IGN Hands on

http://sports.ign.com/articles/575/575615p1.html

December 23, 2004 - It's day 42 of your 70 day odyssey, your transformation from zero to hero is more than halfway complete. Sporting a Bullets throwback, an iced-out crown around your neck, some shine on your wrist, shoes you created yourself, and ink draped up and down your arm, you've recruited Kevin Garnett and Jason Kidd to your team to help you push your rep to the top of the street ball class.


Only thing is, the two don't get along.

Now, Nelly might just be kiddin' like Jason, but this situation is no joke. Not only do you have to decide which one you're going to boot off your squad, but Gilbert Arenas and LeBron are complaining that they're not getting enough run and want some loot, or in this case, Street Points to stick around on your team. So you boot J-Kidd and pay up to LeBron, but a few games later he decides to leave your team anyway…oh yeah, and he doesn't bother to pay you back, so don't think of buying that new throwback in the store.

This is life in NBA Street V3, a game where ankle breakers are king and King James might rip you off like he's the Nino Brown of Rucker, leaving your team to pick up those Pookie pieces.

This is the new Street Challenge mode, a game where you have 70 days, each offering a variety of events, to build up your character, his wardrobe, and most importantly, his rep. Each day offers various challenges, and the choices you make effects everything from your character to your team, because once you choose an event, you can't go back and play the others, you simply move on to the next day. So in the beginning of the week, you might sign up for a big tournament of Friday, but when Friday rolls around you find out Isiah Thomas is playing 3-on-3 at Garland Park in a Trick Point Challenge. Ignore Isiah and you might never see him in the game again, but if you skip the tournament you forfeit all of the Street Points you submitted, not to mention the outrage some of your teammates might feel as they could care less about the former Bad Boy.


Depending on your decisions, and of course, your performance throughout the week, you'll be updated on your team's morale, and if your team isn't happy, they won't play well for you, so you're going to have to juggle personal gain (playing Isiah) versus keeping your players happy (rotate them in, play in big tournaments).

Throughout Street Challenge you'll encounter a variety of tournaments, from single and double elimination to round robin, along with different skills competitions, including one of the craziest slam dunk contests you've ever seen (more on that later).

The cool thing about the Street Challenge is everyone will make different decisions, so you might find out how a friend unlocked a rare item then go back in and play through a second time to get it yourself. You also don't have to play through all 70 days as you can choose a shorter 35 day schedule, and while your overall rep will be lower at the end, you will still participate in plenty of challenges and have the ability to unlock the legends along with the new courts. And if you earn enough Street Points, you can simply purchase any legend or court you weren't able to unlock.

Increase your skills to true baller status and you'll even be rewarded with a nickname that represents your specialty skill set. This was one of the cooler aspects of NBA Street Vol. 2, as I still am known throughout the office as "Runway".

But a more in depth career mode wouldn't be anything without the gameplay to back it up, and NBA Street V3's enhanced tricks, dunks and Gamebreakers are so slick, so ill, I'd be shocked if there was a better sports game released in '05.

You heard of calling shots. Looks like I just called mine.

The biggest change to the gameplay is using the new Trick Stick, AKA the right analog stick. In previous versions of the game, you hit a trick button to pull off a move, and that was that. In V3, there is a different move for every 45-degree angle of the stick, making 8 moves for eight directions. Hit the stick in one of the directions while holding down one of the three modifiers (L1, R1, etc.), and you have a whole new set of moves, giving you over 30 behind the back, between the legs, off the head-type moves at your fingertips. And each move is finally assigned a specific direction, so you know that when you hit L1 while flicking right on the Trick Stick, you're going to humiliate your opponent with a move where you flip the ball under your kicked-up leg followed by a quick spin that knocks your opponent on his back called "Through the Basement". The more tricks you pull in a row, the higher the combo and more Gamebreaker points you'll collect. There is even a bar at the top of the screen that shows you what moves you've pulled off in your combo, displaying the arrow moves almost like a Tekken tutorial. It's a great way to not only string moves together, but to learn exactly what you've pressed if you're more into button mashing than X's and O's.


Once your Gamebreaker meter is filled, that's when the eyes will pop out of your head. For the first time, Gamebreakers are fully controllable. As you drive to the hoop and activate the Gamebreaker, your player launches up into the air. Once airborne, you use the right analog stick to perform up to four tricks while flying toward the rim. You might roll the ball across your shoulder, go between the legs, around your back, then toss it up into the air and catch it again all before you reach the iron. You can then dunk the ball to finish the play off, or go for more by passing the ball back to your teammate who leaps up behind you. You can then pull off four moves with your teammate and dunk…or pass the ball back to the third member of your team for four more moves and the finish. The player who completes the play even gets a little solo dance time and his autograph is written across the screen to let everyone know just who is the man. You can add up to four points to your score with the ultimate three-man Gamebreaker, changing the course of the game due to your ball-handling brilliance.

But just because you activate a Gamebreaker doesn't mean you'll make it. The more players involved, the harder it is to pull off, and there have been plenty of times where I've gotten greedy and got hung on the rim, my player falling to the ground while my opponent is already pushing the ball the other direction.

There are no more Double Gamebreakers, replaced instead by these user-controlled one, two, or three player Gamebreakers, and it's a change to the game for the better.

Another area that's seen a dramatic improvement is the graphics engine. 80% of the animations in the game have been rewritten and you can definitely see a difference in the flow, responsiveness and style represented in every move. Speaking of style, Hype Williams was brought to the studio to help with the camera work and overall visuals of V3, and the game looks like a hip-hop video meets outdoor club, each court featuring distinct lighting and flair, becoming a part of the game and not just a backdrop. On the court, the player models are without a doubt the best of any basketball game I've ever seen. From the animated baggy shorts to the authentic player faces to the way a vicious dunk shakes the backboard to the point of almost coming down, there has never been a hoops game that looks this good while moving this fast.


Outside of the regular game, the feature most people are going to be interested in is the Slam Dunk contest. Think an over-the-top version of NBA Live's dunk mode, where you can bring out props to jump over like tables and ball racks while pulling off multiple moves in the air similar to the Gamebreaker dunks. You can shine the spotlight on yourself for added pressure and points, and three judges will be out to score your creativity. Up to eight players can enter the contest, bouncing the ball off the backboard and defying gravity for some of the craziest dunks you've ever seen: J-Rich kicks the ball up in the air, grabs it while spinning around, goes between the legs, then drops the ball and kicks it back up again…while in the air…and finishes guerrilla style with two hands. Amazing.


To top things off, the game will also feature some of the best online features of any sports game to date. Online dunk contests, World Challenge (created ballers, created courts and character progression. Players ranked by reputation), NBA Challenge (NBA teams only), and Exhibition (non-ranked) games will all be available. All games are two players only, but the ability to not only play dunk contests but create ballers and courts online and then challenge people from across the country with your squad is something people have been looking forward to for a long time.

NBA Street V3 is everything a sequel should be. The game builds on what was popular while adding and rewriting everything that could've been done better in previous versions. It's one of those games where the producers are actually learning from their mistakes instead of just throwing out any old follow-up knowing they can make money off the brand. This game is money, but it's not the brand, it's the blend of action, style, and awe you have playing it that puts it head and Reeboks above the competition.

And you know what, I haven't even told you everything about the game.

Check back to IGN Sports in January as we premiere the Diary of Jrob Andsteal as I take my created baller from fake to flash, from zero to hero in a span of 70 days.

Hook Mitchell watch out. A new street legend is about to be born…
-- Jon Robinson