As a series renowned for its dominance in the market over the past few years, NBA 2K16 hopes to not rest on its laurels by making a myriad of tweaks and changes to the already proven formula. Developers, Visual Concepts, alongside 2K Sports have once again tried to add a little more depth and immersion with the recruitment of Spike Lee to pen an all new career mode too, let’s hope the transition to videogame narratives isn’t too jarring.
One of the first things you’ll notice straight away, are the lavish helpings of presentation, this wouldn’t normally be something I’d immediately jump upon, however the overall looks alone deserve a special mention. Along with the astounding animations, high graphical fidelity and traits of some of the sport’s most popular players, its TV style representation is genuinely believable.
Once you’ve exclaimed how good it looks a fair few times, you’re free to jump into one of the games’ many modes on offer. The usual exhibition match types are complimented by several, much more in-depth, modes that will give even the most demanding of players plenty choices to sink their lives into. ‘MyGM’ makes a much welcomed return, essentially being the king of all simulation modes; it puts you in charge of all manners of team related issues. Not only can you sign new players, negotiate contracts and the usual affairs, but also change your teams physical location, decide admission and merchandise prices and attempt to maintain strong relationships with the media, fans and players. It’s everything you could want in a management game and it’s nice to see more focus on the singleplayer side of things.
If you fancy factoring in a little more multiplayer, there’s the similar ‘MyLeague’ where certain customisation options are much more lenient, yet the league will consist of real-life opponents. The inevitable ‘MyTEAM’ is NBA 2K16’s attempt at recreating pretty much every other sports games ‘card mode’. Sadly much like Fifa Ultimate Team, micro-transactions are heavily pushed on the player in order to get the most out of it. I’m all for a spot of DLC in games, helping them feel refreshed and increasing their longevity, but I’m not going to be paying extra for something that will be rendered empty and obsolete merely a year later.
‘MyCareer’ is where all the hype has culminated this year with the addition of Spike Lee being heavily involved in its conception. Called ‘Livin’ Da Dream’, it tells the story of a young prospect who dreams of a rags to riches outcome. Whilst the main draw is of course going to be the heavily dramatic narrative, it is split into two parts with the latter eventually becoming an actual career mode with progression features like you might expect. The first half however, deals with struggles relating to family, friends and incoming pressure from all sides. Despite getting to create aspects of your own character, don’t be fooled into thinking that this has the hallmarks of a ‘create your own adventure’ book, as you’re merely playing through the eyes of a predetermined outcome. In fact, the only real choice you’ll get is which college you’ll play a few a games in, before being overwhelmed with more interspersed cutscenes. As overly dramatized as the narrative went, I did enjoy it and it was a welcome change in a sports title to have a genuine story.
In terms of the gameplay itself, those who’re familiar with the franchise will mostly feel at home, save for a few, slightly baffling control changes. For those who are new and are interested in seeing what all the fuss is about, prepare yourself for a rough start. To say that the tutorials are lacking would be a gross understatement. A sparse few videos are dotted about that not only assume you’re already familiar with the basics, but also don’t really serve much purpose besides alienating the new, and boring the experienced. The game’s learning curve can also feel a little steep, especially if you dive straight into the Spike Lee mode. The games you’ll have at the start, in High School and College, will be a far cry from the NBA games you’ll watch your teammates play in from the bench. I know that this, assumedly, is to simulate the pressure and incredible skill gap between the two, but I thought I’d leave it as a warning for those new to the game…
The improved AI and physics systems both add up to create a much more realistic feeling of the game. The feeling of weight to the players feels right and their corresponding footwork can be mesmerising. You’ll no longer be able to exploit defensive weaknesses for too long as the AI will quickly start to block you off if you repeat the same tactics over and over again. Thankfully, some of the older ‘techniques’ that you could get away with in previous iterations no longer work either, you’ll need to improvise and deliberate your decisions in order to keep on top of them.
Whilst the presentation might initially grab you, it’s how it holds on that continues to impress, each and every detail is designed to make it look and feel like a true broadcast. Whether it be the commentary track, the replays or the little dashes of authenticity such as the half time shows and interviews, it all adds up to an incredibly immersive experience. The soundtrack is also particularly good; enlisting three top DJ’s (Premier, Khaleed and Mustard) to pick 50 tracks from all variants of genre really shows how good a game soundtrack can be, given the right people in charge too.
Despite not having a prevailing competitor to push the developers into coming up with new concepts and refining the ones that work, NBA 2K16 is a showcase for any basketball fan. The gameplay is better than it’s ever been and the modes offer potentially hundreds of hours’ worth of content on top of it both looking and sounding fantastic. Spike Lee’s Livin’ Da Dream is a great addition, if not slightly restrictive in player choice, the lack of tutorials will be a major stumbling point for new players and the inclusion of micro-transactions will rarely be a good thing in a full priced, yearly title. Aside from that, this is most likely the best playing basketball game period.
