NBA 2K17 Review

September 26, 2016 0

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The NBA 2K17 Pre-Review Show

The NBA 2K series always brings a top-tier experience that not only appeals to Basketball purest, but casual fans alike. Whether you were in it to run your team to the championships through Franchise mode, looking to rise yourself through the ranks to become a legend in My Career, or just playing online with your buddies there was something there for everyone. NBA 2K17 carries on this trend with some small tweaks to the gameplay, and enhancements to some of the game modes; but is it enough to be worth the purchase?

MyCareer is quite possibly the most popular mode in the 2K series, and it is evident that it was the focus in terms of enhancements. Starting off as a high school standout referred to as “Prez” you work your way through the college league to draft day where you get selected to a team based on your performance in college. Don’t expect to see much positive feedback from the scouts though, because unless you perform a triple double it’s not enough it seems. Once drafted to a team, you meet your teammate Justice Young (Creed Star Michael B. Jordan). In between games you have the option to train within your “facility” with a full Basketball court; from time to time other players will even show up.

As you progress through the Career you earn points each game to either enhance your player by raising stats, purchasing new animations, or just buying new clothing off the court. If you’ve got money to throw around you can also purchase VC to enhance your player even faster. This does create a gap for players trying to build up their player through grinding through games.

Training with the team allows you to earn VC to purchase upgrades to be the best player on the court.

If you are looking for more of a challenge, without the story, you can take your player online through MyPark mode. Allowing you to play online against other created players in a 3 vs 3 streetball. This not only allows you to build up your player by still earning VC points, but it allows you to get to try the online. We can only hope that next time around the servers are fixed up a bit to prevent the massive amounts of lag appear.

For those looking for more of a pure Basketball experience, without the storyline, 2K’s core game modes return. Play now is the mode you’ll most likely start with to see how the game plays. You’ll have your choice at not only current teams, but historic teams from the past, and teams from across the world. Being able to play the 95 Bulls vs the 2000 Lakers is a sight to behold. MyTeam, and MyGm return for those looking for more of an in-depth Basketball game experience.

NBA 2K17 refines a lot of the gameplay mechanics of last year’s title, adding in some features from their former competitor NBA Live. The most notable addition to the gameplay in NBA 2K17 is the shot stick. Allowing players to use the right stick to not only perform moves to pass the defender, but also shoot too. While this new mechanic is a nice addition, I’ve found it cumbersome trying to perform a crossover because the analog recognizes it as pump fake. Additionally, there is now smart play calling which allows you to set up plays based on the scenario, such as setting pick-n-rolls while on the outside to easily move towards to the paint.

Smart Play calling makes setting pick and rolls as easy as a button press.

The NBA 2K series brings the most realistic and entertaining to Basketball fans, and 2K17 is no different. MyCareer is in-depth and will make you feel like you’ve gotten your money’s worth from it alone; and the return of popular game modes such MyGM add to the value. Online still suffers from lag that can ruin an otherwise enjoyable online match. NBA 2K17 cements the 2K series dominance over the Basketball gaming genre.