The NBA 2k 16 Review

The NBA 2K16 Review

Welcome to the NBA 2K16 Review, this is Novid from LastStation District 4 – this review is for NBA 2k16 from 2K (Take –Two Games). The rating is simple – is it ownage, is it not ownage – is it a buy? Or do you need to wait it out – let’s get started.

Gameplay:

NBA 2K16 has been a three year wait. Before the site was conceived, The 2K Sports series, was a part of the palate of video games – from The NFL 2k series and so on. In recent years the main sports games for me were both the PES and the NBA 2k series.

Now that the wait is over, and in its third year on the PS4, 2k16 is one of the most expansive of the franchise. They changed some of the controls from 2K13 and it takes a lot longer to get it controls down (they have made a tutorial mode that is a part of their 2KTV video series as well other parts of the game) but once it works – it works. The animations have improved, the graphics are in a way – beautiful but its still a video game. In higher levels and with the right sliders (which goes from so so to amazing with certain users and their created sliders). The players bump, hit, drive and do everything that a player would do. Some animations were keyframed, but a majority were mo-capped. Some issues remain however, sometimes when the player drives down the court, the arms of the players extend longer than humanly possible(might be the way the camera shows the players) in other situations the players go through the padding under the basket (which needs to be fixed) and in defensive situations the players still slide in place (a simple tip-toe, movement of the feet or other such would help here)

Online

Online – the majority of the game is online! Lets start with how its handled. There is an account on 2K’s servers that is connected to PSN (or the other services) and the rest of the game, from sliders, to MYPark/Career/GM/Pro-Am is shown. That means they had to improve on the servers. Well, the servers ARE improved but they still have their hitches. Sometimes in online games the audio skips, the shots don’t come out right (brick, after brick…after BRICK!!!!)… and sometimes its seems like your in soup. But not all of Online is the same – there actual parts of the game online are amazing. MyPark actually may be the best part of the game as whole. Pro-Am can be good, but due the time I got the game to do this review – I couldn’t really dive deep into the section of the game. Play Now is a quick pickup and play mode, which has online elements in both blacktop and Play Now online, Play now online is league knock out and reagation. It gets more difficult as you reach the higher levels, and you must win 8 at the highest. Black top you get to choose players from the history of the NBA on five on five battles. You can also play the days game in NBA Now (but they haven’t updated that video since I got the game)

The biggest changes deal with MyTeam, and the surrounding updating with My Career (I will mention this in Story Mode) it’s a way to collect players from both the past and the present to make a super team to go against your friends, and like Play Now Online, you have to win a certain amount of matches to go to the next level. This section gets a lot of risk and reward, and I am impressed with some of the ideas in this section.

Online does need some improvement, but this is a very good start for the NBA 2k series, which has been marred with all the online issues for years.

Intangibles:

The level of work on the game feels like a mix of what TNT and ESPN does for the NBA. The addiction of Messrs. Johnson, O’Neal and Smith is a interesting touch, while Harlan (from CBS NCAA and TNT NBA) Kellogg and Hardy are serviceable (even though Kerr was much better – he is now working on the other side of the court). The way they handed VC this year is fair, and the store to dress your CAP (created player) has most of the mainstream brands. Since the game took place during the “Gambling but Skill, LoL” bubble of 2015, dealing with DraftKings and Fanduel, you will see some adverts for the game around, but its seems to be much more muted. The TV like production has to be commended from 2K, we are seeing a certain care and flair with how the game feels and acts. They should have let some things that worked in the other games stay, but this is a fine job. The biggest boon to this game and what makes this game the new king of sports games is the customization. It’s beyond the scope of any game of its type in years. My GM does this more explicitly, but you can move a team – set their rates for food, customize the court, how the trades are done etc. You could also do this in the main game as well, from number of games played, to play off setup and so on. MLB The Show does this to an extent, but not nowhere near the same level. The game is so deep in what you can do – I consider this the first truly Next Gen Sports title, it is the best work I have seen any western developer not named Rockstar, and should be commended for they work they put out on this game this year.

2KTV is a video series that interviews the players from the NBA and tips in how to get better in the game. Its NBA Inside Stuff should have been if it wasn’t government mandated etc. It is short, well-done production wise, and actually interesting at points. They connect it to a HyperVideo (that’s right there is something called HyperVideo Protocol look it up) concept called 2K Interactive which allows the user to gain VC and vote on moves that took place in MyPark that were outstanding. And not to forget – they show the winners of the MyPark and plan to show the winners of the Road To the Playoffs in Pro Am (they are a part of a tournament series where they get rewarded with a new basketball park In My Park, and in Pro Am, $250,000 and a trip to the NBA Finals)

This however isn’t without the issues concerning in the music in the game, I get it – you have to be relevant and normalized, but the sad thing is you edit the stuff there not even curses, or what the world have you. This hurts the game and is one of the bad things about it. Not even anybody new? Only thing that was major disappointment in the whole game and Music should be one of the major compliments of the game! What a missed opportunity here.

Story (and My Career)

…You would think they would stop here… Nope, to continue to diffrencate itself from others – this year they got the services of Spike Lee to create a small movie (more like mini-series) dealing with the created character you will be using in the rest of the game. While the story was a tiny bit melodramatic, and tried to be “tough” – it was a ok try from Lee. The way that the story sort of continues after the series ends is a good touch. The rest of My Career is to gain VC, new moves for your created player – and new connections and sponsorships in order to unlock said moves, shoes and so on. You can also access My Park and Pro-Am here, which keeps the game going. What I get the sense is that the normal mode and the MyCareer mode do similar things but handle it differently. I think that they should do more with next year’s story – this year was more like a test – a semi successful one at that. I would love others to get their hands on the story of the game – I have a few ideas but there for some other time.

The Verdict:

NBA 2K16 is the gold standard for sports video games. Sony’s MLB The show comes close – but due to Baseball’s flagging popularity and regional fanbase – it will always feel like its misses some sort of potential. NBA 2K16 is the result of a choice made back when the NFL made Madden the flagship product and EA the exclusive rights holder. Every sports franchise became exclusive – except the NBA’s. Live later died out because EA couldn’t compete and it will take 5 more years and one more generation of console gaming for NBA Live to even reach respectability. This is the result – NBA 2k16 is – better then Madden as it is constituted right now. There is too much in the way options, game modes, configurations, setups and production that the 2K folks need to be commended even despite the small issues that can be fixed and the music over censorship. Even if you’re not a fan of basketball or even sports games, this game must be commended for when Bethesda keeps having game breaking bugs from Skyrim to Fallout and issues with frame rate and many other problems many western developers have with their year sport and non-sport franchises, NBA 2K 16 is one of the best representations of western game development in this generation of video games. The only thing other than the issues with the foot animations, the over stretching of the arms when a player is running down the court and somebody stops him, and the music censorship – is the success of the Warriors. They are playing lights out and Curry is shooting like crazy. How can anybody replicate that in a game and not call it game breaking? In that sense I really don’t want to be in the developers shoes. Despite all this – if you’re a NBA Fan. Run, drive, catch a damn plane and get this game for the PS4. IT IS NOT OPTIONAL. If you not a NBA fan? Still get this game – it IS NOT OPTIONAL. Even if you’re a COD fan or fangirl (sending love to Kilraq, sup…) GET THIS GAME. HOLY SHIT ITS NOT OPTIONAL. Just look at it as a work of art – and I mean Van Gogh and Menias Levels son! Just know that western developers still have chops when they hire for merit, talent, and honesty – instead of filling a checklist full of quotas.

Thank you very much for watching this review of NBA 2K 16, This is Novid from Laststation District 4, check us out on this YouTube page, twitch channel, we have streams between Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Fight Night Fridays. Special Saturday streams will be announced as well. Follow us on Twitter at ThePlaystationZ, On our web portal and now on Discord. That’s right Discord. We are also on PlayStation Communities – just add Me on PSN and put in Join in the community to join.

Until Next Time…

Later.