Shoot Out 97

The new editions of Sony's sports games such as NFL GameDay '97 and NHL FaceOff '97 were major improvements over the originals. Judging from everything that we've seen in this early look at Sony's new round ball title, Shoot Out '97 doesn't look like it will buck that trend.

For starters. Shoot Out '97 looks and moves absolutely wonderfully. Imagine detailed 3-D graphics that easily outperform last year's version with some additional, motion-captured basketball movements. That means there will be no more silly, unrealistic annoyances such as jumping straight in the air regardless of momentum, or bouncing between defenders like they are padded concrete walls. Also, as a result of this increased animation, the players will move much more fluidly, making the game feel more realistic.

In addition to adding more regular player movements such as different types of jumping and dribbling, a slew of exciting dunks were added to spice up play. There are seven types of left- and right-handed dunks that include all sorts of opponent-embarrassing slams. Alley-oops, tomahawks and two-handed slams make up part of the available repertoire. Oh yeah, and you can replay those dunks at a variety of camera angles for full effect.

One of the more interesting features new to Shoot Out is the innovative "Icon Passing." find this feature welcome because it allows you to choose exactly who you want to pass the ball to. How many times have you tried passing the ball to a particular teammate in any basketball game only for it to be passed to someone next to your intended target? Of course, by the time you finally get it to that player through a variety of unnecessary passes, the intended player isn't open any longer or you turn the ball over.

Well, Shoot Out's "Icon Passing" is geared to remedy all of those problems. To visualize how this interface works, think of the passing icons that represent the receivers in NFL GameDay or Madden and you'll basically understand the concept. During play you can bring up the icons under your teammates and pick which one to pass the ball to. You don't need to use this for every pass, however. Maybe you'll only want to use it to "thread the needle," so to speak.

To improve the realism in the game, Sony says that they have substantially beefed up the computer intelligence, and will also add a variety of new strategic defensive features. These options will consist of user-selected double teams, in addition to different amounts of defensive pressure. Season play will also enjoy some enhance game based on your season can be played. Additionally, you can create players (useful for creating unlicensed players like Jordan and Barkley) and sign free agents. Avid fans will be happy to know that Season Play will also keep track of more statistics, which was something that the original lacked.

Like GameDay '97. Shoot Out '97 looks like it will correct most of the problems that plagued its older counterpart. The question is, will these changes propel Shoot Out to the elite rank presently held by games like GameDay '97?