I’ve been pushing off trying to put out a review for NBA The Run waiting to see if an update would come along with some new features hoping to give the game a much needed quality of life update and while the a long term road map has been released, it feels like it may be almost too late for most by the time the needed features come out sadly.
NBA The Run feels like the spiritual successor to NBA Street games meets a live service type game. Its a fast paced 3 vs 3 online only (for now) basketball game that moves along quickly but lacks the depth to keep you around.
Jumping right into the bare basics of it you’ll discover the game really only has two modes. A practice mode that is just solo shooting hoops or the online tournament mode which throws you in a team with 2 others (or solo controlling all 3 guys) in a tournament style bracket. You may be asking no way thats it but yes, thats it. Not even just a single quick game mode. You are forced into only tournament mode only.
Now while games may not only a 5-7 minutes or so roughly at most, the fact that you have to be in a tournament only is still just odd. Its confining and means that you can’t just give the game a quick 5 minute jump in jump out or anything of the sort.
It makes it even stranger that in no way, shape, or form is there any sort of a single player. No CPU mode against bots or anything of the sorts for those that won’t want to play against those sweaty players online. Though the roadmap has stated that single player will come sometime in 2027, I fear the game will desolate by then mostly.
The game itself looks nice and controls well though. Players feel vastly different with their strengths and weaknesses. They attempt rule changes for different games to vary it up though players online end up being so sweaty aggressive that the casual players will likely not enjoy their time here.
Cosmetics are pushed heavy here even though there is no create a player feature which would have been nice to see. At times it feels like this was the rough outline of a full game.
I will say though it does work. I never had any issues finding a game. It connected fast always, it was smooth, it never lagged or disconnected, and its enjoyable even if the players online may not be.
While I appreciate the fact that they seem to be set on constant updates for the game for now I just hope that by the time the big updates come next year the community is still active enough in the game that it happens. Its fun overall and fans of this style of game can find enjoyment for sure here but its almost too basic of a package that it will leave fans feeling like there isn’t much to do after a couple hours of games.
Score :
3 / 5
Digital Review Code Provided By The Publisher
