Difficulty:

Hard

Time Spent:

40 to 100 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Almost, but not quite"

This is a sharp-looking NBA game with a good level of immersion. I play it often and enjoy it for the most part, but we play sports games because we enjoy competition... and unfortunately, like bad referees, bugs can make good games lose their meaning and fun.

There are a few inexcusable problems with this game.
1. Players will try to make layups from the wrong side of the back board... e.g., they are wide open and you mash the "slam the freaking ball" button only to see them defy all reason and throw the ball at the out-of-bounds side of the backboard. This will make you scream.

2. Even on easy difficulty, you need to play this like NBA Jam (that is, slam every bucket possible) because players miss SO many open looks. Great shooters, even MVP's, may be wide open from 5 feet out. Not only is this frustrating, it is unrealistic. When you see a wide-open Dwight Howard awkwardly brick a hookshot from just outside arm's reach of the hoop--ten times in one game!--the game stops looking like the NBA and starts looking like bad animatronic robot player clones.

3. The Gatorade logo covers way too much of the screen and blows plays.

4. Replays (which you can turn off) by default break up plays... an opposing player might score a basket, and leave one of your guys wide open on the other end, but your fast break is destroyed by clunky replays (first a logo, then a transition, then another logo, then the play) that let everyone catch up to you.

If not for these issues (which, by golly, could even be fixed with a PATCH for gosh sakes) this would be an awesome game.