movement in there to boost authenticity. Also, on Spike’s and my own Xbox 360 home set-up, there was quite a lot of residual shine around all the players, though I’m unsure if this would still be the same on an HDTV set-up. I would hope not, as it was actually kind of annoying. Peripheral characters that are animated do nothing but sway from side to side or stand still—there’s no realism to be had here. On the upside though, one of the coolest effects in the game has to be the players’ sweat. Players perspire as the game goes on and you’ll see it glistening on their brows, arms, and even on their team jerseys. Realistic effects such as this may seem insignificant, but it’s clever and adds to the game overall.

The musical score in NBA 2K6 consists of a lot of hip-hop, R&B, and rap-styled tracks; all hard-thumping and there to get your adrenalin flowing. Of course, if you despise that sort of music, there are always custom soundtracks available, so stick your own tunes in and get slamming to them instead. The actual in-game sound effects are fine and the commentary is okay, if not a little repetitive and annoying at times. Deaf gamers can happily play NBA 2K6 without incurring any real aural disadvantage.

As I write this, Spike is screaming at me to mention that female gamers are once again left on the gender sidelines. As NBA 2K6 is based on the actual NBA (male), you sadly can’t take a female character through to the big leagues. Sure, you can generate your own character, name them, etc., but they’re guys all the way. Maybe one day we’ll see developers taking things to the next level and realizing that games are all about pretense and they’ll let us ladies generate a female character to play alongside the boys, just for a bit of fun.

If you like NBA you’re going to love NBA 2K6, it features all the teams and players you’ll know, with likenesses that are second to none. Playability remains true to the previous titles, and little has changed in that regard really. This can be touted as either great by those fondly accustomed to the ongoing series, or as a lack of innovation by those gamers who believe each generation title should at least try to bring something new to the court. Gameplay is fairly fluid, though it may take non-NBA gamers some time to get into. Plenty of included game modes mean there is a lot to do, and building up your own character will take quite some time. NBA 2K6 has a ton of depth, but unless you’re a fan of basketball, it’s not really the kind of game that you’re going to become truly absorbed in. It’s good, but it’s not so great that it transcends the boundaries of genre preference. Get it if you’re wildly into sports, and NBA in particular, otherwise, it might be better to give something else a look.

Review by Tracy & Eden

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