When I was growing up, everyone I knew played basketball. Most of us had Ewings or Air Jordans (or wished we did) and we lived or died on the court. Rivalries were made, disputes were settled, and the long arduous journey to elementary school basketball greatness consumed recesses and lunch periods with fervor. Despite everything I learned about the game in those years (which was quite a bit), arguably the most fundamental idea I gained is that basketball is a game of finesse. And when you're in the zone, you exude this finesse to your entire team.

I bring up this recollection of my b-ball past because, quite simply, NBA '07 does NOT have any finesse whatsoever. Sure it has prospective awesomeness (just as '06 did), but it falls miserably short and a lot of the issues with the game could have - should have - been avoided. Further proof that there is nothing worse than wasted potential.

The biggest problem with '07 is that it would seem none of the issues present in '06 have been resolved. In fact, I have to wonder just what the guys at SCEA San Diego have been doing since they released '06. The game looks and plays exactly the same as the previous version (which, ironically enough, plays nearly the same as the rest of the series). So the question is, if they didn't use any time remaking the engine, why the hell couldn't they afford to spend a little time fixing inherent problems?

On the court the A.I. is predictable. Once you learn the ins and outs, there should be nothing stopping you from dominating (eg. There is a certain pass distance that will result in a steal every time, certain juke/spin combos work every time, etc.) Conversely your CPU controlled teammates fall victim to the same problems, so relying on them is a risky endeavor - which sucks because sometimes objectives in "The Life" require you to utilize your team.

Oh, and then there's the little issue of in-game commentary being removed. WTF is up with that? Sure, a season mode is included with the game (although you can only play through one season), but how could they expect us to play without commentary? The worst part about it is that it's more evident than you'd imagine. So much so that it makes the entire experience feel extremely static - almost lifeless.

The Smart Shot Indicator is easily the most useful improvement over '06, even if it's more evolutionary than revolutionary. For those of you who've played previous games in the series you may recall the whole green = good shot, yellow = mediocre shot, and red = a brick. This year they've added a new white circle underneath the ball/player that indicates rebounding when defensive, or brings attention to a completely open player when offensive. At the very least, I can appreciate that these improvements didn't wreck what was already established in the game.

Like a lot of people, I was really hoping that "The Life: Vol. 2" would be the game's saving grace. When NBA '06 came out, I was really impressed that SCEA was willing to innovate the genre by adding a story mode and I still commend them for doing so. The concept of a story-based sports game has so much potential to not only reinvigorate, but also redefine the sports game genre. It was fresh and even though it didn't quite work the first time around I'd figured they would have had all the kinks worked out for '07. Unfortunately that's not the case.

In the original "The Life" difficulty was frustratingly hard and hence required tweaking. Rather than adjusting the difficulty on all characteristics of '07, SCEA seem to have just placed it on different aspects of "The Life: Vol 2" and it ends up being just as frustrating as before. To add a little spice, sometimes the game doesn't recognize when you've actually achieved one of needlessly difficult objectives, meaning you'll have to go back and do it again. Plus being able to play as both The Kid and Big W this time around also adds a little variety to your frustration as well.

So with 'The Life: Vol. 2" also botched, the only worthwhile differentiating factor from '06 is the inclusion of a few new mini-games, and that's disappointing. Like a lot of tacked on mini-games, they can only hold your interest for so long. There are a bunch of different games (21, Own the Court, etc.) but the truth is, they're not the meat of the game and don't add much value to the title. Had the main portions of the game (Season and The Life: Vol. 2) been decent, the inclusion of mini-games would have been icing on the cake. However, as they are, they only serve as a distraction for what is clearly a lackluster experience.

So that's about it - the game has a ton of "key features" that could have made it unique, but end up being nothing more than bullet points on a press release because they lack the necessary finesse. Adding insult to injury is the fact that it was made for a system that's quite mature, but has yet to see a substantial (aka working) change to the game. If this is the best basketball game current-gen has to offer than I'm really glad next-gen is already here.