IGN: College Hoops 2K7 Review |
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Written by Administrator
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Thursday, 21 December 2006 |
"What does a Duke student and a North Carolina student have in common? They both applied to Duke. Yes, college basketball is back. Let the heckling, face-painting and "Oh" chanting begin. In College Hoops 2K7, the latest offering from 2K Sports, you can actually create your own heckle -- er, chant, I mean. The solid brand of basketball gameplay returns as well, and along with slightly improved graphics and much-improved sound, College Hoops 2K7 is 2K Sports best effort yet. Still, the gameplay is all too familiar and, while fun, one has to wonder: Is it time for this franchise to graduate to something better? This is the same game we've been playing for years now, and it's about time 2K looked at evolving its basketball titles.
On the floor, you'll notice a whole stadium jam-packed with atmosphere. Fans jump up and down. The sound has been overhauled so you'll hear the student section scream out "Three!" for every long ball, "whoosh!" for every drained free-throw, and the old air-ball call for an opponent's shot that doesn't hit anything. The graphics show only subtle improvement over 2K6, probably because the game was released only a few months ago. It's really the sound, along with solid commentary from Vern Lundquist and Bill Raftery, that give 2K7 the best college feel yet. And don't' forget about the player-controlled pre-game lay-up drills. I don't know why they are so much fun but they are.
The new Chant Creator takes the atmosphere one step further. Using a love-it-or-hate-it interface, you can produce a zillion combinations of "Go! Fight! Win!" to be played when you have the ball, when your opponent has the ball and during free throws. You can also create plenty of heckles, my favorite being: "Give me an F! Give me a U! What's that spell? S you!" The NCAA was smart enough to disallow the letters F and U and the words blue and ball from being put together, but you'll find plenty of ways to get around the system if you give it the old college try, which we obviously did. When you hear your chant in game, especially when playing against a friend, it's always good for a laugh.
But what matters most is gameplay, and 2K7 will be no stranger to you if you've played previous 2K Sports basketball games. Isomotion, the system of crossovers and dribble moves, have been mapped to the B and Y buttons as well as the traditional left analog stick. This does make Isomotion a bit easier to use than wiggling the stick and holding down the sprint button to drive past your opponents." READ FULL ARTICLE HERE
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 25 February 2007 )
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