For years, the NBA 2K franchise has consistently stood head and shoulders above most sports games because of stellar gameplay, star power, and the addition of fresh, new ideas each season. NBA 2K11 set the genre on fire with the Jordan Challenge, then followed it up in NBA 2K12 with the amazing Legends tournament. While NBA 2K13's My Team didn't sizzle as much last year, it still garnered plenty of conversation. As the PS3/360 generation closes out, NBA 2K14 arrives as a superbly tight gameplay experience--but it feels like it could have been so much more.
On the court, NBA 2K14 plays beautifully. In particular, defense is more interesting because of the ability to play the ball more effectively; well-timed reach-ins result in knock-aways more than fouls, and the fact that you can block a ball as a trailing defender is a welcome addition. There's an undercurrent of nastiness in the paint, too, as bodies loudly and violently collide, accented by screams of fouled players and "thumps" of 7-foot hulks of men slamming into the floor.
The improvements are more subtle on the offensive side, though no less appreciated. Passing is crisp, and only particularly poor decisions result in you coughing up the rock. A nifty left-bumper tap automatically calls a play, without the need for the game-invading tap on the D-pad to pull up a list of options (although you can still do that too). Calling for picks is still the best way to create a moment of opportunity, but doing so this year is executed via a button press instead of the aforementioned bumper--one of many control changes this season.
Oh, yes, the controls.
For the third straight year, the basic shooting and passing mechanics have been significantly altered. The right stick now handles shooting and skill moves with no left-trigger modifier; unlike last season, when the left trigger controlled when you shot, it now dictates when you pass. The initial experience for veterans of NBA 2K13 is confusion and comedic ineptitude. All of the finely honed skills you've burned into your brain need to be thrown out, and that is not an easy thing to do. While you might say €just use the button passing and shooting, dummy,€ the fact that the right stick controls all your crossovers, sidesteps, and spins as well as shooting means that you have no choice but to re-learn the basics. Otherwise it's impossible to play the game.
Download NBA 2k14 Hack Tool and Cheats HERE: http://goo.gl/W2xZFf
They key is a tap instead of a hold. If you flick left-right and then let go of the stick, your dude will make a nifty move and then continue dribbling. If you don't let go immediately, though, he'll shoot the rock--quickly. It's initially baffling. However, once you become comfortable, the opportunities for success seem infinite. It's most apparent in the post, where a talented big man like Brook Lopez or Chris Bosh can make defenders look silly with a fake-left-to-a-right-handed-layup move that's easy to pull off with the stick. More complicated to execute are moves in the mid-range area, where a spin move chained to a drive to the basket are the meal tickets for stars like LeBron and Kobe. Ultimately, the ability to chain skill moves directly to a shot is terrific, but it takes a lot of effort to forget what you knew to get there.
The newest showcase for all of this on-court action is the Path to Greatness mode featuring LeBron James, an interesting but flawed combination of traditional franchise and single-player modes. Much of Path is ingenious, from its scripted events which put LeBron in all sorts of compelling scenarios (none of which we will spoil here) as he completes the upcoming season then deals with free agency afterwards. You can re-play events to achieve higher scores and unlock dependent games, and while there is no true fail state--if you lose, you simply move on to the next game available--you need to overcome some major obstacles to win championships and experience everything. Clearly, the development team is having some fun here, as all sorts of delightful but implausible developments involving players past and present happen along the way.
While there is much to enjoy in Path--especially jumping from one huge matchup to the next without playing dozens of unimportant games in between--its appeal begins to wear off as you realize you're not in as much control as you may have thought (at least when you choose the option that has LeBron bolting the Heat at the end of this season). When it was announced, there were visions of being able to participate in some sort of €Decision 2.0,€ picking and choosing where LeBron would take his talents. At no point was that made available, as those events simply happened as scripted afterthoughts--a bummer in an otherwise fun and forward-thinking way to experience a sports game.
Other than Path to Greatness, there is not a lot new to experience this season. The wildly popular My Player returns virtually the same as last year, and while the on-court improvements certainly help its case, the fact that almost everything else surrounding it is a carbon copy of the last two years is depressing. So much is the same--the awkward pre-draft interviews, the David Stern-led NBA Draft (replete with pictures of current Net Kevin Garnett proudly displayed in Celtics garb behind him), the post-game interview scenes, GM sitdowns, and so on--that if you've spent any significant time in that mode the past year or two you'll be hard-pressed to start it again.
One thing that is the same in a good way is the amazing commentary. From the story-driven discussions in Path to Greatness to excellent (and new) interactions between Clark Kellogg, Steve Kerr, and Kevin Harlan, NBA 2K14's in-game announcers are top-notch. In fact, the overall presentation continues to be extremely tight and polished, and with the absence of Jay Z as producer this season feels a bit more understated.
Download NBA 2k14 Hack Tool and Cheats HERE: http://goo.gl/W2xZFf
On the court, NBA 2K14 plays beautifully. In particular, defense is more interesting because of the ability to play the ball more effectively; well-timed reach-ins result in knock-aways more than fouls, and the fact that you can block a ball as a trailing defender is a welcome addition. There's an undercurrent of nastiness in the paint, too, as bodies loudly and violently collide, accented by screams of fouled players and "thumps" of 7-foot hulks of men slamming into the floor.
The improvements are more subtle on the offensive side, though no less appreciated. Passing is crisp, and only particularly poor decisions result in you coughing up the rock. A nifty left-bumper tap automatically calls a play, without the need for the game-invading tap on the D-pad to pull up a list of options (although you can still do that too). Calling for picks is still the best way to create a moment of opportunity, but doing so this year is executed via a button press instead of the aforementioned bumper--one of many control changes this season.
Oh, yes, the controls.
For the third straight year, the basic shooting and passing mechanics have been significantly altered. The right stick now handles shooting and skill moves with no left-trigger modifier; unlike last season, when the left trigger controlled when you shot, it now dictates when you pass. The initial experience for veterans of NBA 2K13 is confusion and comedic ineptitude. All of the finely honed skills you've burned into your brain need to be thrown out, and that is not an easy thing to do. While you might say €just use the button passing and shooting, dummy,€ the fact that the right stick controls all your crossovers, sidesteps, and spins as well as shooting means that you have no choice but to re-learn the basics. Otherwise it's impossible to play the game.
Download NBA 2k14 Hack Tool and Cheats HERE: http://goo.gl/W2xZFf
They key is a tap instead of a hold. If you flick left-right and then let go of the stick, your dude will make a nifty move and then continue dribbling. If you don't let go immediately, though, he'll shoot the rock--quickly. It's initially baffling. However, once you become comfortable, the opportunities for success seem infinite. It's most apparent in the post, where a talented big man like Brook Lopez or Chris Bosh can make defenders look silly with a fake-left-to-a-right-handed-layup move that's easy to pull off with the stick. More complicated to execute are moves in the mid-range area, where a spin move chained to a drive to the basket are the meal tickets for stars like LeBron and Kobe. Ultimately, the ability to chain skill moves directly to a shot is terrific, but it takes a lot of effort to forget what you knew to get there.
The newest showcase for all of this on-court action is the Path to Greatness mode featuring LeBron James, an interesting but flawed combination of traditional franchise and single-player modes. Much of Path is ingenious, from its scripted events which put LeBron in all sorts of compelling scenarios (none of which we will spoil here) as he completes the upcoming season then deals with free agency afterwards. You can re-play events to achieve higher scores and unlock dependent games, and while there is no true fail state--if you lose, you simply move on to the next game available--you need to overcome some major obstacles to win championships and experience everything. Clearly, the development team is having some fun here, as all sorts of delightful but implausible developments involving players past and present happen along the way.
While there is much to enjoy in Path--especially jumping from one huge matchup to the next without playing dozens of unimportant games in between--its appeal begins to wear off as you realize you're not in as much control as you may have thought (at least when you choose the option that has LeBron bolting the Heat at the end of this season). When it was announced, there were visions of being able to participate in some sort of €Decision 2.0,€ picking and choosing where LeBron would take his talents. At no point was that made available, as those events simply happened as scripted afterthoughts--a bummer in an otherwise fun and forward-thinking way to experience a sports game.
Other than Path to Greatness, there is not a lot new to experience this season. The wildly popular My Player returns virtually the same as last year, and while the on-court improvements certainly help its case, the fact that almost everything else surrounding it is a carbon copy of the last two years is depressing. So much is the same--the awkward pre-draft interviews, the David Stern-led NBA Draft (replete with pictures of current Net Kevin Garnett proudly displayed in Celtics garb behind him), the post-game interview scenes, GM sitdowns, and so on--that if you've spent any significant time in that mode the past year or two you'll be hard-pressed to start it again.
One thing that is the same in a good way is the amazing commentary. From the story-driven discussions in Path to Greatness to excellent (and new) interactions between Clark Kellogg, Steve Kerr, and Kevin Harlan, NBA 2K14's in-game announcers are top-notch. In fact, the overall presentation continues to be extremely tight and polished, and with the absence of Jay Z as producer this season feels a bit more understated.
Download NBA 2k14 Hack Tool and Cheats HERE: http://goo.gl/W2xZFf