We cried with laughter. We shouted in frustration. We cursed and insulted each other until blue in the face. Then we played the game, and that was pretty cool too. While 2K Sports’ version of NBA might not have looked as fancy and polished as some others it certainly plays better than any of its competition.

Jay - Miami Heat with Jason Williams (Who was dubbed “3-point Willy”) was all I needed to keep ahead of the game. The ‘White Chocolate’ was stupidly quick and stupidly good at getting 3-point shots and fouls. But enough about my success stories, what about the game?

Matt - Well, quite. Out of the numerous games we had on 2k7, I somehow contrived to lose most of them. This could quite easily be levelled at me having to use an extremely average Boston Celtics team, but to be fair I just didn’t gel into the game too well. It’s not as if it’s the game’s fault either; the players all move instantly and wherever you want them to, passing is relatively simple and shooting quite intuitive. As a flowing game of basketball, NBA 2K7 is streets ahead of the EA efforts at the moment and allows you to string together proper passing moves whilst also giving your opponents a bit of a chance when it comes to defence.

Jay - Hah, ah yes, the Boston Celtics. That’ll teach you to pick a team at random…without looking. While Matt might not have got on with all elements of the game, the changeover from playing the “NBA Live” where I couldn’t bloody tackle him even if he’d picked the most geriatric, shrapnel-ridden, doddering old fool and I The Shaq with a baseball bat. Anyway, back to the game at hand…

Matt - But picking teams at random is a fun thing to do, though! Without Three-Point Willy, chances are that Jay would have been sunk without a trace when it came to the matches. He did everything; the scoring, the defending, the free throws… he wasn’t a player on Jay’s team; he was Jay’s team. He might as well have replaced the other players with robots or really tall logs. You can imagine the angst and annoyance, then, that after a particularly epic game where I had clung to Jay’s lead and kept myself in it, one of my rather more gormless players missed a simple slam to take the game into extra time. It was, put frankly, a bit of an arse. Here was Jay having one player doing everything, whereas here I was with a team of everyone doing nothing. The fact I was able to stay so close in terms of score thus had to have been an act of unparalleled gaming skill.

Jay - (cough) beginner’s (cough) luck. And yeah, Williams never got tired either, which was insane. However, before this turns into a rant-fest, I suppose we’d better talk about the game. Other than the usual – pick your team – pick the colour of your shirt – starting playing – trying and get the ball into that little hoop thingy on the other side of the court – what else does this game offer that the previous versions lack?
Other than the previously aforementioned tackling improvements, the animations are slick, with players dribbling fluidly and not just stopping dead. The fluidity of these animations from, say, passing to a player to slam-dunk or the way a player will tackle a 3-point attempt. This, coupled with some really nice graphics, really helps you to delve into the game.

Matt - One of the unique things about 2K7 is that the detail for each player is insane. Each has their own speed of release in both shooting and passing, which means that you have to learn how your group of players actually play to get the most out of them. This only really presents a problem if you’re not too much of a fan of the NBA and don’t know many of the players, as discerning between the various people on your team takes quite a bit of time to sink in. It does provide you with a good incentive to pick a club and keep plugging away though, as knowing what each of your guys can and can’t do is rather satisfying. You’ll also develop a sixth sense to know which groups of players work best together, so tactical substitutions really do end up making a difference.

Jay - Unless you me, in which case you only have to get to know the one guy…Williams. However, I completely agree on getting used to your team and getting them all working well together. Another thing worth bearing in mind in all the mayhem is the sheer speed of the game! We broke up this title with a bit of NHL only to come back and realise just how fast you’ve moving from one side of the court to the other. This all makes for a really intense game. The other little factors like tiredness and substitutions means that even as the final whistle blows and you go up for a slam-dunk, if you’ve run that big guy into the ground he’s going to miss…point blank. Right Matt?

Matt - Oh, spare my aching sides. Seriously though, the sheer pace of the ball travelling up and back down the court really is something to behold once you get used to the various commands at your disposal. By its very nature basketball is quite exciting, and having a game level with the clock ticking down the seconds of the final quarter is one of those nerve-wracking moments where a clear mind and a steady hand will see you triumph mightily. Sadly for me I have neither, so I end up losing more often then not. One thing I would say though: what are those free throws all about? I still think the system is too fluffy; you don’t really get any intuitive feel for what is good for any of the players.

Jay - Yeah I guess, but then it’s probably because you aren’t any good at them? And hey, you didn’t have Shack taking about 5 minutes to take his bloody free throws now did you! The man was a tank when it comes to slams, but damn don’t give him something he actually has to think about…I could see the 360 having a moment of overheating as it tried to render the sweat involved…sigh.

As you can probably tell however, we had a riot playing this on multiplayer. It’s fluid, fast paced and a right laugh. You’ll definitely want to invite your mates around for a few pints and a blat at this.