NBA 2K12 Reviewer Gameplay Impressions

[mpt54]

Fun game highly recommended

[MilesTeg]

Re: NBA 2K12 Reviewer Gameplay Impressions

I've played every game in this series since litterally the first one (and NBA Action before that), spent hundreds of hours in each of them, some were amazing (2K11), others disappointing (2K10).

I just cannot believe the amount of praise NBA 2K12 got. It is, and I'm not exagerating, the worst basketball game I've ever played. The balance, controls and AI are atrocious, making the game almost unplayable. The simplest things like moving your selected player are incredibly broken, I got to the point where I wonder if 2K games made the game as awful as humanly possible to see what they could get away with.

And indeed they can get away with a lot. Judging by what I see on the net, people are too focused on presentation and great features like being able to market your own shoe (what the hell?!!) to even notice a horrible gameplay.

You see, in the past I used to rant on the imperfections of the game, like the passing system and the always very bad playcalling. With NBA 2K12, I can't even complain about that. I'd just like to be able to move my character. I'd like to just be able to play a little bit of defense on bad one on one plays, or play a somewhat organised offense without the feeling I'm shooting myself in the foot for not just running forward with James.

But all I can do is watch as my players do their own thing, my defense doomed to remain an disorganised mess of players running in the wrong direction, no matter what defensive settings I choose (and I did experiment and play this game a lot in case anyone is wondering; I was in denial for a while and thought I was the problem).

I completely lost faith in this series, the critics, and the players. I just don't understand how people can be so blind, so focused on the superficial. The worst part is that when I mention the big, unsurmountable problems of this game people generally agree but they still keep playing like nothing's wrong. Is gameplay not important? Is it more important to get a cheesy post game conference and your own virtual shoe deal than to get a well balanced game?