New Street Challenge

[LVradio]

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.

Courtesy Jon Robinson IGN.com

*EDIT* Sorry RAC, I didn't see you had already posted this...oh well

[LVradio]

funny thing is, is that the writer is anticipating it to be the best sports game of 2005, along with a few other people from other gaming sites.

Between Fight Night 2 and NBA Street V3, EA has really impressed some of these sports gaming writers. Hopefully that will translate to incredible games. If appearance is an indicator then we shouldn't be disappointed.

[LVradio]

yes...EA has really stepped up early as they new lineup is looking very promising...