So, I picked up this game from RedBox over the weekend. Here are my thoughts.
For starters, I should say that I am NOT and NBA fan in any way. I haven't been in years. I grew up loving it, but somewhere along the line the league became more street ball than basketball and I really haven't been able to restore that interest. Recently though, I've been thinking of giving it another shot.. so I decided to try this one out. It sounds silly, but this game may be the thing that gets me back.
This game is phenomenal. There are many people that don't get into sports games.. for a variety of reasons. Among sports fans, one of the primary issues is that one mode in a game shines, while the rest is bland. This game doe not suffer from that. I've spent the most time in "My Player", where you create a player and guide him through the NBA Draft and his career. Outside of Sony's MLB The Show, there isn't a better RPG element to a sports game out there. You earn XP by completing tasks and basic performance (points, assists, steals, etc.). You also can earn them by making good basketball decisions like boxing out, making a good pass and even making a good foul. It really causes you to learn the game and play an all around game. This mode is going to take many hours from me. These points are then used to upgrade your skills and also unlock special abilities.
Then there are the "Legends" games, featuring: Jordan, Bird, Magic, Dr. J, and several others, where you play games using these players (and there teams) to re-create great moments in there career. The detail in this mode is awesome. The graphics are retro to the time period, and even the camera quality matches the era. 80's games have a more washed out color and older games are in pure black and white. The commentary in the mode is phenomenal, as they give you tons of detail on not only the legend involved, but all the other past players involved in the games.
Other modes I have yet to get into include the "Association" mode, which is you typical franchise mode and online.. there is also an "Online Association" where you can have an online league with your buddies.
Overall, if you are a basketball fan.. try this one out. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. The game play feels so smooth and the presentation feels more like an actual TV experience than any other game I've played (they even do promos for other games).