NBA Inside Drive 2004

NBA Inside Drive 2004 functions exactly like last year's game in terms of modes of play, with one large exception. This means you can play a robust and fun multi-season career mode, exhibition games against the computer or friends (you can even play friends in System Link, though that's pretty much a waste unless you get 7 other people together for 4 on 4 gaming), and a bare-bones playoff mode. Of course, the major addition is online play, in both basic Xbox Live form and XSN Sports league and tournament action. This was a sorely missing feature in the 2003 version, only given a bit of a reprieve because the game was so good offline. XBL play obviously adds replay for those into the online thing, and gives it something to go head on with Sega's ESPN NBA Basketball other than offline features.

Season mode is still the most in-depth playmode, with all kinds of good stuff, from solid stat tracking, awards, transactions by CPU controlled teams (and not just with you, they're quite active with themselves), to a player-performance system for created ballers similar to the NFL Fever games where the idea came to light. It's quite a good time, thanks to solid on-court action and pretty good computer intelligence to make the 82 game season interesting from the first game to the last game. If you're only into the game for online, this won't matter, buf in terms of single player depth, it's there as well.

On the court itself, NBA Inside Drive 2004 isn't vastly different from its predecessors, but simply tweaked to push the solid sim/arcade style play. In many ways, the gameplay of ID feels like what the NBA felt like 10-15 years ago, with the more uptempo game and less violence on defense. While you can't just drive in the lane all the time, it is doable using the various tricks High Voltage put in the game on a consistent basis. ID requires a good amount of passing to find an open shot, and thanks to the icon passing, it's easy to find the right man, long as you don't pass it right to a defender. On defense, the matches against aggressive opponents means they're able to use the same tricks against you Ц though computer games are flawed merely by one player scoring the majority of the team's points, like the last pair of games. Still, both sides of the ball play very sharply, with even some cool rim physics that make any shot seem makeable or missable as long as it hits the rim or backboard. It's a cool thing, even if it's something that should be in all basketball games.

ID 2004 finally gets in with use of the right thumbstick, though it's not as important or central to the game as EA's basketball games. But you can still use some tricks with the stick, so Live players can get some use out of it. The main functions are still only used via the buttons, but it's a start. Otherwise, the game is mostly the same as last year in playability, but seeing as 2003's was so sharp and polished, not a whole lot could have been done, and the various tweaks will be noticed by ID fans pretty quickly to help it feel fresh. Unlike its competition, Inside Drive manages to have a more uptempo (arcade, if you wish) pace with realistic action and play styles. Other than Stephon Marbury (in a Knicks uniform only after a roster update download) doing thunder dunks despite being a 6 foot point guard, ID maintains a realistic feel that reminds of old 16-bit basketball games. And thanks to challenging computer AI, even on lower difficulty levels, the season games are good enough to want to play an entire season with in addition to, or in place of, the online play. I was surprised to see a good team trounce the crap out of the awful Bulls, seeing as last year, the AI wasn't nearly as smart to the tactics I used.

Like it always is for sports games, if you liked previous versions, Inside Drive 2004 is a great update that you'll love, and if you didn't like them, well, this won't change your mind. At least for Microsoft, unlike their football franchise that has slowly gone the other way in quality despite being pretty much the same game, Inside Drive has improved a bit each year without regressing. It's not the perfect basketball game, but the combo of XSN play and good single player games is enough to make it a good buy for a basketball fan who's looking for an alternative to the more plodding ESPN NBA and speedier NBA Live. It's a near-perfect balance of the pair, one that wins over new fans all the time.

When you look at the graphics, they too have been tweaked to be better than ever. First thing you'll notice is how bright things are. After the pitch black 2002 and a bit more bright 2003, seeing a fully lit arena this year is amazing. Now you can actually see all 28 NBA arenas (since the Lack-ers and the Clippers share the Staples Center, or the Paper Clip if you're Charles Barkley) in their fully rendered detail, with the authentic courts to match. The players themselves are not all that improved, but they were fairly solid to begin with, even if they're not quite as nice looking as the competition. They animate nicely and have lots of different motions for different defensive movements and all Ц but after playing EA's basketball games with the awesome 10-man motion capture creating animations not yet seen in them, it's hard to really be really impressed. They look good, nothing more or less. Overall though, the visuals are sharp, if not overwhelming Ц especially given the console it's developed on.

The audio and effects rounds out the game, with hip hop beats playing in menus and between stops in play, loud crowds, and the sounds of shoes squeaking around the court during the game. There's nothing here that stands out, though it's not bad either. Just your typical, solid basketball sound effects, mixed with usual hip hop urban beats for the current image of the NBA. On the other hand, ID's famously silly commentary returns, with the unholy trinity of Kevin Calabro, Kenny Smith, and Marques Johnson calling things out. A lot of the lines are repeats from last year (there's even one from 2002, where Johnson signs off at the end without mentioning Kenny Smith who joined up in the 2003 edition), but there is some new stuff as well. Much of it is silly banter between Smith and Johnson, coming up with different ways to describe a dunk or a jump shot, while Calabro dishes out his usual, innovative ways to explain that a basketball has just made its way through the hoop and net. If anything, it's lively even if it's sometimes eye-rolling, especially when they let Marques talk for more thanЕsayЕ5 seconds.