What made 2k11 such a great game?

[boltokPwnage04]

Re: What made 2k11 such a great game?

There are so many game modes now you have to be specific when describing a game. I strictly play online ranked games. NBA 2k11 was the best ever because the game felt rewarding due to better balance than 2k12 and 2k13.

* Jumpshots had well timed releases - they weren't too quick or too slow. These flick shots the game is going towards aren't run, nor rewarding. Visual Concepts has taken away the art of knowing a player's release in place of making it more easy and arcade-like to shoot.

* 3 pt. % toned down - The uber competitive nature of online games gear towards the easiest path to victory. If 3 pointers are easy to make then people will pick whoever has a high rating and take three's all game. You couldn't randomly take three's all game in 2k11 or you would lose.

* Nothing felt cheap - If someone scored on you, they earned it whether it was inside the paint or outside. This kept you engaged the whole game, on defense and made mid-range jumpers, drives to the hoop, dunks and 3's all seem more rewarding and monumental.

* Plays - With defense being better it forces you to run plays and rewards you for running plays

If it's too easy to score then the game is not as engaging or fun. That's why I played more games in NBA 2k11 than 2k12 and 2k13 combined. The only reason I played 2k the past two years is because I'm a NBA gaming junkie. The past two releases weren't fun for me.

[rhein77]

Re: What made 2k11 such a great game?

I loved 2K11 so much because of a combination of things.

a) The jump from 2k10 to 2k11 was astronomical! Just look at the little things thread that year compared to 12 and 13.

b) Jordan being on the cover with the ability to play with him as well as some of his greatest games was huge as well. I spent ALOT of time in that mode!

c) Classic Teams!!!! Need I say more.

d) Signature styles were alive and oozing out of the game. some players had 3 releases if I remember correctly. Signature size-ups, flick flick moves. I can go on and on.

d) Defense was represented well in the game. The skill gap was wider on that game than 12 or 13. If you did not know releases or the strenghts of your team... You would lose...

To be honest... If they would of thought of the triangle button push to enter the post instead of the hold L2 and R2 at the same time... I would still be playing that game.

It was a essentially a perfect storm with the jump in features from 2k10, Jordan signing on, Classic Teams, and the Wang guy coming back to right the ship.

[stillfeelme]

Re: What made 2k11 such a great game?

From a gameplay standpoint

• Defense
• Balanced gameplay
• Realistic stats results with just sim sliders
• Not too many overpowering moves it did have some though.
• Harder shot releases
• emphatic blocks, and actual forced contact layups

It wasn't perfect though.

[JasonWilliams55]

Re: What made 2k11 such a great game?

From a gameplay standpoint

• Defense *defense is back
  
• Balanced gameplay *gameplay has been retuned and balanced
• Realistic stats results with just sim sliders *realistic stats... have to wait and see
• Not too many overpowering moves it did have some though. *moves... overpowered? wait and see
• Harder shot releases *shot releases... with RS hold now, wait and see
• emphatic blocks, and actual forced contact layups *blocks are back and so is contact in/around paint

It wasn't perfect though.

14... looking to be special if it holds up to the rigorous OS users.

[Mrleaderboards]

Re: What made 2k11 such a great game?

Crew Mode
Defense vs offense was balanced
Blockable shots &Dunks
Tight controls
Great Spacing of the court
My player pick up games
Stat tracking for individual and crew members
Isomotion Controls were at their finest.
Manual Iso gathers


Where have all these great ideas gone? Who is actually responsible for
Giving the greenlight to remove great modes and certain gameplay aspects??

[stillfeelme]

Re: What made 2k11 such a great game?

14... looking to be special if it holds up to the rigorous OS users.

JWill,

I have little doubt 2K14 will be better than 13, 12, and 11. Some of the stuff they haven't even touched on yet will be the playbook, play speed of 2K14 is a sim head's dream. They fixed that play speed issue. The plays are running so fast that it doesn't look like a play is being ran.

• Better defense than 11
• Better playbook than 13
• Better control than 11-13
• Better "live" ball than 12
• Better spacing than 11-14
• Better living roster than 11-14 (hopefully)
• Better CPU AI than 11-14

[TeeDogg]

Re: What made 2k11 such a great game?

While I think the series got better each year ( as a whole ). But one thing I liked about 11 was the left stick control. Xovers, stutter crosses, and just direction changes were very responsive and effective tools against the D(CPU). Advanced controls were icing on the cake.

The hardest thing about moving to the new release every year is giving up your favorite nuances of the game to learn the new one. I'm never burned out on the previous years game when the new one hits.

[ESB32CrowBonez]

Re: What made 2k11 such a great game?

Basically Everything, everyone has mentioned, it was the complete package.

• Lobbies online Hof, Superstar etc.
• MYPLAYER at its peak.
• Graphics, Presentation visuals were Stunning
• Gameplay was truly great. Only two problems with gameplay ,there were a lot of morphing threw another player and less contact in the paint, in terms of using post players.
• So many Game Modes, so you can never get bored.

The CPU doesn't cheat not nearly as much as 2k12 or 2k13.
IF they were to stamp over 2k11 and put 2k14 with updated rosters and shoes included. I would buy it.

[The 24th Letter]

Re: What made 2k11 such a great game?

Defense....which was helped by what everyone supposedly wants to get rid of: two man animations

[GradyMac]

Re: What made 2k11 such a great game?

I think I remember 2k11:
-hacks
-hopstep into the lane for easy score
-nearly unstoppable alley oops
-double spin/post spin dunk
-icon lead passing very difficult to stop
-online code caused regular crashes

[stlpimpmonsta]

Re: What made 2k11 such a great game?

Everything you named gameplay wise was fixed in the first patch. Hell after the patch the moves were useless Especially the hop spin which became auto offencive foul if anyone was there after the patch.

[shegotgame]

Re: What made 2k11 such a great game?

Revisionist history.

[AdamBa17]

Re: What made 2k11 such a great game?

2k11 was not a better game than 2k13. people just keep saying it was better because it was a big jump after 2k10.

Not true. You need to go back and watch videos on YouTube or play it again. Not saying that 13 is bad at all though, I love it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free

[spankdatazz22]

Re: What made 2k11 such a great game?

I think there's a bit of revisionist history that's occurring with it too. Not unlike what people have done with NFL2K5, APF... both games I love btw. And respect for what they got right. But they weren't perfect. I remember when Madden fans would laugh at the "stick-up-the-butt" running animation for 2K5, and they were right. But you rarely hear anyone bring that up years later, or many of the games' faults. But the games did a lot right.

With NBA2K11 I remember thinking it really wasn't that big a jump from 2K10. The game was probably the most balanced 2K basketball game up until that point, but weren't any HUGE gameplay enhancements. Was mainly the addition of Jordan, the Jordan modes, (that intial into to the game remains spectacular), Crew, and Elite crashing and burning in an extraordinary fashion. I downloaded the 2K11 demo about a month ago and remember:

- feeling pretty lost from a controls standpoint. There wasn't much you could do on defense other than try to stand in front of the offensive player, the cpu pretty much did everything because you could roughhouse the offensive player to make him pick up his dribble - were no defensive options. Dribbling was no where near as intuitive; needed to be Mortal Kombat-level dexterous to pull of all the moves available

- There was the infamous "crab-walk"/inability to walk the ball up that people complained messed up the timing of the gameplay overall - I didn't feel that way, but it was a really awkward looking animation

- Big men were extremely nimble and fast

- People complained about the lack of fast breaks

- Practically no bounce passes

- Online people incessantly cherry picking

- the constant complaining about the playbooks

I didn't know anything about Crew but kept seeing people complaining about how 2K needed to do something to fix it. So I decided to find out more: this was back when Pared was still a mod and there were some Crew players going off on 2K about the hackers. The more I read, the more I realized Crew people were really complaining... about other Crew players lol. They wanted a sandbox and 2K gave it to them, and they got mad because their fellow players weren't adhering to some unspoken code of conduct. I remember a few people even going so far as to say "If [2K] isn't going to fix it, they should take it away!". Lol we see how that turned out - those people flipped out the next year.

Anyways I still loved it for what it did really well, which was a lot. And the soundtrack was great. But too many people here act like it was some perfect godsend and that everything before/after it sucked. Which causes a backlash; like people need to pit 2K's own games against each other

[Optik]

Re: What made 2k11 such a great game?

* Jordan on the cover - this combined with the fact that Live didn't release in 11, kind of sparked the beginning of the era when only 2K was brought up when the average person talked about bball video gaming. Ever since 2K11, NBA 2K has been frequently described as the best sports game. I personally couldn't care less whether or not Jordan was on the cover or in the game. Jordan Challenges didn't interest me, but it did for a lot of people who watched him play live, and 2K were able to grow a market share amongst the 30+ crowd. Also, the effect of having him of the cover, indicated to casual players that they were buying a quality product. MJ wouldn't just put his brand on any old pile of junk. It's probably the best business move 2K have ever made.

* Individuality - this is something missing from 2K12, 2K13 and possibly 2K14. Over the past few years, the game has forfeited individuality as the user gains more control. Dribble moves like putting the ball between your legs were packaged in little 3 second movies, but they were nice to look at. Jordan's famous dribble between the legs and his one-handed pass fake, Kobe's signature pivot and spin, Rondo's dream shake, Jamal Crawford's shake and bake - all these signature moves made the game diverse and helped differentiate players in a way that no other 2K game has done. They even did the signature shots better back then.

* Balance - the balance between the offence and the defence is something I'll be looking for in 2K14. The dribbling into traffic wasn't easy, and you couldn't just go where you wanted. Part of this was achieved by 2-man animations which serve a purpose. IRL, you can't just stop on a dime when you feel like it and decide you want to instantaneously move in another direction. You don't always have control.

* Game modes (what we've lost) - online leagues were designed much better than the ones we have now. It didn't require friend requesting and you didn't have problems with people vetoing trades. We had a situation mode which would be even more useful now. Crew was a mess, but people still played it. Quick ranked was good, it wasn't so easy to score as it is now, where scores are inflated. In 2K11 the average total number of points would be about 80 per game. People are scoring 80 with one team regularly on 5 min quarters.

* Revisionist history - people forget that defence worked unrealistically. You can't continuously bump players in today's NBA and get away with it. Hop step cheese, spin dunking and power dunking online were horrible. As I said before, Crew was a mess with hacked players, long waiting and awful lag. The lead pass was overpowered. Playbooks were very simplistic (compared to now ofc). Post game was one-dimensional.