NBA 2K24 offers a basketball gaming experience that feels incredibly fluid and organic. But as soon you step off the court and take a closer look, it’ll become apparent the experience that you’re looking for may or may not be worth the time and money needed to attain it.
As with all games that have a yearly release date, expectations are often subdued given the time span game developers actually have to make significant changes. Most sports game fans, including myself, have grown accustomed to mediocre yearly releases with minor changes and ever-increasing price tags. NBA 2K24 is no different.
If you’re looking for a completely different game from its predecessor, then I’m afraid I have bad news for you. There are a few new things that they’ve implemented that did stand out during my playthrough, and those I’d like to touch on.
This year’s edition of NBA 2K introduces the New ProPLAY technology, which utilises real-life footage to create animations, enhancing the realism of the game, from shooting to layups, making it feel more akin to an actual NBA match. During gameplay, the interaction between players is elevated to a whole new level, allowing for even small physical interruptions based on player strength to have game-changing effects, making each match feel like a true battle. This brings a new element to gameplay and how one adjusts to different scenarios, a dynamic aspect of gameplay that adds depth to the strategy.
One standout feature is the Shooting Slump. When you’re not hitting your shots, you’re truly in a slump, and breaking out of it demands a change in gameplay tactics, mirroring the reality of a player’s struggle. This forces gamers to think outside the box and adds to the game’s realism.
This, combined with the ProPLAY technology, makes having a player on your team that’s on fire all the more worthwhile. You really feel it on the court when the majority of the players aren’t performing at their best, and there is one key player that you need to keep feeding the ball to stay in the fight. In those moments, the presence of some of your more notable NBA Stars, such as Curry & Lebron, is truly felt on the court. Each game feels unique, but it’s challenging to describe fully – you must experience it to grasp its impact.
Another highly anticipated feature is cross-play. The 2K team has managed to allow players across all online modes to play together seamlessly, ensuring that everyone can enjoy the action regardless of their platform. I can’t help but shake the feeling that they should’ve added this much earlier, but alas, we’re here now, and there’s absolutely no excuse for anyone anywhere to jump online and catch some of these hands.
The My Career section benefits from a restructured badge system, a vibey beachfront-themed city, which has been condensed, making all main points of interest easily accessible. The mode is a bit more streamlined and straightforward. Right off the bat, you get offered a shoe deal, having to pick your best option amongst a handful of brands, and all this happens before your debut game. Gone are the days of lengthy storylines and stretched-out build-ups leading to such events. My appreciation for these changes was short-lived, all thanks to the game’s relentless push for in-game purchases to stay competitive in online modes, which was disappointing, to say the least.
After creating my build, my player was 60 Overall. Mind you, if you’re going to be playing online with some real 2K heads, you’ll be facing at least 80+ overall ranked players, and to bridge the gap, you can spend an unhealthy amount of time grinding; and by grinding, I mean getting slapped around by pre-teens and young adults for little to no reward. This will give you a lesser chance at upgrading your attributes or applying for a short-term loan and buying yourself a decent chance at being respectable in the game. Classic pay to win. Even after I had spent the 100,000 VC (valued at roughly (R400+), which I got with the Black Mamba Edition, I only managed to boost my player up to a 76 Overall.
Simply put, if you have a decent build, you’ll be able to perform better in the game and get more rewards, thus allowing you to upgrade your player. However, if you have a terrible build and are pitted up against really good players (CPU or Online Players), you have a greater chance of not performing, resulting in less reward, fewer chances to upgrade, and ultimately forcing your hand to buy VC to circumvent this. This may come off as a bit evil, but that’s because it is. There are more instances where this is the case. It really breaks the immersive experience when you’re forced between buying cosmetics so your character looks cooler, which allows you to upgrade your attributes. Oh, and did I mention that there is a Season Pass, the Season 1 Pro Pass is R179 and the higher tier Hall of Fame Pass comes in at a whopping R359, all boasting their respective rewards that you’ll be granted throughout the season but with all the other microtransactions in the game the addition of Season’s does leave a bitter taste in my mouth,
If, after all of this, you somehow manage to look past the wallet-grabbing practices, then you’ll be able to enjoy the rest that the game has to offer.
The My Era section hasn’t changed significantly, with a few additions like the LeBron Era starting as soon as the 2010/2011 season and The Black Mamba moments where you get to relive some of Kobe’s greatest career highlights, which is a nice touch for some of the nostalgic NBA fans. Despite these modes being fun, I don’t think it’s worth getting the game at full price. Give it some time for those discounts to kick in. Better yet, if you have the patience, wait for it to go on PS Plus for free like NBA 2K23 did.