Game Review | NBA Playgrounds

Why do we watch sports? It’s a simple question with a complicated answer…

Whether you want to believe it or not, we like to watch sports for very different reasons than you may think. In fact, the real things that cause us to like sports are in every person, whether we like sports or not. There are some fairly straightforward and obvious explanations for why we like sports to be sure. Sports teach us about loyalty, perseverance and honor. It gives us a way to bond, it’s cathartic, and we identify with teams and players. We live vicariously through the players we watch. We have our favorite players, and there are teams we’ve grown up rooting for because our brother or Mom used to love them. Or we may follow a sport now that we used to play as a child. That last example is the main reason I have always found enjoyment in watching sports, no matter what they may be.

 

I’m a competitive type of bloke that enjoys the adrenaline rush, the uforia, the “IN YOUR FACE” kind of moments that come bundled in with sports, so it’s should come as no surprise that I wholeheartedly love sports games. I play FIFA, PES, NFL, Golf, Cricket, Tennis, and pretty much any other type of sports game you can imagine, and I love them. I love different sports games in different way, but I do love them. NBA Playgrounds is the newest game to join the romantic entanglement I’ve had with sports, and it has quickly reminded me why I like basketball. If you asked me a week ago to name a few basketball players, you can guarantee that the names I’d be dropping would be all from the 90’s with a bit of “Curry” in there for good measure, but ask me that same question today, and we’ll be sitting for hours talking about why the Warriors are so much stronger with Kevin Durant, why I think Kyrie Irving is underrated by so many people, or how my boy John Stockton will steal everything including your heart while hitting nothing but net from 3 all day everyday.

 

How do I know all this now, and why didn’t I a couple weeks ago?

 

Well, that my beautiful people is the beauty of sports games. They let us experience things that most of us couldn’t experience any other way, by giving you control of digital representations of these physical specimens we call sports men and women, and in the process we learn a little about them as we become accustomed to the freedom of smashing them in like LeBron or the annoyance of having Shaq smack away our 3s for fun, only to then smugly knock in a rebound on the other side of the court… I FRAKING hate playing against that guy.

Though Playgrounds may not be a realistic representation of the real game, it manages to capture the essence of the game and it’s iconic players in a way that was previously dominated by the legendary NBA Jam. Playgrounds takes the takes the lay up from Jam and Ally-Ops it to the next level, with the addition of special modifiers, and an“Online” mode.

 

(notice I put the online mode in quotations. This is because I was unable to find any opponent during my time with the game. Not that I was bothered by this, because I prefer to play these types of games alone or on the couch with family and friends, but I’m sure that there are many that may want to play against players online, who may be put off by the lack of players playing the game on Steam. I can’t speak for the communities other platforms that the game is available for, so please take this particular critic as an exclusive for the PC version.)

 

Like I mentioned before NBA Playgrounds takes a few queues from NBA Jam, and goes even further. This is the most apparent when looking at the gameplay of the game. It follows the same 2 V 2 style that Jam is famous for, but with dare I say better character models, and some honey drizzled in the form of personality. Each character is acquired via pack openings, and are very personable in unique ways that reflect their real life counterparts. This is probably one of the things about the game that will grab the attention of most players who either want to collect them all or have an interest in seeing cartoon like representation of real players do cool things. Some characters have special shots, celebrations, and skill moves that will leave first time players with their jaws open from the shock of what they just got served. The gameplay is also very easy to pickup and play due to it’s arcade styled roots, so anyone should be able to feel comfortable playing the game. This is a game that I can imagine a family get together to play, with everyone sitting around the tele or teaming up against each other for those much coveted family bragging rights.

 

John whenever you’re ready I’m waiting….. 😉

 

Graphically Playgrounds looks spectacular. It has some vibrant courts, each having a lot of personality reminiscent of different places from around the globe, my favorites being Seattle, and the stunning Venice Beach. Both of these are the two last courts you’ll unlock in the game, and they’re only usable in exhibition and multiplayer modes, but damn do they look good. The player models are also very well made in a beautiful cartoon styled way that matches the look of the game very nicely, but though the courts and the player models look amazing, the game is not without it’s flaws.

The most minor flaw this game had was the manikin like commentators that stand near the scoreboard during the game commentating on the action without moving their lips. While playing the game you won’t have time to notice how weird and off putting this is, but at the beginning of every match, you’ll likely find yourself wondering why they’re there in the first place, why not just have disembodied voice like every other sports game. The game also suffers from what I assume is a randomizing system that comes into play when performing Ally-Ops. You can press the button for the player to do the move, but it seems like it’s up to them if they want to do it or not. There were many times when I had the ball stolen from me because I was frantically trying to get my teammate to do an Ally-Op, or missed the pass because the timing between the button input and the actual execution was off. I’m sure that the developers made it this way to make the game more Arcade like, but due to the uncertainty associated with Ally-Ops I avoided using them during most of my time playing the game, unless doing it was required.

The last and probably my biggest critic of this game is the lack of single player content. For single player type gamers like myself the game doesn’t offer much. It features a tournament mode with a few courts, each having 4 teams to play against. This can be completed in a short amount of time once you have two players that you are comfortable with, and a good understanding of the game’s mechanics, but what is there to do after… Nothing. Exhibition mode is the only other single player mode, and it doesn’t offer enough motivation for players to continue playing the game. I would consider this a huge issue with the game, but based on the way the developers have been updating the game in accordance with player feedback, I think more tournaments, or other single player modes are possible in the games future.

Final Verdict

If you like a good time on the couch with family and friends, then you are  going to want to have this game in you collection of party games. It’s a fun easy to pickup and play Arcade styled B-Ball game that everyone should enjoy. The game is filled with character, and charm in almost every facet of it, and it continues to be improved by it’s passionate developers who have been adding new players, tweaking the gameplay and other things based on feedback from the players. If you have $20 to spare, and a PC, PS4, XBOX ONE or Nintendo Switch, then get this game immediately. I highly recommend it. 

The copy of NBA Playgrounds used for this review was provided to us by it’s publisher Mad Dog Games.

Qudduws Campbell

That messy hair bloke: Romantic, Food lover, Gamer, Sports Fan, Manga Reader, Tech Head, Podcaster... Pretty much do a bit of everything.