NBA Playgrounds: Review
Saber Interactive's indie basketball game, NBA Playgrounds is the most recent basketball game to come out that has shied away from the traditional simulator such as 2k or Live for that sorely missed arcade flair of NBA Jams. Touting the signature 2v2 match up and a splash of NBA Streets, Playgrounds is a breathe of fresh air, but sometimes even the air can be a little bit stale.
NBA Playgrounds has been stated to be somewhat of a spiritual successor of sorts to the aforementioned games, NBA Jams and NBA Streets. Playgrounds does bring back the caricature-esque NBA superstars with their own unique art style to further embrace the arcade-y feel. Overall the game can be fun, shooting, stealing, shoving, and dunking as you aim to fill up your Lottery Bar to get one 6 possible power-ups to help shift the game in your favor. Yet even with those elements done quite well, some decent music, the lack of hype the announcers in Playgrounds makes the game feel a bit disjointed.
The announcers in the game, sound like they're professional commentators who were just quickly picked up to speak on the game and it shows. The announcers in NBA Streets and NBA Jams is what made those games amazing and also kept the "downtime" hype and full of energy. Partner this with the pretty stagnant background atmosphere and the game can be a bit of a bore just from those elements alone.
Playgrounds' gameplay is fast and can at times get hectic. The tutorial game you play is helpful but there's still things that are left untold and kind of tell the gamer, "hey we gave you the basics, you have to figure out the rest on your own" and that can be a negative in some regards. Shooting in Playgrounds can be difficult at times. It's hard to tell if your shot will hit or miss and then even if it hits, will it be a Normal shot or PERFECT that comes with an extra point on the basket. Trying to gauge shots can be frustrating as you may feel you let the ball go at the right time, but end up with getting an EARLY, LATE, or just a basic shot worth either 2 or 3 points. Though frustrating it motivates players to learn their players and be able to know when to release to let go for that +1 when you need it.
The Lottery Bar feels like an homage to the "On Fire" and "Gamebreaker" systems of Street and Jams. This bar is where the magic happens, filling up this bar allows you to gain access to 1 of 6 special abilities for an allotted period of time. Filling up the bar for beginners can be very confusing as there will be times you will do something and get a nice portion of your Lottery Bar filled; then other times it's minuscule. Players also have to be mindful of shoving as too shoves drain your bar leaving the opponent to have the upper hand. So this requires players to manage their offense strategies or end up still at the losing end. Aside from losing bar, shoving drains majority of an athlete's stamina, which then requires a wait to full recovery before another shove can be attempted. Sadly missing shoves and running out of stamina, will leave a reckless player vulnerable to steals and blocks, as well as the inability to dunk. So this system requires players to be much more strategic in their play.
Playgrounds roster has 150 ballplayers to unlock and play, ranging from basic players to Legendary players like LeBron James, Clyde Drexler, and Stephen Curry. Expanding your roster is simple, players play games and level up their Player Account. Once you hit the threshold you are given a player pack, which holds 5 random cards. There are Silver and Gold packs, naturally Gold packs provide a higher chance to earn Legendary cards, and Legendary Card Players have unique skills. All players also have their own progression system in which they gain experience via duplicate cards or from using them in matches. Players have three tiers, Bronze, Silver, and Gold, upon leveling you're told that the player has gained new skills, but being that there's no way to know what they are, this leads to misleading information and frustration.
NBA Playgrounds missed a big opportunity with the really small "single player" mode, Tournament Mode. Tournament has you play a series of 4 matches at each of the 6 venues. You complete challenges for each match, which help level your Player Account quicker. Tournament mode feels a bit gimmicky but also has some really weird difficulty scaling issues, as the shift from Game 1 to Game 4 is really quite massive, and can really make players very frustrated. As you complete the Tournament, you unlock the 6 venues, the power-ups, Online Mode, and other basketballs, which all can be used in Exhibition Mode. Being that there's nothing left after you complete the 24 matches, you must either play custom games on Exhibition or test your skills against other players in Ranked online matches. Online isn't too bad, but at times lag can become a very serious burden as lag can lead to missed shots, delayed steals/shoves, and at times affect the shot clock. Being that Tournament Mode has so much revenue left untouched, they will hopefully add in more venues to play. Or maybe have special events that players will be able to interact, because right now those who wish to play offline are quite limited to just 2 modes of play.
A very major issue is the vibration control. Vibrations automatically triggers when you dunk, shove, get blocked, knocked down, or elbowed which is a jarring experience especially on your first game in or in the midst of tense moments. Currently there's no option to turn it on or off, which is an unacceptable of a oversight on the developers end, let's see if this shall be fixed.
In closing, NBA Playgrounds doesn't claim to be the next great basketball game. It just set out to be a fun arcade style one, and it does deliver on that very well. The game as a whole does feel well put together, but yet still feels to be missing some pieces. It is an enjoyable experience, but let's see what Saber Interactive has planned for this title in future updates.
Enjoy our release video [via Blerdy Boys YouTube]:
[Review of NBA Playgrounds was played on Xbox One]
Written By: Rashaad "FhaTe" Johnson
NBA Playgrounds has been stated to be somewhat of a spiritual successor of sorts to the aforementioned games, NBA Jams and NBA Streets. Playgrounds does bring back the caricature-esque NBA superstars with their own unique art style to further embrace the arcade-y feel. Overall the game can be fun, shooting, stealing, shoving, and dunking as you aim to fill up your Lottery Bar to get one 6 possible power-ups to help shift the game in your favor. Yet even with those elements done quite well, some decent music, the lack of hype the announcers in Playgrounds makes the game feel a bit disjointed.
The announcers in the game, sound like they're professional commentators who were just quickly picked up to speak on the game and it shows. The announcers in NBA Streets and NBA Jams is what made those games amazing and also kept the "downtime" hype and full of energy. Partner this with the pretty stagnant background atmosphere and the game can be a bit of a bore just from those elements alone.
Playgrounds' gameplay is fast and can at times get hectic. The tutorial game you play is helpful but there's still things that are left untold and kind of tell the gamer, "hey we gave you the basics, you have to figure out the rest on your own" and that can be a negative in some regards. Shooting in Playgrounds can be difficult at times. It's hard to tell if your shot will hit or miss and then even if it hits, will it be a Normal shot or PERFECT that comes with an extra point on the basket. Trying to gauge shots can be frustrating as you may feel you let the ball go at the right time, but end up with getting an EARLY, LATE, or just a basic shot worth either 2 or 3 points. Though frustrating it motivates players to learn their players and be able to know when to release to let go for that +1 when you need it.
The Lottery Bar feels like an homage to the "On Fire" and "Gamebreaker" systems of Street and Jams. This bar is where the magic happens, filling up this bar allows you to gain access to 1 of 6 special abilities for an allotted period of time. Filling up the bar for beginners can be very confusing as there will be times you will do something and get a nice portion of your Lottery Bar filled; then other times it's minuscule. Players also have to be mindful of shoving as too shoves drain your bar leaving the opponent to have the upper hand. So this requires players to manage their offense strategies or end up still at the losing end. Aside from losing bar, shoving drains majority of an athlete's stamina, which then requires a wait to full recovery before another shove can be attempted. Sadly missing shoves and running out of stamina, will leave a reckless player vulnerable to steals and blocks, as well as the inability to dunk. So this system requires players to be much more strategic in their play.
Playgrounds roster has 150 ballplayers to unlock and play, ranging from basic players to Legendary players like LeBron James, Clyde Drexler, and Stephen Curry. Expanding your roster is simple, players play games and level up their Player Account. Once you hit the threshold you are given a player pack, which holds 5 random cards. There are Silver and Gold packs, naturally Gold packs provide a higher chance to earn Legendary cards, and Legendary Card Players have unique skills. All players also have their own progression system in which they gain experience via duplicate cards or from using them in matches. Players have three tiers, Bronze, Silver, and Gold, upon leveling you're told that the player has gained new skills, but being that there's no way to know what they are, this leads to misleading information and frustration.
NBA Playgrounds missed a big opportunity with the really small "single player" mode, Tournament Mode. Tournament has you play a series of 4 matches at each of the 6 venues. You complete challenges for each match, which help level your Player Account quicker. Tournament mode feels a bit gimmicky but also has some really weird difficulty scaling issues, as the shift from Game 1 to Game 4 is really quite massive, and can really make players very frustrated. As you complete the Tournament, you unlock the 6 venues, the power-ups, Online Mode, and other basketballs, which all can be used in Exhibition Mode. Being that there's nothing left after you complete the 24 matches, you must either play custom games on Exhibition or test your skills against other players in Ranked online matches. Online isn't too bad, but at times lag can become a very serious burden as lag can lead to missed shots, delayed steals/shoves, and at times affect the shot clock. Being that Tournament Mode has so much revenue left untouched, they will hopefully add in more venues to play. Or maybe have special events that players will be able to interact, because right now those who wish to play offline are quite limited to just 2 modes of play.
A very major issue is the vibration control. Vibrations automatically triggers when you dunk, shove, get blocked, knocked down, or elbowed which is a jarring experience especially on your first game in or in the midst of tense moments. Currently there's no option to turn it on or off, which is an unacceptable of a oversight on the developers end, let's see if this shall be fixed.
In closing, NBA Playgrounds doesn't claim to be the next great basketball game. It just set out to be a fun arcade style one, and it does deliver on that very well. The game as a whole does feel well put together, but yet still feels to be missing some pieces. It is an enjoyable experience, but let's see what Saber Interactive has planned for this title in future updates.
Enjoy our release video [via Blerdy Boys YouTube]:
[Review of NBA Playgrounds was played on Xbox One]
Written By: Rashaad "FhaTe" Johnson
Comments
Post a Comment