Let's Play: NBA Life 2002

BBC Sport Online reviewer David Gibbon says NBA Life 2002 looks better than it performs.

Basketball is one of those video game genres that has not seen much innovation over the years.

Most titles are very samey and what every basketball fan is crying out for is something that offers originality.

NBA Live 2002 - the eighth incarnation of the NBA franchise - cannot provide that.

Each instalment has differed little from its predecessor, aside from visual improvements and up-to-date stats.

  NBA Life 2002

Format: PlayStation 2

Price: £39.99

Publisher: EA

Genre: Basketball

Also Available: (Xbox out 8 March)

It's easy to see that EA have worked tirelessly on their other sporting franchises - in an attempt to bring them bang up to date.

FIFA - for example - is getting closer to Pro Evolution Soccer with each release.

But for NBA, little has changed.

It might be stunning to look at - visually this is the best-looking basketball game ever - but on the gameplay side of things, there's little new to shout about.

In fact, if you own NBA Live 2001 you'll realise they are almost identical.

What you do get is a franchise mode allowing you to design a team from scratch and manage it. There's also scouts, stats galore - and fantastic player awards.

But while the management section seems to work very well, the 'search-for-a-player' function is a complete waste of time.

Instead of being listed under the position they play, each instead, appears alphabetically, making searching laborious and frustrating.

The on-street practice feature

One of the features that does impress is the in-depth create-your-own player option.

With this, you can decide whether individuals are left or right-handed, arrange positions, teams, names and strips and even display the number of years your player has been a pro.

Gamers can also play through a season, enjoy play-offs, play one-on-one games and practice on off-the-street courts.

But when it comes to playing the main game itself, there are unfortunately too many flaws.

During play, you'll find the opposing computer-controlled team is worryingly slow at taking advantage when it has the ball.

Yes, this is great at first as it enables you to keep winning. But this soon becomes tiring and more of a challenge is needed to maintain any kind of interest.

It's actually much more rewarding to just go for some nifty one-button moves and get the ball in the basket.

  Gibbon's verdict

Graphics: 93%

Playability: 72%

Sound: 63%

Realism: 81%

Overall: 74%

Visually, NBA Life 2002 is impeccable. The video sequences are interesting and the players' skin and movement are perfectly animated.

The players on screen look so much like their real-life counterpart that you could be forgiven for thinking you had climbed in the TV.

But when the management side of things is better than the action, you've got problems.

Only buy this if you live for basketball stats.