NBA 06 Hands-On

989 Sports hit paydirt with the career mode in MLB 2006, and with the upcoming NBA 06 for the PlayStation 2, the developer looks to expand that successful first-person game mode into a sport other than baseball. In NBA 06, currently due for release in October, the idea of taking on the life of an up-and-coming NBA rookie is exemplified in an entirely new gameplay mode for the series, one that is more akin to the sort of story-driven models found in action and role-playing games.

Focusing on the complicated on- and off-court life of an NBA rookie looking to make a name for himself on his team, as well as in the world around him, this mode (dubbed NBA Life Vol. I) features story-driven cutscenes that detail the follies and foibles that all hoops newbies face upon entering the league. There's more to living the NBA life in NBA 06 than playing a few games and then watching some cutscenes, however. This year-in-the-life story of an NBA rookie is told in linear fashion through a variety of methods, including minigames, training and drills, and a variety of in-game missions. What's interesting is that many of these linear story elements play like boss battles in RPGs in that the story of your created player's career won't continue until you finish a minigame or succeed in a particular mission.

So how do you begin your path in NBA Life Vol. I? Upon starting up the mode, you'll be asked to pick your favorite NBA team, a decision that will naturally alter which teams you face in divisional and conference games, as well as the rival teams you'll face during the season. Once you've chosen your team, it's time to create your player. The character model you build to represent yourself on the court will be the same model that appears in the cutscenes, though it's unclear if you'll be able to choose from a variety of voices for your virtual baller.

There are some restrictions in this first-person mode, including the ability to only play the point guard position. Once you've created your character, you'll jump directly to spring workouts, which consist of a series of drills and minigames that let you earn attribute points for your virtual PG while you learn the game's controls at the same time. Once you've spent some time getting the game under your fingers, it's time to meet your agent. Of course, he's on your team to make sure you earn top dollar as a pro athlete by hooking you up with endorsements, advertising shots, video game covers, and all the other perks.

The next stop in your NBA 06 experience is NBA Draft night in New York City. Lo and behold, the team you chose at the beginning as your favorite is in search of a point guard, so it will call your number in the draft. Once drafted, it's off to the summer pro league, where you'll hone your skills with the rest of the pine-warming scrubs on the team. The final stop before the season begins is training camp, where you'll encounter more drills, minigames, and so-called "crunch-time scenarios." In training camp you'll be looking to further enhance your skills and attributes. And if you've got the skills, you'll win the starting point guard position on your team.

It's here that the first real conflict arises in NBA 06. You see, just as you jumped off the bench to win the starting PG position, you knocked off the old first-string PG. Management decides to take it a step further by trading away your rival to a team in the opposite conference. Animosity is sure to follow this move, thus setting the stage for a season-long drama. As a result, you can expect to face your rival multiple times throughout the year, including an ultimate showdown in the NBA Finals.

Mixing It Up

Though this mode contains a full 82-game regular season schedule, you won't necessarily be playing through each match-up individually. To keep the mode moving at a quick pace, NBA Life Vol. I keeps the game types varied throughout the season. Consequently, you might find yourself playing a number of minigames in one season game or completing a specific mission (such as making a number of shots or rebounds) to progress. Crunch-time scenarios--clutch game situations where you'll be required to step up and put the team on your shoulders--are also included here, and they're designed to test your skills to their utmost. All these minigames and missions will be played within the context of regular season games, thus mimicking the storylines that develop in the NBA over a regular season. Some of these game experiences may only be two-minute intervals, while others will top out at eight or 12 minutes. As the producers of NBA 06 told us, you can expect roughly 20 to 30 hours of gameplay to complete this mode.

As you progress through the season, you'll not only be building up the attributes of your player, but also you'll be building relationships with the people around you, such as your agent, coach, teammates, and even your mom. Each of these individuals will have specific motives and expectations for you and your career. Your coach, for instance, will want you to focus on your team skills, such as passing, blocking, and rebounding. Your agent, on the other hand, is focused primarily on the bottom line (and your Q rating), so he will encourage you to put up big individual numbers to gain maximum public exposure. Either of these style choices, team-focused or selfish, will have repercussions on the story and on your career in general. So if you play a team-centric game, you can likely kiss those endorsement deals good-bye. Showboat all game long and you'll have a group of perturbed teammates, an irate coach, and another notch in the loss column for your team. The key will be in establishing your own personal balance between these two styles to maximize your on- and off-court success.

If the cutscenes in NBA 06 look cinematic in style, it's for good reason. A team of script writers and directors were brought on board to guide the story-driven mode, which comprises more than 200 individual scenes portrayed by a team of 25 actors. Character development and conflict are front and center here, as the forces that whirl around your character clash in dramatic fashion, all culminating in the NBA Playoffs, where your chosen team manages to "Cinderella" its way in the back door for an ultimate showdown against your archnemesis' team. If the NBA Life Vol. I mode is comparable to an RPG, then the NBA Finals against your counterpart would be considered the big boss battle. In the Finals, the challenges will be much more in-depth, so you'll compete in one challenge per quarter, facing off directly against your archrival.

While 989 Sports is hyping this NBA life mode, it should be noted that the same traditional modes gamers have come to expect in a basketball game will be featured in NBA 06, including exhibition, season, and a more than a dozen minigames to choose from. Online play will be present and accounted for as well, with both head-to-head action and tournament play available from the outset.

While our hands-on time was limited to only one minigame--the rule-the-court mode similar to the one found on the PSP NBA game from 989--the most noticeable gameplay change was the shot mechanic. Making shots is still based on a color-coded system, just like in the PSP game, but it has been slightly altered this time around to more closely resemble a pitching meter. As you press the circle button to initiate a shot, a meter surrounding the ball begins slowly turning from orange to yellow to green. Once the meter maxes out in the green zone, you let go to likely find the bottom of the net. Wait too long, however, and the meter will reset to red again, and you'll put up a duck. Presumably, this range of shot motion will be relative to the shooting attributes of your player and will also be affected by the amount of defensive pressure you're under. Graphically, NBA 06 is looking good so far. In a number of gameplay clips, NBA 06 producers showed off a number of context-sensitive animations specifically created for the game to demonstrate things like multiple collisions, as well as defensive and offensive moves that will be based on a specific player's attributes.

Even though the NBA series began on the PSP, 989 is dedicated to creating an entirely new look for the game's PS2 debut. We'll have much more on NBA 06 as we get closer to its October release.