NBA Ballers: Chosen One

+ Great first impression
+ Awesome soundtrack
+ Gameplay is fun...

- ...for the first 30 minutes
- Repetitive gameplay
- No defense
- Boring story mode and stupid challenges
- Not much content


I always wanted to play NBA Ballers Phenom but never got my hands on it. So I thought why not try the new 360 version, since it didn't even cost a full price? Now afterwards, I wish I would just have rented it.

This game makes a great first impression though. A soundtrack exclusively produced by Just Blaze, good player models and Chuck D as the announcer. Yet on the court things start to feel awkward (why is this a constant problem with next gen basketball games?).

I first tried a 2 on 2 full court game with some NBA superstars. The game was just trading baskets, running from coast to coast and dunking with no defense at all. Well, the only way to play defense is to block shots and it's way too easy for the player and the cpu. The gameplay itself doesn't have a reward factor to it. Actually it's pretty boring after a short while.

The act a fool combos and fake moves are way too powerful and you feel a jackass every time when on defense. The best way to defend is to stand under the hoop and wait to block shots since you can count on the cpu not to attempt a three pointer. On offense it's always the same. Hit him on the head with the ball, do a fake move, drive for a dunk. Or you can do those act a fool combos but I hate doing them, they remind me of those old button mashing games when you had a couple of milliseconds to hit the right colored button.

Shut 'em down moves seem cool at first, but they're practically unstoppable and you have to look at the same animations over and over again, so I'd rather not have them. All in all the core gameplay is boring, unbalanced and seems out of date with not much fun factor or reward in it.

The story mode is divided into six chapters. First you create a baller and then you get him some gear and all the usual stuff. The gear in this game is miserable. There's only one pair of basketball shoes and the rest of the shoes are hiking boots and dress shoes as far as I played the game. In story mode your baller gains skills determined on how you play the game, which to me is the best thing in this game. But as a downside I managed to max out the speed rating about halfway in the game since I always run with the turbo (or in this game the "juice") button down, I mean why not?

The story mode runs out of content during the third chapter when you're facing games where you have to perform a level three super dunk to win or not to allow a three pointer by the opponent. Later in the game you face even harder challenges like not to get blocked once in a game. That's where I quit, since it's so easy to get blocked in this game anyway. These kinds of challenges feel unfair and ancient. All in all, I didn't finish the story mode because to these types of cheap challenges. I quit during the last episode of chapter 5 of 6.

Ballers Chosen One isn't a bad game, it just isn't a good one. Graphics are ok but not exactly good, gameplay is fun but turns repetitive after 30 minutes and the game runs out of content fast. Older titles on last generation consoles such as NBA Street V3 were better in every sense. If you want to try this game out, rent it. That's what I should have done in the first place.