FirstCuts: NBA Ballers: Chosen One Review

Yes, it’s Grand Theft Auto IV day -- and possibly more on that later today since I was one of the sniveling fanboys out at midnight last night to get the game -- but for now, we devote a little time to the latest in urbanized basketball warfare. Yes, it’s NBA Ballers: Chosen One, which dropped for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 one week ago.

No cover curse in effect this season for Ballers, as your cover athlete is none other than Superman Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic. He is headed to the second round of the NBA playoffs. He’s also part of a big cut scene you’ll see when loading up the game. He comes in via helicopter to do battle with Hawks rookie Al Horford (Really? Al Horford? No one else was available?). Howard punks him, and you’ve got to wonder how Horford feels about seeing that over and over again. As it turns out, sometimes life imitates art.

But back to the meat of this title. You’re greeted with a screen that allows you to choose from a variety of game modes -- 1-on-1, 2-on-2, 1-on-1-on-1, Shootout (more later), Practice and 3-Point Challenge. Most of these modes are self-explanatory. Shootout allows you to hit from certain spots on the floor worth varying amounts. At certain times, those point totals double, and hitting from those spots gives you bonus times to take more shots. After a period of unguarded offense, you’ll face off against another baller who will try to defend you. 1-on-1-on-1 is fun, but can be all together annoying if you play with a small guard, and I’ll get into this shortly. You’ve also got the option to jump online and play against other opponents.

Where the game really hopes you’ll stick around is the story mode. Now that isn’t to say street-type titles haven’t had some sort of linear story where you build up your character, but Ballers hopes you’re really interested in hearing Chuck D of Public Enemy talk about you on the NBA TV set. He’s also the emcee at your games, and it was pretty funny to hear him refer to my character by his nickname -- Vanilla -- over and over again. And you can sit and play dress-up with your character as you continue to plod through the game, beating NBA opponents in a variety of challenges from each of the game’s modes previously detailed. It takes the details from previous streetball-style titles to a new level, as is to be expected, in that you progress through a lifestyle from rags to riches as a streetball phenom going up against the NBA’s best.

After a few days of playing the game, I had a hard time settling on how I felt about the trick system of this game versus the NBA Street titles. Midway’s title has a simple system where a combination of the shoulder buttons, combined with the X (on the Xbox 360, anyway) initiates a sequence where you must followed on-screen commands. This is vastly different from trying to button-jam your way through a bunch of moves in Street like you’re playing a fighting game.

But for some of the fun of this title, it’s impossible not to walk away a little annoyed by a few points. I’ll start with something very elemental: the viewing angle for the game. I found myself on the edge of my seat about five minutes into the game, and it wasn’t because of the action; it was because I’m that doofus who thinks if I lean forward in my chair, I’ll be able to see across the court. Alas, even HDTV doesn’t allow for this feature. Try as I might, I couldn’t seem to find any feature that would allow me to change my viewing angle.

Another bother from a presentation standpoint was the use of cut scenes in this game. Cut scenes can be good for a lot of things in video games, for example, after an intense battle in a first-person shooter, you want to catch your breath, so they fill some time with story in a dramatic HD cut scene. However, I do not need a cut scene every time I pull off any sort of “Super” move. As detailed in just about every review you’ll read on this game, you can’t skip ‘em. I tried to button jam through the first few before realizing this. It was like some programmer was a little too proud of their work and made sure we’d all be forced to watch it over and over.

My other bone of contention could be seemingly minor, but it’s worth mentioning. Whenever I play any game like this, one that allows you to create a guy in your own image, I do just that. Now, I’m 5-9, 140 lbs. I’m hardly built for down-low battles in streetball. So a word to the wise: think big, think strong, and worry about lot less about the finesse elements of your character’s game when you’re designing before entering story mode. It just seemed like the game was disproportionately weighed toward the bigs, except in the instances where you were going through shooting contests.

The game is fine, it’s not great, it’s not horrible, it’s just average. All of this brings me to a larger point: Who is the person responsible for these games? I realize, in this case, it’s Midway, but I mean it in a larger sense.

Despite the different trick systems in the game – and the fact that Ballers even seems to take a swipe at Street by not allowing you to goaltend and having Chuck D shot “This isn’t Street! – they all sort of feel the same in the end. One way or another, you’re hitting a sequence of semi-random buttons and ultimately the games feel shallow. Whether it’s this game, or one of the other street-style titles, I’m wondering if companies actually make money. I feel the way about these games that I do about EA’s Head Coach franchise: it ought to be wrapped into the sport’s larger titles like Madden, NBA Live, etc. Now, that’s the tricky part for Midway. They don’t do a big NBA franchise; this is it.

Although it had some high (and low) points, I come away feeling the same I do about most of these titles. It’s a better rent than a buy, unless you find yourself enamored with the smaller details of the story mode.

NBA Ballers: Chosen One is available now for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 for $59.99.

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.