NBA 2K14 Reviews From Around the Web

[sniapeko]

Re: NBA 2K14 Reviews From Around the Web

from BR's review:
"The Association mode is also largely unchanged, with the exception of improvements to free agent logic from CPU-controlled teams and a more realistic way to handle injuries and recovery.

Players will be forced to play limited minutes upon their return to the lineup while they recover from more serious injuries.

I simulated an entire season and saw much more plausible decisions being made on free agents during the offseason."

I'm an avid Association player, as I can't stand the online cheese-fest, and don't really care about MYPlayer, so this is a deal-breaker for me. Free agency logic and injuries really needed to be fixed, and I'm glad they did.
Now, if only players/coach logic were fixed (for ex. Manu Ginobili growing unhappy during the season and requesting a trade because he's relegated to 6th man role), that would be a sure buy for me

[Steve_OS]

Re: NBA 2K14 Reviews From Around the Web

Just added Complex Gaming review to the OP.

[Red Kafe]

Re: NBA 2K14 Reviews From Around the Web

No New Jimmy Butler face makes me super sad


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[jaateloauto]

Re: NBA 2K14 Reviews From Around the Web

Sports game reviews on gaming press are worthless to anyone who plays the games actively. Read a lot of those, didn't find anything informational. If anyone can find anything useful in there I'd appreciate it if they can quote it here.

Stuff like association, OA, crews, other online modes, anything really that's changed from before.

I really don't know if it's worth buying it for current gen. Maybe I'll just wait for next gen.

[JasonWilliams55]

Re: NBA 2K14 Reviews From Around the Web

From the Complex Gaming Review: Spoilered for length, parts I found interesting/liked. Bolded emphasis mine.

Spoiler

The new blocking mechanic makes post defense a lot more fun with big men like Roy Hibbert and even active wings like LeBron James and Andre Iguodala. Blocking from behind is a real possibility now, with chasedowns and weakside defense coming into greater prominence. It goes a long way to making teams built around big men (Memphis Grizzlies, Indiana Pacers) more fun and viable options. That said, the removal of auto-contest -- which went a long way towards making defense feel smooth in 2K13 -- will be a speed bump if you’ve grown used to it. Simply standing up to defenders in the post will likely not trouble their shots; you now have to actively block them both in the paint and on the perimeter. Some will cheer this decision while other will just have to get used to it.

The fast break has also received a welcome tune-up from the last few iterations of the series. It’s now possible to get out ahead of the defense, with faster, smaller players outrunning big men and athletic players finishing with slam dunks on the break. Without tweaking the settings, the balance feels about right: you probably score at the rim a few times a game if you’re really looking for it and turn it over or get stopped about the same number of times.

There are little touches as well. For example, defenders biting on pump fakes will come crashing down into the shooter and knock them to the floor on occasion, and the ball in general feels a little less glued to players, resulting in more 50-50 balls on the floor.

It’s not all gravy, though. The rebounding in particular remains squishy and sometimes ghostly. I frequently saw three defenders go up for a rebound and then just slough off to the side of the offensive player who grabbed it for an easy putback. In fact, against the CPU it feels like any offensive rebound they get around the hoop is an automatic bucket, while your own offensive rebounds feel like a coin flip.

This disconnect in rebounding is also only the most obvious symptom of a more pervasive lack of genuine physicality in the game. For whatever reason -- and this may be down to endless tinkering with finesse elements over the years -- NBA 2K14 lacks a certain visceral weight on the court. Dunks in the paint don’t have quite the oomph one would expect, nor even on fast break alley-oops from LeBron. Earlier versions of the game (maybe 2K2 or 2K3) somehow felt heavier, a feeling whose return I would welcome in the next generation.

This is maybe how the overall level of realism the game achieves also serves to highlight the moments when it fails, as when CPU playcalling results in players standing stock still waiting for a play to develop. This leads to things like Chris Kaman isolations beyond the 3-point line (a thing I saw multiple times in one game against the Lakers) that ruin the illusion of competent play the CPU generates when it does smart things like entering and re-entering the ball into the post or exploiting mismatches. The latter actually seems to be a mixed bag in terms of awareness; sometimes the CPU is very savvy about it while at other times it completely misses Derrick Rose matched up against Roy Hibbert on the perimeter.

There also seem to be a preponderance of bailouts for the CPU on offense. If the shot clock gets under five seconds, shots seem to magically stick to the rim and drop or else fouls get called with eerie regularity. In spite of this, the seesaw of the games feels good and balanced. With evenly matched teams, the first half will stay close until one team can grab momentum and surge ahead, at which point it’s up to the other team to turn the tide. The crowd’s reaction during these momentum shifts is the best I’ve seen it in NBA 2K with a realistic roar building as a team builds a ten-point lead or falling silent as the opposing team cuts into it.

It feels like 2K punted on some things in anticipation of next gen. Create-A-Player, for example, is exactly the same as last year, with no new hairstyles or tattoos or accessories. Oh wait: Now there’s a wristband with “I Promise” written on it because LeBron wears them (prominently so in the opening cinematic). It might seem minor, but I am sick to death of “The Patch” hairstyle (which Drew Gooden invented and hasn’t had since 2007). Player style needs a good freshening up.

CONCLUSION
NBA 2K14 for the PS3 and Xbox 360 is the Fast and Furious 6, the Saw 3D of video games. It’s not a brand new idea, it’s not a reboot. It’s the result of all the lessons Visual Concepts and 2K Sports have learned in this console generation, and yet it struggles against its own excellence. For the hundred things we now take for granted, there are a few new things that work brilliantly and a few old things they still struggle to get right. This is the struggle any maker of an iterative franchise takes up, but it’s a worthy one.

At its heart, NBA 2K14 is a tremendously enjoyable vision of basketball if what you enjoy is NBA 2K’s vision of basketball. At the level of complexity that sports simulations have achieved, it’s hard to call any control scheme “intuitive,” but NBA 2K14 has moved a step closer to a smooth interaction between controller and controlled on the court. The reward for a well-timed no-look pass to a streaking player for a thunderous dunk is palpable.

Perhaps this is what makes LeBron the perfect cover athlete for this swansong: never as monomaniacally driven (some would say sociopathic) as Kobe Bryant, James has always been a cerebral player, seeking to improve his game from all angles, searching for a comprehensive toolset that incorporates court vision, deft post play, an understanding of shot efficiency and intelligent defense into his own preternatual athleticism. His version of dominance is not based on destruction so much as consumption, on devouring and repurposing every element of the game he can get his hands on.

Like LeBron, NBA 2K14 is a victim of its own success. At some point, it got so far ahead of the pack that it’s been the only serious choice for video game basketball for the last three years. In spite of being the only kid on the playground, NBA 2K has continued to build, to work on itself. And many will still say it’s not enough.

LeBron’s right: Basketball isn’t easy, and neither is simulating it. Whatever the next generation of consoles brings -- from greater graphical fidelity to staggeringly deep stat-tracking and ratings updates to genuinely revolutionary ways to understand the game -- NBA 2K14 for the current generation stands as an achievement of depth and breadth, the culmination of years of tinkering and the most comprehensive virtual basketball experience yet.

[ryantheplague]

Re: NBA 2K14 Reviews From Around the Web

that complex review was really good and seemed to illustrate the same frustrations i had with 2k13.

i just cancelled my preorder for current gen. i don't think enough has changed to warrant $60, especially with not being able to 'feel the difference' with a demo. also, if they're getting rid of vc, then what's the point of pre-ordering anyway? i'm going to wait until the best buy by my work has it on demo and then we'll see. i truly, truly hope that the next gen version blows us all away.

i thought there was some new feature that was supposed to blow us all away for current/next gen? are the reviewers not allowed to discuss that?

[jaosming]

Re: NBA 2K14 Reviews From Around the Web

I was very impressed by that Complex review. Well written and detailed. Had a lot of negatives in it, which IMO don't line up with its 9/10 score, but well worth the read, or at least JW55's highlights

[RyanFitzmagic]

Re: NBA 2K14 Reviews From Around the Web

the removal of auto-contest

smfh

Options. Why not give us the OPTION of keeping it on? Turn it off for default ranked online. Who gives a damn? But don't make us follow YOUR rules when we're playing what's supposed to be a fully customizable offline video game.

[clipperfan811]

Re: NBA 2K14 Reviews From Around the Web

From the Complex Gaming Review: Spoilered for length, parts I found interesting/liked.

That said, the removal of auto-contest -- which went a long way towards making defense feel smooth in 2K13 -- will be a speed bump if you’ve grown used to it

I like that the auto-contest is gone, I want the arms to stay straight up as long as I hold the stick. I'd always set it to manual anyways but something about the mechanic still felt out of my control.

Simply standing up to defenders in the post will likely not trouble their shots; you now have to actively block them both in the paint and on the perimeter

We're going to have to do some testing to verify this. It seems really out of character for 2k to have the hands up do absolutely nothing to affect the shot. For now I call BS on that one.

The crowd’s reaction during these momentum shifts is the best I’ve seen it in NBA 2K with a realistic roar building as a team builds a ten-point lead or falling silent as the opposing team cuts into it.

This sounds nice, it seems like we hear they've improved crowd reactions every year, lets see if this year it's actually noticeably improved.

[shegotgame]

Re: NBA 2K14 Reviews From Around the Web

That Complex review is poorly written (or poorly edited). Good luck reading it. I gave up after skimming the first page.

[JasonWilliams55]

Re: NBA 2K14 Reviews From Around the Web

i thought there was some new feature that was supposed to blow us all away for current/next gen? are the reviewers not allowed to discuss that?

It must be NG only then. I ain't lying when I said, all they said was "mindblowing... better than MyPlayer + Crew... make you forget about those modes". That is it, nothing more, I assumed both gens, but as for right now, I am thinking only NG.

I was very impressed by that Complex review. Well written and detailed. Had a lot of negatives in it, which IMO don't line up with its 9/10 score, but well worth the read, or at least JW55's highlights

I get ya on this, but as the reviewer said:

"Like LeBron, NBA 2K14 is a victim of its own success. At some point, it got so far ahead of the pack that it’s been the only serious choice for video game basketball for the last three years. In spite of being the only kid on the playground, NBA 2K has continued to build, to work on itself. And many will still say it’s not enough."

The game is not brand new but its still better than previous even with all its faults.

[The 24th Letter]

Re: NBA 2K14 Reviews From Around the Web

Playing 2k11 a lot lately, I am ok with auto contest being gone...I absolutely hated the hitch when contesting shots..

[clipperfan811]

Re: NBA 2K14 Reviews From Around the Web

Call me crazy but Path to Greatness actually sounds like it could be fun. Definitely a one time through thing for me but I honestly thought very little of it when I first heard about it. That's changing a bit.

From the Complex Review

Even without the new array of options at your command, the passes are crisper without feeling cheap; you’ll still get picked off if you blindly dump it into traffic in the post, but there are far fewer eyes-in-the-back-of-their-heads plays from defenders.

This might be what has me most excited though, passing has left such a bad taste in my mouth the past few years, really beginning with 2k12.

Overall I think 2k14 will be just about what I expected it to be.

[Slava Medvadenko]

Re: NBA 2K14 Reviews From Around the Web

Kotaku:

I've got to be blunt, by any measure I am objectively bad at simulation-quality basketball, owing to an overall lack of familiarity with how the game is played in real life.

Lord almighty. Whats so hard about yelling in the office, "Hey, anyone watch basketball? Even better, anyone play NBA 2k? Then you're reviewing the game."

[Sportsfan1889]

Re: NBA 2K14 Reviews From Around the Web

This might be what has me most excited though, passing has left such a bad taste in my mouth the past few years, really beginning with 2k12.

Overall I think 2k14 will be just about what I expected it to be.

same here.