Nba Inside Drive 2000 - Microsoft
Release Date: Early August Pc Specs: P2-266 64Mb 4Mb-3dcard
Loading Times: Very Quick Playtesting Time: 4 Hrs
From the moment you load this basketball game up, it's well designed and helpful interface makes it easy for you to get going. It has a more simulation feel to it than arcade, so if you were a big fan of Nba Jam and just want to sit down and mess around, you'll be disappointed by this. There's a large selection of teams, all true to real life, and the players even look like their real life counterparts.. vaguely. The default settings are for a 48 minute game, so this one takes a while. You can change just about all the settings, and can play up to four players on the same team on one computer, using two gamepads, a keyboard and a mouse.
Graphics: Pretty good. The players are well drawn and realistic, and although the polygon count isn't very high, the players are incredibly well animated, in fact this game has the best sprite animation I've seen to date. Play is seamless, even when the ball goes out and the ref gets involved. In fact, you can be doing pretty much anything, anywhere, and the players will get the ball where it's supposed to be. As you take penalty shots at the basket, your opponents follow the ball with their eyes and cast anxious glances in your general direction. The on court reflections are also a nice touch, though the crowd has been poorly done to increase the frame rate.
Sound: Great. The commentary is superb, seamless and even funny at times, though it's hard to know what they're going on about unless you're really into basketball. It adds so much atmosphere to the game. Unfortunately there's not all that much variety in it, after a few hours you begin to hear some of the same lines. The sound effects are incredibly realistic, down to how your team gets cheered when you score at home and a few claps when you score away. What else can I say?
Plot: This game is a simulation, there isn't one. There is a league mode however, where you can manage your team and create your own little story...
Action: Games are fast and exciting, but just don't attain that arcade feel, even on 'arcade' mode, with most of the rules turned off. The standard game has way too many rules... If you don't know them you'll find yourself doing something wrong every two seconds, which gets annoying. There are too many buttons as well, about 10 you're supposed to use in total, half of them I still don't have a clue what they do even after reading the descriptions. Still, the game is so realistic no matter how much you hate the controls, you'll still find yourself drawn into the incredible atmosphere of the game.
Rating: 7/10 - This isl the most realistic basketball game I've seen yet, with plenty of options to keep you happy. Could have been better though... unless you're a big fan of simulations.
