NCAA Final Four 2004
System: Playstation2
Publisher: Sony CEA
Developer:
989 Sports
Released: November 2003
Genre: Sports (Basketball)
Capabilities: Memory Card, Analog & Vibration feedback, Online multiplayer, USB
Headset & Keyboard
Review Written: December 15, 2003
I was quite disappointed with 989’s pro basketball offering this year, NBA
ShootOut 2004, so I was expecting more of the same gameplay but with NCAA
teams in their college hoops title, NCAA Final Four 2004. I was surprised
to find out this title was developed by a completely separate studio, but its
gameplay isn’t any better than the one in ShootOut.
I don’t know about you, but I live in a relatively small town where we don’t
have NCAA Division 1-A basketball at our college, so with most of the other
college sports titles I play I automatically look for the handy create-a-team
function to add them to the mix. Hold on a second, I searched high and low
through every menu and there isn’t a frigging create-a-team option at all! At
least there is a create-a-player feature, but only for use in exhibition and not
in the main Career or Dynasty modes of the game. The lack of creation options
got me ready for the unique gameplay I was about to experience.
At first I really liked playing Final Four 2004, it seemed to have a
better flowing game pace than the sluggish one in ShootOut, and I am a
sucker for the college atmosphere in sports games, complete with a nice variety
of fight songs and chants during drives to the hoop. However, a couple games
things seemed a little easy, too easy. The right analog juke system is nice, but
worked almost all the time to deke out defenders. Driving in the paint just
wasn’t fun anymore. At least the AI now knows how to play a good perimeter game,
as it isn’t as easy to sink three pointers as it was in ShootOut.
Gameplay also seemed quite jerky; players would seem to transition from running
down the court into magically shooting the ball in mid-air within a nanosecond.
It just seems completely unnatural. The controls also have some issues, as
passing has become a serious problem. Yes, you heard me right, PASSING!
There are times I intended to pass a ball to the closest player to me, and
instead the ball went into a completely different vicinity than I wanted it to.
This rarely happens in other hoops games, and I’m surprised it happens about
five or six times a game here. There is also a different free throw system in
Final Four 2004, and I absolutely loath it because this free throw system
relies more on luck than skill like the one in ShootOut.
Besides from the standard exhibition, arcade, tournament, and single season
modes available to choose from, there are two main single player modes. The
first is Dynasty mode where you have complete control over one of the nation’s
top college teams. Actually, ‘complete’ is rather stretching it because there
isn’t that many options available in the off season as there are in its
competitors. The only thing I’m particularly fond of is setting your practice
regime to where to have the players focus more in practice. If you’re like me
and really am not that good in the recruiting process in the offseason, than the
computer will gladly take over the duty for you. However, getting the top high
school picks is surprisingly easy as all it takes is several visits to that
player’s home to persuade him to joining your school, after that worrying about
other colleges trying to pick him up before you is non-existant. The other main
single player mode is Career, which is essentially the same as Dynasty, but
starting off at a smaller school, and moving up through the ranks to the big
conferences after continuous big win seasons.
Yes, there is the excellent online play in Final Four 2004 that all other
989 sports titles have this year. It has the same robust amount of features such
as win-loss stat tracking, buddy lists, message boards, user email, USB headset
compatibility for live voice chat and a live sports ticker that updates with
scores from real life sports across the nation. I enjoy all these extras just as
much as the next guy, but why bother with them when the actual gameplay is too
problematic and hectic to actually enjoy.
I was actually surprised to see player models sport a bit more detail than the
ones in ShootOut. The players seem a bit more polished when compared to
989’s other hoops title, but the aforementioned jerky animation quickly puts
them to shame. The developers did a nice job on making an immersive college
atmosphere; there are nice pre-game shows of mascots running across the court
with cheerleaders, and an abundance of college fight songs that run rampant
during the menu screens. The commentary is handled by Eddie Doucet doing the
play-by-play and Billy Packer on color, and they just do a lousy job overall.
80% of the time it is just Doucet sporadically saying random one-liners. Packer
has some interesting thoughts, but it is just too bad I keep forgetting he’s
even there as he only manages to get about several lines in each half.
RATINGS
Graphics: 7.3
Sound: 7.0
Gameplay: 5.5
Replay Value: 3.8
Overall: 5.9
989 just can’t get it right these days. The only thing done right in NCAA
Final Four 2004 is the amazing online components, but almost everything else
is a missed opportunity. The gameplay will you drive you nuts within moments.
The Dynasty mode is put to shame when lined up to what EA’s March Madness
and Sega’s ESPN College Hoops bring to the table. Any college basketball
fans will be far better off avoiding this and going with one of those two titles
instead.