NBA Live 2003

NBA Live 2003 has always been one of the great games to show off on the Xbox. Now, it seems as though Microsoft is hoping to capture the soul of the NBA Live franchise for the upcoming Xbox and the PC, as this year's game looks to be one of the best in the series.

The game will let you play two-on-two games using only one button. Aside from the normal single-button game, NBA Live 2003 will have an exhibition mode where you can hone your skills against up to seven NBA legends. One mode is the training camp, a training camp where you can take your created player to school. Your progress will improve his attributes, including physical and athletic attributes, as well as his ability to break up the competition and play against the computer.

All in all, NBA Live 2003 seems to look great and sounds great. We hope the company will be able to recapture the NBA's hard-core appeal and win some awards and recognition for it. In the meantime, be sure to check out our preview for the Xbox version.

Tony Hawk's Project 8

So far, the only game on the horizon is the follow-up to the original Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, which still stands tall as one of the most fun and exciting skateboarding games ever created. As far as gameplay goes, Tony Hawk's Project 8 seems to be a perfectly-tuned version of the original, even with all the added bells and whistles that were missing in last year's game. Despite the new tricks, Pro Skater remains very much like the original game, as you move through areas that have been designed specifically for the new system. Along the way, you can earn goals and objects that will add to your board's abilities and help you complete the goals you have set.

At first blush, Project 8 appears to be a pretty straightforward skateboarding game. You control your skater by moving him left and right, and then by pressing the X button. You can also perform different tricks by pulling off tricks with the right analog stick. After collecting a few goals in each level, you can use the right analog stick to move him up and down. This basically turns the game into a shooter, as you perform a variety of insane tricks on your enemies. As you make your way through the levels, you'll pick up upgrades to your board's performance that will come in handy in certain areas. As you'd expect, performing tricks will earn you points that will help you reach new areas of the level.

While we didn't get to try out any of the various modes on offer, the basic framework of the game was pretty straightforward. You'll be able to tackle a handful of challenges by completing tasks. The goals are as follows: Get a bike to the finish line, defeat a boss, collect 15 rings to get to the exit, beat a boss to the end in a kayak race, play a game of baseball in a kayak race, and collect 15 rings to open a world stage. Once you hit your goal, you'll be taken to a cutscene set in the first level of the game, which depicts the developers talking about the game's core concept, which was that you'll be going to alternate courses based on real-world locations.

Graphically, the game looks quite good, with some nice-looking special effects for when the camera is taking the wheel. You'll also notice that there are a few small but noticeable details in the environments. In addition, all of the characters look like they were part of the cartoon, and you'll notice that their lips and ears can be heard when you're zooming through the levels. Some of the levels that we've seen so far have also been a bit out of date, but we were able to get a look at some of the larger areas in the game, such as the hoverbike level that's being used to take the stage from an indoor standpoint. The other areas we've seen so far look a bit underwhelming, with plenty of crumbling structures, sterile warehouses, and large pool-based structures in the cityscape. But the gameplay still looks solid and offers a decent variety of play options.

The game's audio is also sounding pretty good. You'll hear a lot of ambient music during your play, which is especially impressive when the enemies start running at you, and you'll hear a variety of ambient sound effects as you blast them with grenades, such as explosions. The levels also feature a good dose of sound design, which helps make you feel like you're in the thick of things. The effects themselves are pretty clean and don't take the dark at all. In fact, the sound effects are pretty good and are complemented by a good array of ambient sound.

Based on what we've seen so far, Serious Sam: The First Encounter is shaping up to be a solid shooter that will offer a solid action experience on its own.