NBA ShootOut 2004 Critic Reviews

The one thing that brings the game down in score is the still lanky graphics engine.

While a perennnial bronze medal winner on PS2, this year's ShootOut has officially got game.

The one area that has improved tenfold is the visuals. Running at a smooth 60 fps, the players and arenas never looked better.

For those looking for a basketball game with a deep career mode, sim-like gameplay, and online play, Shootout 2004 would be a good choice. One thing’s for sure; the positives outweigh the negatives in this game.

Voice recognition, individual career mode, and create a dunk put NBA Shootout on the right path. Improving the player and referee AI will take the journey further.

989 Sports keeps improving their franchise each year, but unfortunately it’s too little to catch up to the competition.

Granted, ShootOut has plenty of entertainment for gamers faithful enough to stick with the franchise for another year, but when placed against a PS2 sports division that keeps the type of company that it does, it just doesn't hold up in the long run.

Doesn’t make it past the first round of the playoffs. If you want a real champion head over to Sega or EA.

Better, but it still can't compete with "NBA Live" and "ESPN Basketball."

Subject to much refinement, and while it still can't compete with the competition, 989 Sports has created a surprisingly solid all-around basketball game.

Like its football counterpart, ShootOut simply doesn't compete against the might of "NBA Live" or "ESPN Basketball."

May have the most interesting lineup of bonus features of all the video b-ball releases, but its sub-par gameplay keeps it from hanging on the same court as EA Sports' or Sega's game.

Unless you’re someone looking for a great online infrastructure, there isn’t anything that allows me to say you have to play this game. People like to build a team and watch them flourish, but with Shootout 2004, you can’t do that.

It easily hold ground with EA and Sega, but offering the same options, with dated looks and sounds may turn off most fickle gamer.

Although the online features may give some reason to standout, the gameplay and graphics fall flat keeping it from once again putting any heat on its competitors.

A host of problems can be found in almost all facets of the game, so there simply aren't any good reasons to buy it, especially with better alternatives already available.

The one area in which Shootout actually trumps the others is online play. 989 has built a robust, efficient online matching and stat-tracking system, making it easy to find other ballers and get a match up and running. The stat-tracking and ease of setting up tournaments are impressive.

It looks fairly good, but it doesn't play nearly as well as "NBA Live 2004" or "ESPN NBA Basketball."

I had to look twice to see if perhaps this copy of the game was actually a PSX game accidentally packaged in a PS2 wrapper. Frankly, this game plays so poorly I'm surprised that it's not on a cartridge.