As a basketball fan, I eagerly await the yearly NBA 2K release. This year I skipped the Xbox 360 version and waited for the Xbox One version. It's one of the very few native next-gen games that are a true 1080p. How much of an improvement are the graphics over the current... Err, last-gen? How much does 2K's new engine add to the realism? Did 2K truly bring sports into the next-gen?
The gameplay is straightforward. If you're familiar with the 2K games in the past, nothing here will surprise you. I always felt that the 2K gameplay engine was always solid. One thing that is gone from past titles is the feeling of skating on the court. I no longer feel that the momentum of the player' movement carries me him too far out of the play. It's still there but it's not as prevalent as it has been in the past. Overall, not much has changed gameplay wise with mechanics but that is a good thing. I was always a fan of the gameplay engine and didn't feel they had too much to improve.
In addition to not feeling "floaty," the little gameplay tweaks are what separate it from the past titles. I don't find myself accidentally falling out of bounds or stepping on the line as much as I had in the past. There's far less losing the ball dribbling normally when you run into a player. While they're still the occasional pass that hits the back of the defense, or your player, it's not as prevalent. It's little tweaks like that that make NBA 2K14 a joy to play.
Much has been written and shown about 2K's next-gen NBA 2K14's engine. I wasn't an early believer of it. Back at E3, they showed a LeBron James demo. It looked average at best. The mouth movements were pretty bad. The mouth movement was awkward and didn't seem natural. The rest of the demo looked ok. It was a tech demo and nothing of the game was actually shown. Now that the game is out, the graphics are what I would consider next-gen, for the most part. Faces are realistic on the top players and slide down in quality as the player becomes less known. While the graphics are top notch, including the arena, the game is not without it's issues.
One of the more awkward parts of the game is when you interact with other players. You do the talking while the players stand there like a mindless drone and subtitles are used for instead of actual talking. It really detracts from the realism. They added a ton of post game interview audio clips but I would have rather they add more audio clips when you interact with the players in the locker room. Like most people, I always press buttons to get past the game intros, at halftime or at the end the game. I don't know anyone that actually sits there and watches those parts of the game. In the past, I would actually pay attention to the after game press conferences because you had to make decisions. Those decisions affected your place on the team and in the league.It's unfortunate that that has been replaced with the drone 'talking,' in the locker room. Edit: They're still there. I guess they don't come up when you suck. Just gad a good game and had a press conference.
As the NBA 2K series has matured, it's grown into what I consider a 'sports role-playing,' game. NBA 2K14 is no different. You still try to level your player up by doing the little things on the court as well as behind-the-scenes and in the locker room. Where I think it falls a little short is that there are no press conferences that you engage in after each game. It has been replaced with you talking to your agent on the plane or you sitting alone in your car. It doesn't feel as engaging as it has been.
The graphics are what I would consider a mixed bag. The faces and bodies look spectacular. The ball and the clothing look equally as good. Where the game for short is the mouth movement technology. It looks so unnatural and sticks out like a sore thumb when compared to the rest of the player's head. It was poor back at E3 and I had hoped that it would improve dramatically but it hasn't. Another issue that stands out is the fake depth of field. It looks like each player has a pillow effect around their bodies. There are also jaggies. That seems to be par for the course for most of the games that I have been playing. However, the jaggies don't detract from the game and my critical eye seeks them out.
NBA 2K14 is an average upgrade to next-gen. Parts of the game feel really next-gen like the player models and the amount of detail in each persons face while others don't. The player mouth movements and the drone like interaction with other players are really poor. Hopefully, when the title drops next year, those issues are fixed. The arena and actual gameplay look almost lifelike. I had to step a way from the game for a little while at one point yesterday. I left the game running on the game's home screen. When I came back, there was a game playing. I thought it was a recording of an actual game. It was a demo of the gameplay. That was cool.
The gameplay is straightforward. If you're familiar with the 2K games in the past, nothing here will surprise you. I always felt that the 2K gameplay engine was always solid. One thing that is gone from past titles is the feeling of skating on the court. I no longer feel that the momentum of the player' movement carries me him too far out of the play. It's still there but it's not as prevalent as it has been in the past. Overall, not much has changed gameplay wise with mechanics but that is a good thing. I was always a fan of the gameplay engine and didn't feel they had too much to improve.
In addition to not feeling "floaty," the little gameplay tweaks are what separate it from the past titles. I don't find myself accidentally falling out of bounds or stepping on the line as much as I had in the past. There's far less losing the ball dribbling normally when you run into a player. While they're still the occasional pass that hits the back of the defense, or your player, it's not as prevalent. It's little tweaks like that that make NBA 2K14 a joy to play.
Much has been written and shown about 2K's next-gen NBA 2K14's engine. I wasn't an early believer of it. Back at E3, they showed a LeBron James demo. It looked average at best. The mouth movements were pretty bad. The mouth movement was awkward and didn't seem natural. The rest of the demo looked ok. It was a tech demo and nothing of the game was actually shown. Now that the game is out, the graphics are what I would consider next-gen, for the most part. Faces are realistic on the top players and slide down in quality as the player becomes less known. While the graphics are top notch, including the arena, the game is not without it's issues.
One of the more awkward parts of the game is when you interact with other players. You do the talking while the players stand there like a mindless drone and subtitles are used for instead of actual talking. It really detracts from the realism. They added a ton of post game interview audio clips but I would have rather they add more audio clips when you interact with the players in the locker room. Like most people, I always press buttons to get past the game intros, at halftime or at the end the game. I don't know anyone that actually sits there and watches those parts of the game. In the past, I would actually pay attention to the after game press conferences because you had to make decisions. Those decisions affected your place on the team and in the league.
As the NBA 2K series has matured, it's grown into what I consider a 'sports role-playing,' game. NBA 2K14 is no different. You still try to level your player up by doing the little things on the court as well as behind-the-scenes and in the locker room. Where I think it falls a little short is that there are no press conferences that you engage in after each game. It has been replaced with you talking to your agent on the plane or you sitting alone in your car. It doesn't feel as engaging as it has been.
The graphics are what I would consider a mixed bag. The faces and bodies look spectacular. The ball and the clothing look equally as good. Where the game for short is the mouth movement technology. It looks so unnatural and sticks out like a sore thumb when compared to the rest of the player's head. It was poor back at E3 and I had hoped that it would improve dramatically but it hasn't. Another issue that stands out is the fake depth of field. It looks like each player has a pillow effect around their bodies. There are also jaggies. That seems to be par for the course for most of the games that I have been playing. However, the jaggies don't detract from the game and my critical eye seeks them out.
NBA 2K14 is an average upgrade to next-gen. Parts of the game feel really next-gen like the player models and the amount of detail in each persons face while others don't. The player mouth movements and the drone like interaction with other players are really poor. Hopefully, when the title drops next year, those issues are fixed. The arena and actual gameplay look almost lifelike. I had to step a way from the game for a little while at one point yesterday. I left the game running on the game's home screen. When I came back, there was a game playing. I thought it was a recording of an actual game. It was a demo of the gameplay. That was cool.
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