NBA Ballers: Chosen One

about game on May 13, 2008

The Chosen One brings us those same solid fundamentals but seems more concerned with amping up the hype and non-hoops frills than enhancing the actual gameplay experience. The story is solid enough, with NBA stars and a group of street ballers coming together in a hunt for, well... the Chosen One, the next great hardwood hero. At the center of this mode is your created character, competing in a televised tourney hosted by former Public Enemy frontman Chuck D.

Create-a-player executes its job well enough, with personalized appearance options, the routine attribute-allocation exercise and stock styles to chose from. Play your game and watch skills build accordingly. Serve up a ton of Spalding burgers and you'll be Dr. Doom on defense. Dunk with reckless abandon and your character's hang time will need a runway for future landings. This system is solid enough, but us old-school gamers hate to give up control in these matters. Maybe we don't want all our rating points going to dunk... why not just let gamers build their guy as they see fit? Either way, eventually your dude will be a devastating mix between Shaq and MJ. And in a one-on-one game, that's all that matters.