Ten years ago, a game was released that would change the face of basketball gaming forever, whilst providing a little much-needed competition for EA’s dominant NBA Live series. That game was the Dreamcast’s NBA 2k. You can do a lot in ten years, and whilst the “feel” of the way that the series plays hasn’t changed massively, that’s no bad thing. For many, NBA 2k9 ruled the paint against EA’s now challenger-level Live franchise, but that may not be the case here.
The core gameplay is as good as it ever was. Defences get up in your face when you’re trying to create an opening or take a badly-advised shot, and when you’re the one on the back foot, getting that perfectly-timed block in is absolutely sublime – mainly due to the reaction of the crowd when it happens. Minor AI tweaks have been made which shift the offense’s dominance a little this year, and you’re generally much less likely to be able to grab the ball at half-court, dribble around all five defenders and sink a highlight-reel dunk. This makes for a more challenging game that requires a decent amount of planning when taking it to the hole. Graphical changes have been made too, as is the standard. However, to play them down as just one of the standard yearly tweaks would be something of an injustice to the game, since I would say that NBA 2k10 is the finest looking sports simulation I’ve ever played – by a fair distance.
That is, when it’s running at full speed.
You see, whilst there are stacks of crowd animations, photographers sitting at the baseline, cheerleaders waiting to come on and get the crowd behind the home team, floor-polishers waiting to sprint on and mop up the sweat in the paint and generally, everything you’d expect to see at an real-life NBA game – NBA2k10 has a real problem with performance. We’re not talking half-second blasts of slowdown here; we’re talking about the game slowing down to half-speed and doing so for ten seconds at a time. And when a game requires such precision timing as this one does, that’s no good. You’ll be taking the ball to the perimeter, and the game will suddenly turn into a choppy mess. Needless to say, that rebound you leapt for half a second too late is rarely your fault when this occurs.
With some camera angles and at some stadiums, the effect is lessened because there isn’t so much of the crowd in view, but the height and zoom required on the camera to get things running even close to smoothly means that you’ll feel somewhat short-changed as you’ll be undoubtedly playing from an angle that isn’t anything like the one you’d usually use – and expected to be able to use.
Off the court, the new NBA Today and Living Rosters features show the likes of FIFA exactly how things are done. NBA Today fires up as you start the game, providing you last night’s real-life NBA scores (complete with every kind of statistical breakdown you could want) and showing you tonight’s matchups. And, if you fancy playing one of them in NBA 2k10, you can. Living Rosters essentially allows users to keep their game up-to-date with all of the changes in the NBA. Trades, injuries, suspensions and the like are represented, and this – quite unbelievably – affects the in-game commentary. I was blown away when I realised that this was happening, as it truly is a first for the world of sports gaming, and helps to give the game that presentational edge.
Also new this year, is “My Player.” Here, you’re tasked with creating a player and earning a place in the NBA. You start out with absolutely diabolical ratings for almost every part of your game, and have to perform well in matches and take part in drills to earn skill points, which can be used to level up your character, so to speak. During matches, you’re assessed on the things that you do well. Boxing out your assignment will get you a plus point for example, as will making an assist, scoring points, pulling down rebounds and all manner of other things. However, the game is far, far too harsh in what it penalises you on. You’ll call for a pass when wide open, and inexplicably be marked down for calling for the pass too frequently. You’ll be gifted the ball in the paint, play a nice layup that just misses, and be chastised for poor shot selection. The mode as a whole, gives a real insight into the tactics utilised by big-league ballplayers and will be a real eye-opener for those who maybe play basketball games, but don’t actually follow basketball. Another downer though, is the constant nit-picking that the “2k Insider” gives you after each match. A player who scores an average of 16 points a night is restricted to 4 points by me, and I get sternly reprimanded for him “burning” me “time after time.”
With those points made, “My Player” is still a superb addition that is a great deal of fun to play. I can’t wait to see what they do with it next year.
What I can’t get away from, is the slowdown. I’m sorry, but the amount of times that I’ve lost the ball unfairly or been stopped from shining the glass due to my timing being thrown by the fact that I’m playing a stop-motion cartoon just beggars belief. Add that to the fact that online games are a non-starter due to copious amounts of issues with them – generally causing the game to throw you back to the menus, and you have a very, very buggy product. I – and most of the 2k Sports community, it seems – want a patch. With other games, we’d not be all that bothered, putting them to one side or returning them to the store. NBA 2k10 is so close to being a truly amazing and addictive piece of software, that those just aren’t even options.
With the technical hitches, some NBA 2k10 matches are practically unplayable and therefore, the game scores what it has scored here. Without the slowdown and another minor annoyances, you could add two more stars to that score and be left wanting space to add two more.
