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Published
by EA Sports
Developed by EA Sports BIG
Release Date: Out Now
Price: £39.99
NBA
Street v3, an introduction.
NBA
Street was released back in 2001 and was an instant success.
The game offered crazy arcade style 3-on-3 basketball that
was not only very enjoyable but also very accessible to
those who wouldn't be interested in the sport. The over
the top moves and the special gamebreaker moves certainly
proved to be very popular and it was no surprise when two
years later a sequel was released that was loved by gamers
just as much. Since then of course we've seen other games
take on a 'street' variety such as NFL Street and FIFA Street
which is a testament to how successful the first two NBA
Street games were. Now we have the third game in the series,
can it be another success?
What's
the game about?
NBA
Street V3 essentially builds on the success of the previous
two games and takes the whole experience a step further.
Game modes include Pick Up Game (exhibition), Street Challenge,
Dunk Contest and Practice. The heart of the game is the
Street Challenge where you create a player, get to customise
one of the included courts to call your own and then pick
your own team. You'll play in pick-up games, tournaments
and dunk contests before taking on the NBA Street League
in a bid to become a streetball legend. Along the way you'll
earn rep points and trick points as well as being able to
recruit other ballers (you'll begin with casual players
and end up being able to select NBA players) to increase
the strength of your team. Like all the other 'Street' games
from EA you have a Gamebreaker gauge that will fill and
once filled, it will allow you to pull off crazy moves that
look stunning.
What's
good about the game?
NBA
Street V3 sees the introduction of the trick stick. Moving
the right analogue stick in any direction allows your players
to perform stylish tricks. When used in conjunction with
the turbo button the tricks become more advanced and will
earn you a higher score. What I really like about the trick
stick feature is that it makes it very easy to pull off
the fancy moves and this significantly reduces the learning
curve for the game. Two or three player combo dunks are
also possible and it's quite impressive to witness. The
Street Challenge mode (which has 3 difficulty levels) is
impressive and the variety of tasks you'll have to complete
mean you'll be enjoying the mode for quite a while before
you're done. The dunk contests can be amusing as you can
use items to jump over to make the whole thing look more
elaborate. There's also plenty of unlockable items here
to add extra incentive to keep playing the game, although
the quality of the game will see to that. Should you own
a GameCube you'll be pleased to learn that a special Nintendo
team consisting of Luigi, Mario and Peach has been included.
What's
not so good about the game?
Actually
there's very little to complain about. I suppose us Europeans
can moan about the omission of online play for both the
PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions that our American and Canadian
counterparts have been able to enjoy and there's no denying
it would have been fun to take the game online.
How
does it look?
NBA
Street V3 looks great on both the Xbox and PlayStation 2.
In fact the two versions are practically identical with
the loading times being slightly quicker on the Xbox version.
As with most EA Sports games the presentation is once again
excellent. The character models are slightly exaggerated
in the same way as other 'Street' games and they suit the
mood of the game perfectly. The animations are also exaggerated
and the moves are, as you would expect completely over the
top but it's all totally appropriate to the style of the
game. The courts look good too and they range from professional
arenas to the broken up concrete courts that are really
fit to play on. There's also some pretty snazzy lighting
effects here too, particularly in the dunk contests.
How
deaf gamer friendly is the game?
Whilst
there is some speech in NBA Street V3 that isn't subtitled
(verbal introductions to the games and game commentary)
the game is still fine for deaf gamers. Tutorials have been
included for basic and advanced moves and you'll also find
a collection of tutorials for the dunk contests. These tutorials
are just a small movie clip with the controls that are used
shown on the screen. They contain no speech and therefore
no subtitles are necessary. All of your objectives for the
Street Challenge mode are shown in text so you'll always
know what to do and what score you need to achieve (it varies
from game to game) in order to win.
Final
Thoughts.
NBA
Street V3 is great if you want an arcade style basketball
game with modes to keep you playing for the months ahead.
It's how a game should be in that it's easy to pick up and
play yet challenging and tricky to completely master. The
included tutorials will ensure you'll have no problems in
learning every aspect of the game and as a result you'll
get the full enjoyment from the game with the minimum of
fuss. NBA Street V3 is one of those games that has the potential
to appeal to gamers who wouldn't normally be interested
in basketball games because of it's accessibility and even
if you are a basketball enthusiast you'll love the pick
up and play nature of the game. As we said earlier it's
a shame the online mode has been cut for the European Xbox
and PlayStation 2 versions, but it's still a cracker of
a game and easily the best in the series to date.
Overall
Game Rating: 9.0/10
Deaf
Gamers Classification:
(Click
the letter or here
for details)
Top drawer 3 vs. 3 action that's
both entertaining and enjoyable. Tricks are much easier
to perform with the trick stick and the game as a whole
is delightfully accessible to newcomers to the series. There
are some speech items that are not subtitled but on the
whole there's no real problems.
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