Fantasy sports have changed the way you watch your favorite teams, especially when one of the players you need to score or grab a board on your fantasy squad just happens to be battling down low against the team whose jersey you are currently wearing. Who do you root for, the team you've followed all your life or the fantasy player who can win you some scratch? In NBA 2K7, the worlds of fantasy and videogames help ease that burden, at least on the cyber court, as your fantasy team is now your team, so you no longer have to root for the wrong jersey. That's because NBA 2K7 features an online fantasy draft with up to 30 players, enabling every team to be controlled by a gamer in the league. Then, just like any fantasy draft, you go through the selection process and can play an online season anywhere from 8-82 games in length. And thanks to special admin powers, if someone doesn't show for a game, that game can be simmed so the league isn't held up, and if someone makes a habit out of ditching games like AI ditches practice, the admin can boot them to the curb and replace the team owner with someone more responsible.
But the online component is only one area that makes NBA 2K7 stand out like Yao Ming at a midget convention. Simply turn on the game and you're already in a groove thanks to Planet Rock bouncing in the background and almost instantaneous loading. I don't think I've ever seen a sports game go from team selection to inside the arena so fast. And it's not a second too soon as once the game hits the floor, things are looking incredibly smooth down to the fact that every arena in the NBA has been modeled for the game (as opposed to only four last season).
But the arena's aren't the only things looking good as there are over 200 variations of jumpers in the game with players like Shawn Marion having four to five different looking shots, from his ugly three to runners and leans. They were even ready to get J.J. Redick's smooth shot in the game from his motion-capture day just a few weeks ago. Individual players will have special dunk packages, that way you won't see LeBron James hang on the rim after a dunk. Every jam The King throws down is from his real-life repertoire. This also ties in to player tendencies throughout the game. In past 2K basketball titles, you'd never see an AI-controlled Dirk step out and shoot a three because if he did that, that meant every power forward in the game would need the ability to do the same thing. In 2K7, players are individuals, and they have the special moves and skills to match.
Down in the post, the game has also been enhanced so that players like Melo, who might need more space to spin off a player, can have his moves, while Shaq can use the Shot Stick to power over cowering defenders in his way with a move set specific to Shaq Fu. Players are now rated on their ability to back down opponents, while at the same time defenders have the ability to put a body on players and fight for position in the paint, taking away position before they even get the ball.
And that's not the only improvement made on the defensive end of the court. Blocks have been completely rewritten to include players catching up from behind and pulling a Tayshaun Prince, swiping the ball out of nowhere and changing the complexion of the game. In addition, you'll see plenty of deflected passes, loose balls, and players diving all over the court for that important possession rolling out of bounds.
In terms of sliders, look for a section called My NBA that will enable you to adjust anything and everything about the way teams and players play. Tempo, crashing the boards, help D, passing the ball with flair, clogging the passing lanes, and whether or not the team is prone to committing fouls are just a few from the team sliders. On the player front, you can edit the way they play in the post, how successful they are out of the triple threat, how often they gamble on defense, whether or not they like to play the passing lanes...the list goes on and on. You can even edit signature shots and post move sets, so if you want Allen Iverson to shoot like Vince Carter for some weird reason, now the choice is yours. More valuable are the post moves as there are 12 sets available, including a grounded move list for big men who have trouble getting air that features the deadly as ever sky hook.
The ability to customize extends to the new Create-A-Player model as well. Using the same face manipulating technology as games like Oblivion (minus the lizards) there are 80 sliders for the face alone including cheeks, nose, neck, age lines and crows feet that will appear on your player's faces as they age throughout the Association.
So if you want a cross-eyed and wrinkled white boy with a high top fade, the choice is up to you (although someone should probably take that choice away if that's really the player you want to create).
24/7: Next
Create-A-Player comes into play most significantly for the completely revamped 24/7 streetball mode. Turn on 24/7 and you see your character talking with his two friends, one looking straight like Turtle from Entourage while the other one is a clone of Carlton from Fresh Prince (I'm not making this up, he's even wearing a sweater on the court). You look out on the court and Shaq is out there practicing his free throws. You go up and jock the big man and he brushes you off, kicking off the mode with a free throw contest between you and the Heat center, and frankly, if you can't beat Shaq at a free throw contest, you don't deserve the kicks on your feet.
24/7 isn't about player progression, though, as you leave with the same ratings you start with. It's more of a quick, 10-hour journey as you play through a series of challenges while learning new moves. Beat Steve Nash and he'll teach you how to perform a one-button alley-oop. Beat J-Rich and he'll show you how to throw the ball off your opponent's face (sorry Boozer). The ultimate goal is to make it to the final Streetball tournament at Rucker Park and challenge the likes of Bird and Magic. Throughout the mode you'll play a variety of games, from three-on-three to one-on-one all the way up to five-on-five as you compete with a tatted-up nemesis named Brad who wants to beat you out for that spot at Rucker. What's funny is all the street moves and tricks they added into this mode (as well as Street mode that lets you quickly play a street game with NBA stars) are performed so slick, this feature alone is far superior to what you'll find in stand alone games like And 1 (I'm not sure if that says more about the success of 2K or the tradgedy that is And 1, but that's another story).
The Association
The other big returning feature in the series is The Association, giving you the ability to run your franchise either the smart way or the Isiah way as you try to bring home the title (or of course, run your team into the ground while at the same time giving the Bulls your top picks for a guy with a heart problem). The cool new addition is the ability to play through The Association with up to 8 players. People have been begging for multi-player franchise modes and 2K Sports delivers. Three-team trades have also been added to the game to help your team make a deal you wouldn't otherwise be able to pull off due to talent/salary cap issues.
But don't think you can play Kobe 48 minutes a game and that will lead to a Lakers championship as progressive fatigue has been added into the mix. The older the player, the slower their recovery time, so if you go out and try to sign Mutombo, he might get you some blocks, but if you play him on back-to-back nights, you might see the big man break down before your eyes. This really makes you think about your strategy, especially if you're looking to score 81 as opposed to simply winning the game and giving your scorer a rest. Fatigue also works into practice as you have to balance the merits of working your team and trying to improve their shooting as opposed to giving them a rest and hoping to come out strong for your next game.
The presentation of The Association has been completely reworked to provide a cleaner look along with providing all of the pertinent info right at your fingertips. Every baller has his own player card, complete with stats, info, and even draft status just so you can have a good laugh when you see Joe Smith with that #1 overall pick. There is a ton of knowledge to be learned about every player as you can compare your baller's attributes against the league average for his position, really coming in handy during the free agent signing period. You can also look up the last six weeks of box scores for every player as well as his tendencies against the league. As you progress through a few years of the mode, this info becomes more and more important as you won't be able to simply get by on your NBA knowledge as players in the game will progress, or in some cases show some serious decline as time goes by.
Stat heads will be happy to know the simulation engine has been rewritten as well providing more accurate results. Last year, every sim was based on player ratings. Now, thanks to the power of the 360, every single possession is simulated, as teams try to match-up and run plays while the computer spits out the results.
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