Last Friday, 2K Sports released the latest offshoot of its basketball simulation: NBA 2K18.Of course, the SPOX editorial team also used the controller – and is enthusiastic.
For basketball fans September is traditionally a special month.Because: The new NBA 2K is launched on the market every year – and your own virtual professional career begins anew.
But since sports and video game fans have been spoiled by the high quality of the simulation for years, Publisher 2K and Visual Concepts are not easy to work with.The question arises: How should the outstanding predecessor be topped again?
The answer: With even better gameplay and new ideas.The extremely popular “MyCareer”mode was given a completely new look and got an open-world element with the “Neighborhood”.Can’t you guys have anything to do with that?Then walk along here – because we were in New York and were allowed to get an impression first.
Ultimately, however, the Neighborhood remains only a nice gimmick, which offers a diversified framework for your own career.Because what matters most is what happens on the court – and 2K is stronger than ever.
This starts with the presentation.There are countless introductory possibilities before the games.Sometimes the city and the arena will be presented from outside, sometimes a song from the extensive soundtrack will be highlighted with highlights.The next time you will be part of the national anthem live, or you will be amazed at the light shows, which have transformed the parquet flooring into a kind of 3D large-screen screen for some years now.
Also the players’ appearance has been improved (even if we have to change the look of Dirk’s hairstyle to the mantle of silence).Players like Kevin Durant or Giannis Antetokounmpo don’t seem to be too thin any more, and most of the stars also have their “Signature-Moves” on their consoles at the beginning of the game (Hello, Russell Westbrook).
And then there’s the tip-off.Already during the first ball presentation it can be seen that many detailed adjustment screws have been turned again.A Stephen Curry dribbles the ball quite differently to Dennis Schröder.There are differences in the type of dribbling, step sequence or posture – and all these elements come incredibly close to the original.
In the semi-field game, a pick-and-roll is of course the first step.And here, too, you immediately notice who’s at work: a strong DeMarcus cousins places a completely different block than a slender KD – but he also rolls off slower or “shuffles” less agile to the three-line.
Once you’ve shaken off your defender, there are many options.The throwing animations from the dribble have become much more fluid, the half distance throw is a weapon.The control of the type of basket loader has also become more precise.A Eurostep-Layup with James Harden?No problem!
The passport system has also changed somewhat.You don’t necessarily have to rely on the symbol pass to transport the splitting into the right hands, because now it also matters how long the corresponding button is pressed.And it doesn’t matter whether you play a floor pass, lob pass or “normal” chest pass.
Once you have made room for your favourite shooter on the three-line, there are also new things to do during the shooting.Here, however, a step into the past was taken – and rightly so.Because the new system introduced at 2K17, which also influences the direction in which the throwing stick is held, has been abolished – the challenge was too great for many people to pay attention to angle and timing when throwing.Now only the timing is relevant again, which should help the beginners who don’t want to throw the throw key.
So with all these impressions, it was time to get down to business.The SPOX editors compete against each other in four matchups – the first of which is already finished.After all, the good old couch-coop is still the supreme discipline of sports games.Who would have the upper hand?
The German duel started with Dirk Nowitzki versus Dennis Schröder.While the Mavs were much more active in post and pick-and-pop about Nowitzki, the newly formed Hawks were a bit more balanced.Point Guard Schröder confined himself to distributing balls – and did a good job.Players like Mike Muscala or Ersan Ilyasova – not exactly known as scoring machines – all got their open throws and exploited them.
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Dirk, on the other hand, had less support.There was nothing to be seen of Barnes, Noel missed easy chances on the board.Nevertheless, the Mavs were able to equalize after a mini-run in the third quarter – but the Hawks couldn’t be deterred from it, focussed on Dirk in the defense and pulled Dallas’ teeth.Winner Max Wittmann’s conclusion:”You just need players like Mike Muscala.”
Quarter time: 4 minutes.Difficulty: All-Star