Three Point Thursday: Be a Pro

[RaychelSnr]

Matt Blumenthal returns with a Three Point Thursday to examine the impact of NHL 09’s new Be a Pro mode.

Quote:

"As kids, we participated in sports for a wide variety of reasons, but we played primarily in order to have a good time and to learn the importance of teamwork. These objectives carry over to sports games, and while having fun will always top the list of reasons to play, the introduction of player-centric modes like Road to the Show and Be a Pro bring teamwork to the forefront as well."

[Beantown]

So ****in' true.

Good article, Matt.

[StormJH1]

I played Road To the Show back on last gen in MLB '07...I don't believe it has changed significantly since then. I found the move fun, and I think it's nice that they skip only to parts of the game where you're involved, but the nature of baseball makes it difficult to execute this properly. And other baseball games (MLB Power Pros) have done more with the "off the field" stuff, but at some point, it ceases to become a sports title, and you're basically just playing a text RPG.

I've played a little bit of Be a Pro in NHL '09 offline and online, and it's pretty darned good. Being online with 11 other human players 6-on-6, playing as yourself is exciting, challenging, and sometimes hilarious (when it goes poorly). I wish they did a little more with presentation, in terms of displaying your career stats in-game, etc. And it would be nice if your progress did something other than a simple ratings boost (new equipment?). But it's a lot of fun.

[Matt Diesel]

Note to 2k sports:

You dont need officially licensed teams when you can make your own or participate in another user's team as a player. Take BAP football style.