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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed games.
NBA Ballers: Chosen One
Mixed or average reviews
Based on 42 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 12 votes
Read user comments
Rate this game >
Game Info
Publisher: Midway
Developer: Midway
Genre(s): Sports, Basketball
Players: 4
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Release Date: April 21, 2008
Summary
NBA Ballers: Chosen One is a fantasy basketball entertainment experience featuring one-on-one and two-on-two action with the NBA's elite players. More than 65 of the NBA's top superstar athletes come to life as the NBA Ballers franchise continues its legacy. NBA Ballers: Chosen One puts players up-close and into the action with new "action movie" style game cameras that highlight every move. Create-a-Baller and take on the challenge of the epic "Chosen One Tournament", brought to you live from the most exotic courts around the world. As you progress through the game, earn the right to use an NBA star's "Shut 'Em Down" Super Move or take your Baller online to test your playing skills against others. [Midway]
Also On Metacritic
GAMES: NBA Ballers
Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central
Also On The Web: Official Website
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Games Master UK
Some of the fun of old wacky b-ball games has been replaced by what's perceived as cool. [June 2008, p.72]
X360 Magazine UK
Despite some flaws, Chosen One is immensely fun and brings a wider audience to the delights of shooting hoops. [Issue#32, p.84]
GameTap
NBA Ballers: Chosen One is a battle game. Think Street Fighter meets the NBA, and that's where the game is in its element.
Read Full Review >Official Xbox Magazine
So yeah, Chosen One has its woes, but gameplay is what’s always made this series fun. If you’ve got some tolerance and some RTFM time, Chosen One will deliver.
Read Full Review >Official Xbox Magazine UK
A treat for fans and better than "NBA Street." [June 2008, p.66]
Read Full Review >Game Informer
Chosen One offers a decent arcade basketball experience, but its short single player and weak online options ultimately keep it from unseating the current street champ, "NBA Street Homecourt."
Read Full Review >Console Monster
A half-decent title.Midway have brought in a few interesting ideas to spice up street basketballand whilst a few of the ideas work, a lot of them let the game down.
Read Full Review >GameShark
Street basketball is all about over the top game play. However, it’s more fun when you feel like you’re making those moves, instead of watching it unfold on the screen with minimal interaction.
Read Full Review >PTGamers
NBA Ballers: Chosen One lacks better production values. Career mode is short, combos should be more varied, and some objectives don't make sense.
Read Full Review >Game Chronicles
Compared to the likes of NBA Street or the highly underrated Street Hoops, NBA Ballers: Chosen One seems sluggish and contrived.
Read Full Review >MS Xbox World
NBA Ballers: Chosen One has some enjoyment if you play in short sessions.
Read Full Review >MEGamers
We do applaud Midway for trying to do something new here, but the repetitive nature of the gameplay, complicated controls and most importantly the clip played over and over again during game time really kills off any chance of this game competing with Home court.
Read Full Review >Cheat Code Central
A game that focuses on its themes rather than gameplay or functionality. The theme is definitely the building of your "baller" status, though the process of doing so is sometimes nonsensical given the rule system and gameplay mechanics.
Read Full Review >Xbox360Achievements
As far as street or arcade-style basketball games go, this is a far cry from what you'd expect. Taking too many strides towards "legitimate" basketball loses all of the charm, and frankly the fun-factor, that we've come to expect from this genre.
Read Full Review >GamePro
The core gameplay is great--the counters are brilliant and the energy stays high--yet it isn't enough to be chosen as more than a casual distraction.
Read Full Review >IGN
Delivers more of the same gameplay from the Xbox version, but with new additions that do nothing but hurt the overall formula.
Read Full Review >GameSpy
While Ballers hits from long-range with pretty graphics and plenty of Cribz-esque intros and unique elements, it clangs off the rim a bit with its Chosen One storyline execution.
Read Full Review >DailyGame
NBA Ballers: Chosen One tries to do too many things at once, never really succeeded at any of them.
Read Full Review >ZTGameDomain
The multi-player is still addictive and beefing up your baller is simple enough for anyone to enjoy, but the problems float a bit too close to the surface for fans of the genre to ignore.
Read Full Review >GameZone
NBA: Ballers: Chosen One has all the right stars but when it comes to the game, it lacks the stylish action that made this series such a blast to play.
Read Full Review >GameDaily
Midway didn't update its roster (Jason Kidd plays for Dallas, not New Jersey), the story mode (what there is of it) makes no sense and the artificial intelligence is quite boneheaded.
Read Full Review >DarkStation
A trip back to the drawing board would probably be the best bet for the developers as this is a game that has some good intentions but not great execution.
Read Full Review >Xbox World 360 Magazine UK
Play basketball on half a court while Chuck D disses your sister. Nope. [June 2008, p.79]
Worth Playing
NBA Ballers: Chosen One is a title that has solid basics in place, but it really needed a lot more time and budget to get everything just right. As it stands, the title is a buggy, unpolished mess with easy-to-use, overpowered moves and gameplay that is often more frustrating than it is fun.
Read Full Review >PALGN
An abundance of cheap tactics and bland gameplay make this one title that will forever be warming the bench.
Read Full Review >GameSpot
There's no reason to pick this one up, regardless of how bad you need a basketball fix--there are plenty of cheaper, better options available.
Read Full Review >Planet Xbox 360
NBA Ballers is a scatterbrained game that never decides quite what it is, and at no point resembles anything good. The game is only impressive in just how badly they miss the mark.
Read Full Review >Eurogamer
It's not NBA Live, it's not NBA Street and it's not NBA 2K. And playing Chosen One you'll be reminded of this every couple of minutes.
Read Full Review >Xbox World Australia
Chosen One is a decent enough romp for a couple of nights play, however it's hard imagine you'd invest any more time than that. It fails to exceed the fun factor, and overall quality, of similar games to come before it.
Read Full Review >Thunderbolt
This is one for the hardcore basketball fans only, as they are likely to enjoy the short-burst addictive action it has to offer. With that said, don’t expect to find any challenge here.
Read Full Review >Team Xbox
The graphics look cleaner, but more artificial. The create-a-player is functional, but nothing spectacular. Character development looks good on paper, but not in practice. The addition of combo minigames is interesting, but takes away more than it adds.
Read Full Review >Gamer's Hell
Nearly an identical, less-than-stellar experience on the PS3 or 360 (save for knowing what you unlock after each episode on the PS3), NBA Ballers: Chosen One feels like a step back for the arcade genre.
Read Full Review >G4 TV
If you don’t care too much about precise game play, Chosen One is a good, brainless time. Otherwise, the game just becomes infuriating.
Read Full Review >Giant Bomb
NBA Ballers: Chosen One feels like a relic, like an old arcade game that’s been given a fresh coat of paint, but no additional gameplay depth. Like an old arcade game, it’s fun for awhile, but unless you have nostalgic feelings for, well, the other two Ballers games, you’ll probably get fed up fast.
Read Full Review >Level7.nu
NBA Ballers: Chosen one is a game all about super dunks, slick moves and fancy dribbles. Unfortunately Midway has missed out on one essential ingredient necessary in all great sports games: getting the player interested. With bleak graphics and shoddy controls, not even playing with a friend can help this game from being utterly mediocre.
Read Full Review >Totally360
We're not saying it's disastrous, but it is so lacklustre, so tepid, so unrefined and unbalanced that it can not be recommended as anything other than a sub £10 purchase.
Read Full Review >Electronic Gaming Monthly
This latest NBA Ballers seems to have been built in a vacuum. [June 2008, p.79]
Gaming Age
In the case of NBA Ballers: The Chosen One, not only is concept stale, but some of the new features hurt the game more than help push it to the next level.
Read Full Review >1UP
The real shock is that, nearly 14 months later, Chosen One doesn't live up to the tech, the style, or the ambition of EA's "Homecourt." The game has far too many flaws -- and far too little polish and juice to make it worth playing.
Read Full Review >Gamervision
Ballers is just too glitchy, ugly and frustrating to be worth even a rental.
Read Full Review >Game Revolution
I could go on for much longer, pointing out the weightless feel of your player, the cheap and featureless last-gen graphics, the repetitive and unimaginative play-by-play banter, the purposeless customization options or the usually desolate and ultimately just as crappy online multiplayer. But that would be treating the game as if it had tried, when it’s apparent that this baller was looking to ball the pooch all along.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this game is 4.5 (out of 10) based on 12 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
