NBA 2K3 Preview
The third installment in Sega's NBA franchise comes together for the GameCube, Xbox, and PS2.
Visual Concepts' NBA 2K series has been one of the crown jewels of Sega's sports lineup since it made its debut in 1999. The developer's keen attention to detail and its games' impressive combination of graphics and gameplay have won the series critical and commercial success. The franchise was expanded to the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox last year, and Visual Concepts is currently putting the finishing touches on the latest multiplatform installment in the series, NBA 2K3. We had a chance to test out a previewable build of the game to see how it's coming together, and we've come away with the impression that the developer's ambitious goal of attaining perfection is once again translating into an impressive console gaming experience.
If you're familiar with the previous entries in the series, you should have a good idea of what to expect from the latest one. All three versions of NBA 2K3 will feature the quick game, game modes, and Sega Sports challenge options, and the Xbox and PlayStation 2 versions will also feature an online play mode. Quick game lets you start a game with a bare minimum of decision making--just pick some teams and set a few parameters and you'll be thrown into a game. Game modes lets you cycle between the practice, street, season, playoffs, tournament, and franchise modes. The franchise mode has been tweaked and should let aspiring coaches hone their skills to championship-winning perfection. The Sega Sports challenge lets you try your hand at a variety of challenges in the game. The game's online option will be different in the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions, as Xbox Live supports voice chat and a few unique game features such as optimatch.
As with every entry in the franchise to date, Visual Concepts has taken a "who cares if it ain't broke, we can do it better this time" approach toward the gameplay for NBA 2K3. The series' passing mechanics have been tweaked to add more control. You'll be able to execute bounce or chest passes by holding the pass button and overhead passes by tapping the pass button. If you want even more control, you'll also be able to use the right analog stick to pass--you'll be able to send the ball to a team member without having to change direction by simply pushing the stick in the direction of the teammate you want to pass to. You'll also be able to fake a pass to mess with your opponent's mind, or pass out of dunks and layups. Finally, NBA 2K3 will attempt to a marry style and substance with the ability to perform "showtime" passes. These fancy passes are context-sensitive and will be triggered in specific situations such as when an open player is cutting to the basket or when a player gets open on the outside. The game's selections of dribble moves has also been expanded and enhanced. The team has added reorienting crossovers that let you switch your direction mid-crossover if you do a crossover backward or away from the basket. Additionally, the team has added a new standing crossover that will let you perform a series of juke moves until you choose a direction to drive in.
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