NBA Ballers: Chosen One

Stop me if you heard this one: You’re a talented baller who grew up playing hoops in the grimy basketball courts in your neighborhood and the only thing that really matters is showing your stuff and proving you’ve got what it takes to go pro. It’s essentially the setup for the first NBA Ballers game that made its appearance a long while back on the original Xbox and made street ball fun and stylish. The series certainly had its ups and downs since then but on the next-generation console, we were expecting a game that pushed the series forward in a good way. Sadly, NBA Ballers: Chosen One for the Xbox 360 doesn’t do that at all.

The game still features a Story Mode with the same unknown-baller-playing-his-way-to-the-top scenario and you can always just pick up and start playing a one-on-one with the likes of cover athlete Dwight Howard. You can still create your own baller and pit him up against real NBA pro in the other game modes that involve anything from a one-on-one to a two-on-two match. You can play a Ballers Shootout Challenge (which is a basic jump shot challenge) and a 3 Point Challenge (it’s 3 point shots or nothing). The game even has online multiplayer as well as a decent offline multiplayer match that pits you up against three friends at once.

Story Mode takes your created player through a number of chapters that have up to three main challenges each. You start off by going up against top street players and work your way up the ladder to challenge actual NBA superstars such as Kobe Bryant or LeBron James. The story, told through animated cut scenes as well as narrated through Sports Center-styled video featuring rapping legend Chuck D doing analysis. Chuck D does a marvelous job as presenter and he even handles the commentary front during a game. Your goal, of course, is not only to go up against NBA superstars but also earn much respect from everyone else. In this game, in order to earn all the bling and ladies you’ll have to show off your skills in the flashy courts.

Of course, the charm of NBA Ballers has always been the fact that NBA regulations are tossed out the window and the courts in this game are glitzy penthouse courts only the super wealthy or, say, Shaquille O’Neil can only afford to play on when not playing in an arena or stadium. It’s on these courts where players show off stunt dunks that are quite flashy and steals that would normally get a player tossed out of the game. Chosen One brings back the moves like Super Block and Super Juke but this time around they don’t have the same flash as previous games in the series. Even the Off the Hizzle 2 Ally Oop doesn’t have the same charm anymore.

The game continues the leveling up of your player so you can perform different types of Super Shots or interesting dunks like the Shut ‘Em Down Super Dunk move. These moves will certainly help when going up against power players or NBA Superstars such as Carmelo Anthony who - in the game - can rush past your defense and make 3 point shots faster than you can blink. There’s also a combo system in the game but it just doesn’t work the way it should. The combo system features Act-A-Fool combo where you can clown the opposition via button icons that appear on screen. When pulled off correctly it will leave your opponent wondering what just happened while you rush past them to score without much resistance. Then there’s Back-In Mode that, well, works better on your friends than with the opponent AI.

In short, Chosen One has the moves but it just doesn’t implement them as well as it should have and the result is a basketball game that makes the competition a bore rather than an exciting exhibition. Your “phenom” rarely gets a good taste of the sweet sweet Superstar lifestyle and even if you do get a following your sideline buddy rather pass the ball to Dwight Howard than you. At least the online multiplayer runs smoothly and you can play a solid 2-on-2 game with your friend offline using any of the 80 or so NBA stars in the lineup.

On the graphics front, Chosen One looks decent but certainly not up nearly as impressive as it could have been on the Xbox 360. The player models look good and many of them do look like the real NBA Superstars while others are a miss. Some of the environments don’t look very good either and look as though they would feel right at home on the original Xbox. Also, the crowd of fans that have gathered to watch the game look a bit off in this game as well.

As I mentioned above, casting Chuck D as the announcer and commentator was a great idea and he never gets too repetitive. He’s actually an excellent commentator and brings his own brand of commentary to the game or player introductions. The music is also good if you like the hip-hop and rap without the lyrics. The tunes are purely instrumental and actually very catchy. The rest of the sound is just Ok so don’t expect to hear a lot of noise during a game with the exception of other players taunting you.

NBA Ballers: Chosen One for the Xbox 360 is not without its charms but when it comes to the basketball action it just doesn’t have what it takes to be a fun sports title. While some aspects of Story Mode have its moments, it just remains to be a repetitive basketball game that lacks style even with the numerous NBA superstars in the game. Sorry, Midway, but this isn’t the b-ball lifestyle fans will truly love and should skip altogether.

Gameplay: 6.0
Chosen One doesn’t provide real drama in the story department and challenging stars like Kobe Bryant in a snazzy private airplane dock loses its charm after a few rounds. The other game modes add more of the same although the online portion works really good.

Graphics: 7.5
The game looks decent and many of the NBA Superstars look just the way you expect them to look with some slight exceptions (Shaq just doesn’t look right). There’s some crisp video tossed in that looks straight out of Sports Center. The backgrounds and crowds look awful, though.

Sound: 7.5
The music is instrumental and actually very catchy if you like good rhythm tracks. Chuck D was a brilliant choice to provide the commentary and he does a great job throughout.

Difficulty: Medium/Hard
Playing against the Superstars will really provide quite a challenge and some of the other nobody ballers can also bring their game. Story Mode has limited continues so you’ll often find yourself replaying entire chapters.

Concept: 6.0
A rising player you design yourself challenges ballers for fame, money and all the glitz NBA Superstars experience on a daily bases. This is basically the setup of the game and while we’ve been playing games like this for years, Chosen One could have been different and fails.

Multiplayer: 7.0
Online you can bring your game by challenging others and it runs at a steady framerate without much trouble at all. You can also play against three other friends offline for a little two-on-two action.

Overall: 6.0
I like to Act-A-Fool on this virtual court but unlike The Matrix’s Neo, this game is certainly not the Chosen One. NBA: Ballers: Chosen One has all the right stars but when it comes to the game, it lacks the stylish action that made this series such a blast to play. Here’s hoping next year is a lot better.