A few letdowns but still an awesome, addictive game.
In the Homecourt Challenge mode, you will play unknowns, NBA and WNBA players, working your way up from local prodigy to street hero. There are goals for each game, for example: first to 30, first to make 6 dunks, etc. On the way you will earn your nickname and increase your skills and abilities, such as shooting, blocking, and dunking. You will also be given two chances to fill a skill category to 100% through the 'Freak Skill' and 'Master Skill', so I recommend you choose wisely. The moves in this game are absolutely insane. There are two trick buttons and two modifiers which allow you to pull off crossovers, bounces off the opponent's head and other sweet moves, all of which are executed much better if you have a skilled ball handler like AI or Chris Paul.
One of the most notable new features of Homecourt is the double dunk: hold Circle for just the right amount of time when dunking and you will execute another one on the same play. Hold it for too long and you'll end up with a terrible miss and your opponent with possession of the ball. You can also use your teammates as launching pads for dunks, and of course you can lob the ball when you see your teammate in the air for the alley-oop.
The gamebreakers in Homecourt are better than ever. After having filled up the meter performing crossovers, spin moves, dunks and the lot, your player will go to centre court and activate the gamebreaker. Toy with your opponent with even crazier moves before heading for the rim for a mind-blowing jam. The more tricks performed the more points you will receive after the dunk. Or you can wait for your teammate to crouch down at the three-point line for you to execute a barrel-roll jump off his back and throw down a triple dunk.
There's no commentary on this one, so no Bobby Garcia, however there are some sweet tunes and you will get to hear the players talking to one another, calling for the ball and insulting the other team.
The graphics are incredible, some of the best on a basketball game. The court, surroundings, players and their jerseys look great, and the movement is smooth and fluid. Though I've seen some negative comments for the sepia-style tone, I think it looks good and works well, but I guess you'll have to decide for yourself.
There were only a few things that brought the game down for me, the first of which was the length. The second was the fact that there isn't as much freedom in customisation as in Street V3. For a game entitled 'Homecourt' it surprised me that you can't create your own court, a feature which I loved in the previous instalment. There also isn't nearly as much choice in clothing and accessories apart from a few jerseys and sneakers. The third was that the Street Legends and NBA legends don't appear, which was a big disappointment for me. I would've loved going up against Bird or Magic in this one.
However the negatives certainly don't take away from the fact that this is a fantastic and addictive game. As a basketball fan I loved it, but I have friends who aren't big on basketball who loved playing it as well.