NBA 2K10 is an excellent basketball game that has
a few technical issues. It's a shame because the presentation
of the game is fantastic. However, some gamers probably won't be able
to
look past the online issues, inconsistent frame rate, and A.I. quirks.
Having said that, NBA 2K10 does have many redeeming features.
One of the most notable additions to NBA 2K10 and,
in my opinion the most in depth, is the My Player mode. My Player mode
lets you create a baller and then puts you on the quest to become an
NBA star. Starting off in the summer league you play through some
drills and six matches before continuing on to training camp and, then
eventually, into the NBA's development league. This is where you must
bring your a-game and prove that you're ready for the big time - it's a
long, hard battle, but well worth the slog.
To be honest, your created player simply stinks
(no
pun intended), but doing the right thing on the court
eventually earn you points that you can use to improve your players
skills. It's a pretty long process as the game doesn't reward you with
many points, and attributes get more expensive as you go.
My Player mode hooks you in and makes you play the
way it was intended. You have to play as a 'team'
player. Instead of hogging the ball and trying to dunk on
everyone, you have to play your role in the team because everything you
do on the court has a positive or negative impact on your grade.
Things like, assisting a team mate to the basket,
taking a offensive rebound and playing tight defence are all important.
But other small things that are often overlooked, like boxing your
opponent out of the key, setting a pick, not letting your opponent
score, or
making a smart double-team, earns you the big points and really gets
you motivated to do the right thing by your team.
Now this might sound weird but scoring isn't
everything in this mode, because the reward lies in being a
solid teammate, which, at times, can be frustrating when you just want
to
let loose and slam some huge dunks over your opponent.
My Player mode is a really good addition to the
NBA 2K franchise, but it does have its flaws. After the long and some
times tedious rigors of, summer league, training camp, heaps of
training drills and 15 games in the NBA D-League, followed by a short
stint in the NBA, your players stats still aren't that good.
In a way the slow progression is good in that it
keeps you wanting to play and better your baller. But the slow player
progression also has its issues - like frequent timeouts and
substitutions, teams that almost always use the entire 24-second clock,
and refs that take forever to inbound the ball make games feel even
more long and tedious.
The game penalises you for seemingly insignificant
things. Like when your opponent scores on a fast break (which is pretty
much impossable to stop), or for being out of position, or for just
holding on to the ball too long. These issues are more of an annoyance
than anything else - My Player mode is still very rewarding.
While playing a regular season game announcers
will reference current statistics and even what happened in previous
meetings between two teams, a feature that also extends to My Player
(your console must be connected to the internet).
Kevin Harlan and Clark Kellogg also point out when
a My Player makes his first-ever NBA appearance and they even note the
first bucket of your NBA career. This aspect draws you even deeper into
the NBA 2K10 experience.
Now this is were 2K10 really shines, it's a
brilliant
and well polished presentation. Excellent TV-style replays, players
that show emotion on-court and top-notch character animations are very
solid.
On-court gameplay has been untouched which is a
good thing. The NBA 2K series has always had class leading gameplay.
The most noticeable change this year is the addition of a turbo button
and meter, which drains your player's stamina when used excessively.
This new aspect makes you to use your energy wisely, without being to
annoying.
Menus have been overhauled to look flashy, but
they're still pretty confusing and difficult to navigate.
One thing that did get on my nerves a bit was
missing easy lay-ups that you would expect any NBA player to
normally get and A.I. players that often take horrible shots inside the
paint. The A.I. does a terrible job managing the shot clock. Players
don't work hard enough to get open if you don't call a play and don't
even get me started on the amount of backcourt violations. Frequent
3-second violations will also see you tempted to throw a controller at
your TV (warning, not advised).
Annoyances aside, the more severe issues of NBA
2K10 is its framerate, the game tends to lag (and I hear can be even
worse on the Xbox 360) when there is to much happening on the screen.
But both systems' have issues playing the online components of the game
– the PS3 version wouldn't even let me start a game, which is a shame.
The fast paced gameplay and an excellent
presentation make NBA 2K10 the best in the franchise thus far. While
the technical issues, such as the slowdown and the legacy problems with
the AI and shooting are troublesome, even with the glitches, they don't
keep the game
from being a lot of fun to play.
The in-depth gameplay of My Player
mode is simply brilliant and should be a much loved feature of the
franchise and makes an already solid title even better.
