First of all, I want to say the core gameplay seems to play quite well. I believe it plays much better than current-gen out of the box. Many of my complaints about current-gen 2K14 were addressed.
I also understand that not all modes could make it to Next-Gen from Current-Gen. It's unrealistic to expect all of our pet modes and features to make the transition to a new platform from day one. What I expected, however, was that the core gameplay would keep nearly all of its features or be enhanced. Unfortunately, this was not the case.
I hate to be alarmist or hyperbolic, but as great as all the improvements were in Next-Gen 2K, strategic depth from one side of the ball has been COMPLETELY removed.
Defensive settings are no longer present in Next-Gen 2K.
We are no longer able to set:
Individual double teams.
Individual defensive pressure on-ball.
Individual defensive pressure off-ball.
Pick and roll defense.
Pick and roll hedge.
My guess is that this has been replaced by the Points of Emphasis system. The latter, while nice, is NOT nearly the equivalent of establishing defensive schemes tailored to the strength and weaknesses of each player of the opposing team. It appears to be the equivalent of last year's Quick Defensive settings.
While you can key on particular players or limit the type of shots a team gets, you cannot scheme for, say the Timberwolves who have a mix of guys with a variety of strengths and weaknesses you want to take away or exploit by:
On ball:
Sagging off on Rubio (who can't shoot)
Normal/tight on Love (who you don't want to leave open outside)
Playing tight on Martin (who is their primary outside threat)
Sagging off Pekovic (who isn't an outside threat)
Playing normal on Brewer (who is a bit of an all-around scorer)
Nor can you scheme for them off ball:
Sagging off on Rubio
Deny on Love (who you may not want to leave)
Playing tight on Martin
Sagging off Pekovic
Playing normal on Brewer (who you don't want to play tight off-ball because he loves to backdoor)
Nor can you gameplan your pick and roll defense:
Go Under and Soft hedge on Rubio (to deny him dribble penetration with no threat of midrage shot).
Go Over and Hard hedge on Martin (to deny him outside looks).
One single Points of Emphasis Setting is insufficient to properly defend their eclectic mix of offensive talent.
Removing Defensive Settings from the defensive side of the game is the equivalent of removing playcalling from the offensive side.
I hope Defensive Settings might be added back in a patch. Now, I understand that there may be some conflict between how Defensive Settings and Defensive Points of Emphasis would work, but allow the Emphasis to layer on top of the Defensive Settings (which is what I expected), or allow one of the Emphasis options be to stick with the defensive scheme.
Coach settings also seem to be unchangeable in the middle of the game aside from three options (and none of which was Help Defense which is extremely important). Not being able to easily tailor my Help D by Defensive Settings OR Coach Settings seems a staggering omission, given that the NBA is all about help and team defense.
There is now nearly zero simulation depth on the defensive side of the ball if we're forced to pick from one of a few schemes rather than tailor our defense scheme. I had admired 2K for giving us nearly everything needed for simulation defensive gameplay but this has now been completely gutted. Many of us can lament but accept that modes have been lost or changed in the Next-Gen transition, but having half of the core game take a HUGE step back in sim gameplay is a serious blow especially with how well done everything else seems to be. Imagine if Defensive Settings were removed from current-gen tomorrow leaving us only with Quick Defensive settings.
I can't understand this decision aside from a misplaced worry that complicated defensive menus might scare casuals even though they never did before. I also know Defensive and Coach Settings (mid game) weren't removed because people weren't using them. These were the two most popular adjustments online. Yes, some settings were overly effective and not well balanced (like setting everything to tight/deny), but they were definitely used and just needed some balancing.
I would really appreciate that this was added back into the game through a patch this year, and that we don't need to wait another year to have basic defensive functionality added back into the core game.
Update 11/20/2013: Added suggestions on how to get them back into the game and co-exist with the Points of Emphasis system:
http://www.operationsports.com/forum...post2045687988
11-18-2013, 03:18 PM
