NBA 2K23 is absolutely Huge, Look, we know it’s not necessarily what you expected to read: You thought we were going to tell you this is another copy-and-paste basketball sim from 2K Sports — but it’s from a roster swap. is far more. The game has had chronic issues when it comes to gated progress and microtransactions, but you can comfortably put 500 hours into this release and still do a lot. this only He Big!
Where to start then? Well, any place on the court looks just as good. Arguably the biggest adjustment this year is the addition of an adrenaline boost below the stamina bar. While there is considerable complexity, they essentially refer to rapid actions, such as leaping for rebounds or advanced dribble moves. The idea is that you only get three copies of these, which means you can’t spam your opponent for submission. It balances the game.
While we think the system is a smart addition overall, we’d argue that it’s probably very moderate. It doesn’t really make sense for league superstars to be gated in the same way as a bunch of lowly bench players, but we think gameplay fairness trumps authenticity, and the best players still clearly have huge merit advantages. Huh. There may be more tuning that 2K Sports can consider for next year, but the overall concept is sound.
Apart from boosting the adrenaline, the developer is also busy adding an absolute wealth of animations. There are so many here that we’ll run our full word count listing them all, but new contact dunks and more creative layouts are things to look out for. You can even hang from the rim if you want, and you can even swing your body to flex it on your posterized opponents! There’s a steep learning curve to many of these moves, but it ultimately means there’s a lot more for you to dig into.
Speaking of which, we’re also digging some overall artificial intelligence adjustments. The teams are very dynamic overall, and will keep pace with what is happening on the court; They will double down on the players who are giving them a tough time, or change their entire approach if they are chasing the game. It all makes for a more authentic experience that forces you to be more thoughtful about your own playing style: How are you going to win the game?
This type of diversity also applies to the extraordinary, industry-leading franchise mode called MyNBA Eras. While you can still take control of an existing team and lead it to the Promised Land, there’s also the opportunity to start your own game based on three well-known periods in NBA history: the Magic vs. Bird era, the Jordan era, and the Kobe era. . Effectively, what it does is to turn back time, recreating the NBA as it existed in that specific period.
Thus, instead of choosing a team and creating your own unique future, you can instead turn to the past. And it gets insanely deep: You can choose to veto some of the most important moments in NBA history, like a rule change or a transfer. This means you are able to effectively play the role of god throughout the league, reshaping its history to your personal taste. What was already the best franchise mod in the market has been taken to an unprecedented level.
And this is without taking into account the various aspects that make this mode unique: teams will play differently in the 1980s than they did in the 2000s, with completely different playbooks and strategies. In addition, 2K Sports has created unique visual filters to reflect each era, with period-appropriate replay packages and overlays. You can disable some of these if you wish, this is an excellent novelty that reflects the care and attention invested in the package as a whole.
All of these features also apply to Jordan Challenge, a single player mode based on a similar mode in NBA 2K11 that spotlights 15 of the Chicago Bulls shooting guard’s most memorable moments. They all feature unparalleled commentary and interview footage, plus some pretty taxing competition situations that will really help you appreciate His Airness’ most impressive NBA feats. Completing this mode to 100 percent will probably take you 10 or so hours alone.
And we’ve got away without it mention MyCareer or City, the flagship sandbox mode that sees you make your own myplayer build and propelling them to NBA stardom. So, bad first: over-reliance on virtual currency remains, and it’s still a humiliating grind to put together a capable competitor. You can’t pay for winnings, because to unlock you have to play and perform badge And improve your max rating, but the upgrade has become too expensive, you have to pay real money.
The story feels like a step back in many ways this year, though we applaud 2K Sports’ efforts to streamline some aspects — even open online — to reduce unnecessary running times. Reducing the overall size of the world. In short – because it’s not going to win any prizes – you’ll be competing against an impressively jittery opponent named Shep Owens, who for some reason is the city’s favorite and needs you to prove the fans wrong.
You will do this by playing basketball matches and conquering different districts. This is where the campaign explores its fashion, business and music aspects, featuring J. Cole and many other household names come up. The biggest problem is that sometimes you just want to play basketball, and while we appreciate the overall ambition, it’s not very entertaining for a vegetarian hot dog stand owner to hand out flyers. And yes, this is something that happens very early in the plot – we told you the game was ridiculously massive, right?
The city’s other big appeal is competing with friends and strangers alike, and while extras like theaters make it a bit easier to matchmaking rather than waiting for courts to empty, it doesn’t seem as fast and accessible as it should be. needed. Plus, Netcode makes gameplay more floatier and less responsive overall – we’re far from pro players, but things feel snappier for us in single player.
On that note, in addition to the high-octane clutch time, there’s actually a lot more single-player content to explore in the Ultimate Team-esque MyTeam mode this year. Beyond that, the mode is largely unchanged from last year, but the removal of contracts and the introduction of co-op are welcome, and we still believe that it will follow along with MLB The Show 22 in the more eclectic team-building mode. is one of. Sure, you may need to shell out real money on exorbitantly priced card packs to compete at pro levels, but realistically if you just want to amass a reasonable roster, locker code And the standard seasonal progression will give you what you need.
conclusion
It can be easy to accuse sports games of delivering the same experience year after year, but you can’t say the same about NBA 2K23. The game still has issues with its excessive emphasis on microtransactions in MyCareer and to a lesser extent MyTeam, but the new MyNBA Eras mode is a revelation — and the Jordan Challenge campaign is a lot of fun. On the court, 2K Sports has struck some nice balance and also improved the overall AI to make matches more dynamic and competitive, and when you combine them all with all-new animations, you end up with a basketball sim. Which is the very definition of a slam dunk.
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