I love this game!

[oboeguy]

Sorry to use the NBA's slogan, but heck, it's true.

I've played maybe four games so far. The polish of 2004 compared to 2003 is incredible.

Some things off the top of my head I like:

- deflections

- blocking from behind

- hop-step button (possibly the single coolest/best innovation this year)

- CPU can actually defend the break so I can't run 90% of the time with the Nets

- offensive fouls are called realistically, I can draw them so much more logically than in 2003, i.e. fewer ridiculous dunks

- commentary... can't say enough about it! It sounds like Marv and The Czar wrote their own lines it's that good (not to menton the stopping to change comment if the action switches)

- more realistic shooting percentage

- trap/double-team is the bomb

- slap-happy steals no longer work (about time)

- control of in-bounding (also about time)

- performance / looks balance pretty well on my old setup (P!!! 933 + Radeon 8500)

- the "Tasks" thing is cool, even if I don't give a hoot about the silly shoes you can "buy" (seriously, I don't care about old Jordan shoes and the like)

- you can pass OVER people, though of course it's risky (ABOUT TIME, really I've wanted this forever)

- getting to the foul line is much better... I live at the line with Kittles and Kidd playing as the Nets, but still get the ball swatted away if I try to drive like an idiot

- fewer stupid incidents where a guy goes out of bounds "by accident" (you know what I mean)

- gameplay rewards taking jumpers in the post instead of running guys over (I still need to used to this)

What I don't like:

- passing to nearest guy is a little questionable -- I've had a few half-court violations when I thught I was passing to a guy acrros the line -- I should get back into DirectPass eh?

- camera is also a little iffy around half-court (I use baseline high) for the above reason... I pass to a guy off-screen and get a violation by accident

- the team ratings are flat-out lame -- the Knicks and Wizards are rated higher than the Nets? COME ON, that's moronic

- What else?? So far I have nearly zero complaints

I have no comments on "Dynasty Mode" yet as I have not tried it. Ditto for online play... I need to master all the new stuff before I feel confident in going online.

Those of you who have played more, feel free to flame me because I haven't played enough to be correct on what I think is good or bad so far.

Edit: oh yeah... SLIDERS!!! Man, how long have we waited for this?

Edit 2: a definite blemish on this game which I failed to mention (everyone else has) is the lack of mid-range shooting by the CPU.. maybe next year. OTOH, I haven't done much of it myself either (not as easy as it was for me in 2003 where I would pull-up and pop all the time).

[Calvenn]

Very well said. Btw, the midrange game is THERE!! Make sure that you're playing good defense, this impedes the cpu's progress to the basket, leaving them with no choice but to shoot. Also, make sure to increase user on-ball defense assist to between 80-100, while reducing user on ball-defense to probably 40. This will limit the other teams fastbreaks AND improve midrange jumpshooting.

This works well on all-star, however I've been experimenting on superstar and so far the cpu is so aggressive to the point that they find ways to circumvent some of these slider adjustments and instead pro hop or only shoot closer to the basket. I'm still analysing the game at this level to determine what slider adjustments could be applied to mitigate the issue.

Bottom line, mess around with the sliders, they open up a whole new world to the ball game!