NBA 2K14 News Post

65 Days Later: The State of NBA 2K14

02:44 PM - January 20, 2014 by RaychelSnr

The strongest aspect of NBA 2K14, next to its graphics, is its gameplay. While the jump from PlayStation 3 to PlayStation 4 may not have improved the series' on-court behavior as significantly as fans were anticipating, few impactful flaws in the gameplay exist in the current product. The brilliant post-up system contains more moves than a bowl of Jell-O. The retooled pick-and-roll mechanic offers so many different possibilities and variable outcomes that you can literally run it every trip down the court and never become bored.

Just when you try to put the gameplay to use in the modes, that's where the wheels have come off...

Read More - 65 Days Later: The State of NBA 2K14

Game: NBA 2K14Reader Score: 6.5/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PC / PS3 / PS4 / Wii U / Xbox 360 / Xbox OneVotes for game: 98 - View All

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Member Comments

# 1 King_B_Mack @ 01/20/14 02:57 PM

I'm sorry, but LOL at the dudes clipping in the image there. That's hilarious.

# 2 stalefsh @ 01/20/14 03:10 PM

I think this article did a great job summing up NBA2K14. This was my most anticipated game to play on the PS4 and has unquestionably been the most disappointing.

I mainly play MyTeam and it has been super frustrating to say the least. Players pausing the game before tip off, and them waiting for me to quit. I'm sure they still get the 4500 points but I don't select quit. I wait for that timer to run out and select continue. I've done it as much as 5 times for a single match before they've either played the game or gave up on me and quit themselves. Sucks waiting and bull****ing for 10-15 minutes but it puts a smile on my face that I disrupted their plans

# 3 asu666 @ 01/20/14 03:14 PM

I returned my copy defective and went back to my NBA 2K13 Association. I'm wondering if NBA 2K13 will turn into NFL 2K5 or College Hoops 2K8 for me, since I do not plan to purchase another 2K basketball game until some sanity and polish returns to the series.

Also, I plan to give NBA Live a try next year if 2K insists on continuing down the single player hating, microtransactions loving road it's on now. It unacceptable to ruin such a great franchise with horrible server connectivity mandates across single player modes and then take it a step further by not even messing up the game properly with stable servers, so no one notices until server support stops and their disc is a coaster.

# 4 Flightwhite24 @ 01/20/14 03:43 PM

Great write up

# 5 DirtyJerz32 @ 01/20/14 03:49 PM

Nice write up Jayson. These issues below are the MAIN reason I've only played a handful of games.

AI defenders overhelp, abandoning their man in situations where they should be staying home.
Shooting percentages are way too high; jump shots are too easy to make.
Too many guards are taking and making running floaters.
Too many post players are taking and making spinning baseline fadeaways.
Players' movement and dribbling animations remain marred by sliding and warping.
Defenders' hands regularly clip through the ball instead of knocking it loose.
The Point of Emphasis system is not an acceptable substitute for individual defensive assignments.
The court size feels too small when compared to the players' proportions and their movement speed.

IMO, 2k14 is the hot girl who keeps cheating on you, but keep taking her back cause she's a 10. Watching replays sickens me to the point I just start taking snap shots of the game because it's so good looking.

# 6 Dazraz @ 01/20/14 03:50 PM

If 2K just released this game with Association Mode as it was everything would of been fine. Instead they tried to do far too much too soon.
Forza has received critisism for having too few Cars/Tracks & Madden for not making any great visual leaps, but at least these games do what that say on the box. Namely they work. NBA 2K14 is like a Ferrari without an engine. It looks great but it doesn't actually do anything worthwhile.

# 7 jethrotull @ 01/20/14 03:51 PM

I wonder what a reviewer would give the game now aware that VC was going to be incorporated into every facet of the game. I find it to be a joke that NBA 2k14 has taken the ball with micro transactions and completely killed the opening next gen release. I was a completely satisfied customer since they brought me back to an NBA game in 2K11, it helps that they had classic teams, that's what got me. I enjoyed them for the last 4 years only to be let down by the current PS4 release. Until they patch in Association mode, create a player, create a shoe and local HD saves, i won't be a satisfied customer. REMOVE VC in MYGM and create a shoe. We got these features for free, use VC to offer us more classic teams and for MyPlayer. In this current state this game is a slap in the face

# 8 Blaine_Man @ 01/20/14 03:59 PM

You didn't even mention that Team up with friends hasn't worked at ALL for XB1 since launch.

# 9 The 24th Letter @ 01/20/14 04:04 PM

Great write up. 2k has no choice but to clean up the mess they made this year, no denying that. With that said, this is still the next gen title I play the most...and one of the few true next gen experiences of these releases..

2k has some serious trust building to do between now and 2k15 though, can't blame anyone but themselves...

# 10 nhthelegend @ 01/20/14 04:06 PM

I was really jones-ing for a new system and next-gen 2K14, but after all of this? I'm really pleased with my incrementally upgraded, yet, fully functional 2K14 for 360.

# 11 NZ Buccaneer @ 01/20/14 04:41 PM

Another thing I've found very frustrating:

their PR department is so slow to admit to any issues - a friend and I have wasted about 2 hours trying to play h2h games, and join the same park with 0 success

It would be much nicer if 2k actually gave us a list of issues and what ones are being addressed in the next patch, instead of us doing the equivalent of banging our head into a brick wall

# 12 VDusen04 @ 01/20/14 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by asu666


	I returned my copy defective and went back to my NBA 2K13 Association. I'm wondering if NBA 2K13 will turn into NFL 2K5 or College Hoops 2K8 for me, since I do not plan to purchase another 2K basketball game until some sanity and polish returns to the series. Also, I plan to give NBA Live a try next year if 2K insists on continuing down the single player hating, microtransactions loving road it's on now. It unacceptable to ruin such a great franchise with horrible server connectivity mandates across single player modes and then take it a step further by not even messing up the game properly with stable servers, so no one notices until server support stops and their disc is a coaster.

I echo your sentiments. I'm very hopeful that 2K steps back to reality (away from so much virtual currency, online requirements for everything, removal of most customization options) but I worry. I might actually favor 2K12 to 2K13, so hopefully that doesn't become my NFL 2K5.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jethrotull


	I wonder what a reviewer would give the game now aware that VC was going to be incorporated into every facet of the game. I find it to be a joke that NBA 2k14 has taken the ball with micro transactions and completely killed the opening next gen release. I was a completely satisfied customer since they brought me back to an NBA game in 2K11, it helps that they had classic teams, that's what got me. I enjoyed them for the last 4 years only to be let down by the current PS4 release. Until they patch in Association mode, create a player, create a shoe and local HD saves, i won't be a satisfied customer. REMOVE VC in MYGM and create a shoe. We got these features for free, use VC to offer us more classic teams and for MyPlayer. In this current state this game is a slap in the face

I'm with you here as well.

That said, I'll be curious to see how 2K promotes their next product. Will they acknowledge 2K14 as an absolute mess and come clean on all of its shortcomings and poor directions (again, the always online, the mega-RPG implementation, VC, lack of customization, and removal of local saves) or will the marketing folks attempt to pretend nothing bad ever happened and use their previous year's review scores as a jumpoff point for how successful the 2K brand has been all these years? I'm doubting it'll be the latter, but it'll still be interesting to see how any new information or knowledge for 2K15 is received next year. I predict the consumer skepticism may be as widespread as we've ever seen for a 2K basketball product, even if 2K makes big money promises.

# 13 DOMmatic @ 01/20/14 05:25 PM

I would give them a pass for this because it is the new generation systems, but this has been happening since last gen. Its ridiculous

# 14 chrisphil1724 @ 01/20/14 05:30 PM

After I lost my myCareer player to the "Staring ********* ********" I traded the game in. NBA 2k has lost my business for quite sometime.

# 15 AntiBandwagoner @ 01/20/14 05:35 PM

Well written article. Summed up the peoples' thoughts on the current state of the game.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

# 16 Zab @ 01/20/14 05:39 PM

Lmao, I had no idea that good players had to be unlocked with VC in blacktop mode. These guys have no shame!

MyTeam fits the mobile gaming business model to a T, by the way. I've played games that offer tiered "booster packs", never paid a dime for any, but it was essentially the same thing. This stuff is simply inexcusable.

# 17 DOMmatic @ 01/20/14 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 32


	Nice write up Jayson. These issues below are the MAIN reason I've only played a handful of games. AI defenders overhelp, abandoning their man in situations where they should be staying home. Shooting percentages are way too high; jump shots are too easy to make. Too many guards are taking and making running floaters. Too many post players are taking and making spinning baseline fadeaways. Players' movement and dribbling animations remain marred by sliding and warping. Defenders' hands regularly clip through the ball instead of knocking it loose. The Point of Emphasis system is not an acceptable substitute for individual defensive assignments. The court size feels too small when compared to the players' proportions and their movement speed. IMO, 2k14 is the hot girl who keeps cheating on you, but keep taking her back cause she's a 10. Watching replays sickens me to the point I just start taking snap shots of the game because it's so good looking.

Haha, perfect metaphor

# 18 ccoaxum @ 01/20/14 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zab


	Lmao, I had no idea that good players had to be unlocked with VC in blacktop mode. These guys have no shame! MyTeam fits the mobile gaming business model to a T, by the way. I've played games that offer tiered "booster packs", never paid a dime for any, but it was essentially the same thing. This stuff is simply inexcusable.

yea making ppl buy the good players on blacktop for the past two years now has made me not even want to touch blacktop, that and the fact that players make just about everything on blacktop no matter what their ratings are or how good the defense is played on them.

# 19 VDusen04 @ 01/20/14 06:55 PM

I'm wondering if 2K is too deep in their direction to make a significant change. Or I'm wondering if they're in panic mode right now, trying to find a way to adequately back-pedal and restructure their off-court product back toward something that resembles real life, fun, and customization, all in time for 2K15's October release.

# 20 junot19 @ 01/20/14 07:40 PM

They don't address cutomer service issues and they are microtransacting me to death. 2k has turned into EA. They were a market leader who took their positioning for granted and decided to crap on its fan base by "fee-ing" them to death. I WILL NOT support a company who holds a product I spent $60 on hostage.

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