NBA 2k11...is it the best 2k?

[The 24th Letter]

Quote: Originally Posted by Junior Moe

2K9 and 2K12 are actually two of my favorites. I felt less "stuck" in animations in 2k9. I was killing in the midrange game. It had a more natural flow. 2k12, IIRC, had the ball physics which made me change how I played. Plus defense was good and balanced and the CPU didn't just find ways to kill you in the paint. I play 2K12 on the PS3 more than 2K16 on the XB1 now for some strange reason.

Haha just shows the differences in perception I guess.

I think the term 'stuck in an animation' is misused a lot of the time.....but in 2k9, there were times you would literally get stuck in some kind of stasis if you did too many dribble moves. It was almost like that 'gallop' animation everyone hated last year but worse...

Couldn't stand it. Best thing about 2k9 was the soundtrack to me. Put me on to the Cool Kids...

All opinions at the end of the day though..I mentioned it before, but 2K11 has some of the most extensive 2 man animations in the series....everyone claims to hate those.....but they are reliable, lol

[SpeedyClaxton]

For me personally number one was 2K14 last gen. Game was just pinnacle of last gen, smooth without many sucking animations and pretty much responsive. When i think about these 'best 2K's' i take playing time as a reference because what's better indicator of a good game than how much certain game keeps you glued in front of TV.

I must add 2K12 was worst one with just non-existent defense, you just couldn't play it and that's all. Game was totally offensive orientated.

About these next gen titles, what can be said ? I'm not really feeling them, aside from nice and noticeable graphics jump from last gen, gameplay went straight downwards (like Kobe downwards..after achilles injury). Two man animations are just horrible, foul triggering occurs at most random times. I am getting flagrants for hands up defense ?? Most certain thing that comes to mind is nextgen titles are geared towards mass population (read: casuals), surely game looks pure sim when naked eye of spectator notices things like mouthguards, refs reviewing shots and many more graphical finesses to bring wow effect.

What happens under the hood is different story, clipping still being issue as it was (or even more) on lastgen. Balls going through hands, legs, limbs, backboards & rims, you wouldn't expect these things from a consoles that pride themselves on being par with high end PC's. Nevermind about that comparison but thing is there is no really excuse for clipping to exist at all. AI defenders as much as they are improved still show Bargnani-esque clueless wandering on defense.

NBA 2K15 had one thing that i couldn't chew at all and that was alley oops. In 2K15 alley oop was higher percentage than freaking layup, i mean people were abusing it to the point it was safer to throw an alley than to go straight to the rim for a chance of layup. Worst part of that is you couldn't stop alley oops or just say you could stop 1 out of 10. Next thing is warping or teleporting to say it simply, that occured in 2K15 as well as in 2K16. I remember on one instance playing vs Pelicans (2K15), Davis was standing at free throw line at moment of Holiday throwing alley oop, what happened is Davis warped/telepored under the basket to put it back into basket.

I would also like to add this momentum system that is really just too much sometimes. Basketball is surely game of runs and they do happen but not at this rate and certainly not such cheesy. Had multiple instances where during runs one team is getting flagrants, weird and high amount of turnovers where players just pass ball to opponent and stuff like that where you ask yourself is AI really improved or just playing it under some already determined scenario.

With all this being said, 2K14 just felt good IMO. Balanced gameplay with flaws but final product felt more organic and fluid, i hope 2K creates quality basketball game that doesn't need to bring in any more modes just fluid and organic gameplay, graphics are already good so they can concentrate on gameplay completely. Being a big 2K fan i hope for a good 2K17.

[Junior Moe]

Quote: Originally Posted by The 24th Letter

Haha just shows the differences in perception I guess. I think the term 'stuck in an animation' is misused a lot of the time.....but in 2k9, there were times you would literally get stuck in some kind of stasis if you did too many dribble moves. It was almost like that 'gallop' animation everyone hated last year but worse... Couldn't stand it. Best thing about 2k9 was the soundtrack to me. Put me on to the Cool Kids... All opinions at the end of the day though..I mentioned it before, but 2K11 has some of the most extensive 2 man animations in the series....everyone claims to hate those.....but they are reliable, lol

True. I'm cool with the animations for the most part. I just want them to trigger in more appropriate times. One of the things I loved about 2k9 was how I could pull up in the midrange after beating my guy. Now, there's about a 50/50 chance I'll take off for a layup. The court seemed bigger then, too. I know they say that the player models are to scale but it's noticeable how much larger they are this gen. Maybe the court is larger too. IDK. But your right. "Best" is all subjective. I think it shows though how 2K has tried and tweaked things and how different things are perceived.

[Crossover1]

2K needs to use the Fox Engine. Yeah I know, strange request.

[HowDareI]

No, it's not the best.

I had the best time playing it, but that was what, 6 years ago tho?

I still think 2K14 on 360/PS3 was the best all-around game and I'm sticking with that. Once they start polishing the game they have now I feel they'll get back to how great that game felt...

[ksuttonjr76]

After reading some of the thought provoking statements, I can safely say that no one is really complaining about the changes to OFFENSE as the game progressed over the years. As I'm reading some of my past posts, my biggest complaints since NBA 2K12 has been defense, defense, defense, defense. Yeah, I might complain about the shooting percentages, scoring droughts, and nonsensical turnovers, but defense has been my main complaint year after year.

NBA 2K12 had defense, but it was when they experimented with live ball physics. In NBA 2K12, you could play defense with your armpits which obviously wasn't realistic. NBA 2K13, the offense was overpowered with all the riding and slide by animations - oddly enough, AI defense was actually good and wasn't stupid. NBA 2K14, they "removed" the ability to block. NBA 2k15 wasn't too bad until they screwed up the shooting percentages with the infamous Patch 4.

The potential to have balanced gameplay between offense and defense IS possible, and was CLEARLY obvious when NBA 2K16 first dropped. What made NBA 2K11's defense great was that I could focus on the defensive side of the ball and stop or slow down my opponent. For my opponent to breakdown my defense, they HAD to use basketball knowledge. In NBA 2K11, it felt like a genuine on-the-fly game of basketball chess. Also, I didn't have to babysit my AI teammates like I do in NBA 2K16. Let's be real, the offense doesn't have to "babysit" their teammates, so why should the defense? In NBA 2K16, I feel like I'm playing with the coach and POE settings in hopes of finding the winning combinations to stop my opponent.

In NBA 2K11, the defense RESPONDED to my button presses with precision. There wasn't some "delay" or over exaggerated animation that took me out of the defensive play. In NBA 2K11, if I timed the block perfectly, the ball was blocked. Period...not maybe...not hopefully...the ball was blocked! That deterred people from attacking the paint recklessly on every possession, and forced my opponents to come into the paint with some type of gameplan. However, the shooting percentages was so d*mn balanced that the defense couldn't just camp out in the paint. As a player in online games, you had to be able to defend the paint AND perimeter. If I timed a steal perfectly, it was stolen. If I timed a charge perfectly, it was a charge. Period.

In NBA 2K11, closing out on shooters was more fluid and the follow through was better. Closing out on the shooters was more satisfying, BUT if your opponent used a pump fake then the offense could still make a high percentage play and the defense COULDN'T recover. In NBA 2K16, I feel like the close out animations stop just short of what would be an ideal block. As a result, the player is shooting just over the fingertips of the defense. Also, closing out plus blocking shooters is very artifical in some cases, because some of the stupid catch animations force you to bobble the ball in what should be a clean catch and shoot animations (not fair to the offense and giving players a fake sense of defense).

Lastly, on the ball defense was so much better. People want to complain that the "bump animation wasn't realistic and should be a foul". Well...here's an idea....STOP trying to TURBO into the defensive player, and you won't get the bump animations. You could play effective on-the-ball defense and NOT get pulled in a million directions by the defensive assistance PLUS you didn't ice skate or slide pass the ball handler when you feathered the LS or made a casual steal attempt with a single button press. To me, this has been 2K Sports' biggest crime since NBA 2K11...bad defense. Defense now feels more a like a game of chance,under the hood ratings, and luck (meaning that the offense didn't get a bailout call after 22 seconds of good defense).

[SpeedyClaxton]

@ksuttonjr Yeah man 2K11 was real deal in many aspects and i really love when defense & offense are balanced, so neither becomes overpowered.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJLnUhp9e84

This video ain't mine but happened to me a lot of times in 2K16, is this a way to reward good defense ? Needless to say, Curry drew a foul on that one.

[shadio5]

^^^great feedback fellas


2k11 should be the best strictly because they had the Mike Jordan one hand ball fake. Are you kidding me. There were so many animations on offense in 2k11. Also the height of the players on the court seem proper.


Why did 2k take out the Kobe lean over jump shots? That's how I know 2k used a completely new engine in 2k11. Lets remember that the dribble moves were also used with one button, which is why I think this freed up more space for many more signature animations. The graphics. The graphics are sooooooo much better in 2k11. How did they do that. The artist who did the models seem way better than in 2k16. Mike Jordan looks exactly like mike. KG had his long body frame. Kobe had his weird head shape. The GRAPHICS!!!!


I know why I stopped playing 2k11 now. Because on the consoles they kept on updating/patching the gameplay. Now that I'm playing it on PC I can now enjoy the game how it came without all patches which I think ruined the game for me.




VC/2k sports fan