Review for Pro Basketball Manager 2017. Game for PC and Steam, the video game was released on 19/01/2017
When you hear about managerial video games and Cyanide, that jewel that is Pro Cycling Manager, developed in collaboration with Focus Home Interactive, immediately comes to mind. On the basketball chapter, the studio instead relies on Umix Studios, with which they have now reached the third edition of this title.
Given the premises, Pro Basketball Manager it could mark an important step in the managerial industry, even if after a few hours of play it soon becomes clear that too many bugs keep it far from the level mentioned before the cycling chapter.
Pro Basketball Manager 2017 promises to be the best basketball manager on the market and in part it succeeds, either because there is not enough competition, or because its huge database contains many championships. The database is the strength of the title, over seventy leagues, including major and minor leagues, international competitions and over twenty thousand basketball players, make this video game an absolute reference point for lovers of this sport.
Sure, using an NBA team makes the experience more interesting, dealing with salary cap, trade, free agent, specific rules. Obviously not all that glitters is gold because if on the one hand the database is really huge and meticulous in detail, it must also be said that some teams, especially in America, do not enjoy the rights, so we find ourselves using players with characteristics. specific but with fictitious names. The editor in this sense comes to the aid by giving the possibility to modify any detail.
The game itself, however, has remained essentially unchanged from previous editions. The managerial depth is however evident and the management of the team is total. Starting from the hall, it is possible to change ticket prices, the types of stands and again the price of merchandising, thus choosing whether to opt for an economic aspect, so many sales but low takings, or for a capitalist aspect, with few sales but high takings. . This is obviously reflected in the tickets sold, because a higher price corresponds to a smaller number of fans, and in the calibration between takings and expenses.
One of the tasks will in fact also be to manage the economic aspect of the club. In short, on a purely management level, Pro Basketball Manager does what a manager has to do. This aspect is also reflected in the management of the team itself and in scouting. The video game allows the creation of customized offensive and defensive tactics, as well as individual tactics. These tactics will then be recalled during the game in any situation. Always the management, allows us to choose the starting quintet, the benches and the reserves, assigning each player a time and a specific role on the field, such as who to play the greatest number of baskets.
Training management is also detailed: you can choose how many hours of training to assign to teamwork, rather than individual work, and still assign a particular player to a specific training to improve, for example, the three-point shooting instead of the management of rebounds. In all this it will also be possible to change the staff, looking for specific collaborators and scouts with global knowledge, as already mentioned above.
ScoutingIn fact, it will be essential not only to find new talents, but also to try to reinforce the areas of the field that need an adjustment. Scouts will travel around the world observing leagues, geographical areas or a specific basketball player. Finally we find the management of the game, with the new 3D graphics engine. Obviously this is not an excellent graphics engine, the movements of the players are very often snappy, immediately making the classic 2D more fluid preferable. The game screen, simple and fairly detailed, allows you to keep all basketball players under control, from the fouls committed by each individual player, to the state of form. In addition there is the possibility to call the timeouts and to give specific reasons to the team.
While the managerial side offers a detailed experience, some still unresolved bug problems affect the overall gaming experience. Another small flaw lies in the loading times, very often long, and in the lack of fluidity in the passage between the various menus of the video game.
Pro Basketball Manager is definitely an excellent manager, even after some bugs, with a huge database and detailed team management. However, it remains a title for a narrow niche of gamers.
► Pro Basketball Manager 2017 is a Management game developed by Umix Studios and published by Cyanide for PC and Steam, the video game was released on 19/01/2017
