Quick impressions:
(+) The closeup graphics are a thing to behold. The skin textures they picked for this game are quite incredible. I am a bit disappointed that the graphics don't seem to stand out as much during the actual gameplay though.
(+) I love how the CPU plays a lot like a human. They were great at finding the open man and even passing out of a contested layup when they sensed the double team. REALLY caught me off guard just how human-like they play when they see a wide open man. Its also great to see players play like themselves; I loved watching kobe post his man regularly around the perimeter and try to get his fadeaway off.
(+) The emotion in the player faces is quite natural, and although it can sometimes make the players look a bit weird (and inaccurate in resemblance) overall it is a really nice touch.
(+) Finally saw some actual help defense. It was something that I didnt' necessarily see after the first couple play-throughs of the demo, but after a good deal of games I started to notice it more.
(-) I still see a bit too much sliding/mario running for my tastes. It appears that 2K decided to compensate in order to improve the overall smoothness of the animations. The animations are definitely some of the smoothest I've seen in a basketball game, but it comes at the expense of some very obvious sliding which can take a bit away from the immersion of the game.
(-) Still way too many successful errant passes. It may have something to do with the diffculty setting (anyone know what it is?), but I was disappointed to see so many bad passes being pulled off and not being tipped/intercepted by the defense. I want to see the CPU make me pay greatly for making such careless throws and I still dont' see enough of it, which brings me to my next issue:
(-) Still too many PITP. Because the CPU defense doesn't make you pay enough for errant passes and/or dribbling too much in the paint, you're given way too much leeway in the paint to do most of your scoring damage. This results in very high team FG%s that once again seem like they will be a big problem like previous iterations. We shouldn't have to do such extensive (and creative) slider settings in order to stop both our teams from shooting well over 50% from the field every game.
(-) This may be a minor nit-pick, but I still believe 2K should think about overhauling their uniform models next year. The player models in general are fine and in good proportion, but the way the jersey models in particular are modeled makes the players look a bit too boxy/bloated. Also, the way the jerseys move can be a bit unnatural and give off a foily/paper-like constitution.
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