NBA 2K20 Review - Is It Still A Fun Guy?

it's the end of summer. You are in your neighborhood's community court taking up a sweat while you practice your jumper. A few of your friends pass by here and there, giving you a thumbs-up whenever you hit nothing but net. Minutes become hours. Sweat turns to buckets. You are deep in the zone. As you're about to attempt the impossible and execute a sidearm tomahawk jam, you blink. And then, pitch-black darkness. You blink again only to find your fool self in the living room with the TV on. You realize that it was all just a dream, and that you fell asleep waiting for one of NBA2K20's MyCareer cutscenes to load up. You smile, curse, and continue to play on. Welcome to the “Next”. We hope you're prepared for more loading times and microtransaction offers.

Don’t let me get in my zone

It’s sort of an open secret that year after year, developer Visual Concepts adds small adjustments and features to NBA 2K’s already superb basketball game. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, they’d probably say before bringing your attention to small presentation improvements. However, in this year’s iteration of the tried-and-true formula, NBA 2K20 introduces some significant fundamental changes that will make you approach the game very differently, and they’re all based on movement during both offense and defense.

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NBA 2K20 introduces an upgraded motion engine that offers more realistic player movement as well as adding more unique signature styles, a new dribble size-up system, better off-ball collisions, and a new “Read & React Defense” to improve on-ball defense. Players move more fluidly, and the NBA’s top superstars behave and move more akin to their real-life counterparts. Of all these new changes, one reworked mechanic in particular may leave returning players either appreciative or frustrated as they have to re-learn what they’ve already mastered.

All it took was for NBA2K20 to change one button: the Sprint button. Essential to most if not ALL sports video games, sprint or turbo is the button you press when it’s “about to go down”. Whenever you’re in for a fastbreak, your brain automatically tells you to hold that turbo button like your life depends on it. Or, let’s say you’re in the right wing and about to set up a crossover move into a speedy drive to the hoop and jam it. Hell, you probably even hold the turbo button during tip-off (admit it). Because we couch jocks firmly believe that the sprint/turbo modifier is your Get-Out-of-Jail-Free card in a tight spot, one can’t help but feel the need for speed whenever one so much as slightly touches that thing. Even by accident.

NBA2K20 makes the sprint modifier seem like a crucial in-game resource, forcing you to plan for when and how to use it. Deliberately using the turbo during a fastbreak, or any action you thought you could get away with in 2K19, will drain your stamina much faster. This year’s NBA2K also made stamina changes to further simulate how players in real life “burst” into action when driving the lane or performing physically-demanding moves. During a game, you’ll notice a flashing yellow prompt in your player’s stamina bar whenever your energy drops below a certain level. Once that threshold’s hit, you’ll move slower, and your stamina drains faster (just like in, uh... real life?!).

Thanks to the changes with regards to how one’s stamina and sprint modifier work, normal player movement becomes more interesting and more important than ever. After a few exhibition games, I found myself moving my players without sprinting more often. You’re able to make tighter angles when driving to the hoop than when moving normally, while sprinting to the hoop makes your player move more linear and loosely.

Here’s one analogy to picture when comparing the movement with and without sprinting in NBA 2K20. You know how when IRL Steph Curry moves and dribbles the ball, he basically dances around his defenders in weird angles until he’s free to take a jumper or a lay-up? Compare that style to that of Giannis Antetokounmpo (aw yis, typed it right the first time!), who basically just explodes in front of you when driving through to the hoop. It takes a few games to actually get used to not sprinting that much, but I welcome the change, and it does feel like an improvement.

Welcome to the WNBA

This year’s NBA2K20 finally introduces the WNBA in its video game franchise. All 12 WNBA teams are available in Play Now & Season. The presentation and care given to the WNBA teams and players is sound and meets NBA 2K’s lofty standards. We get a different pair of commentators, too. The player models look good and believable.

After a couple of exhibition games and a commitment to the Las Vegas Aces while trying out NBA2K20’s season mode, playing WNBA basketball felt refreshing. Due to the differences in player size and athleticism compared to the big boys in the NBA, gameplay mostly comes down to fundamentals. It’s NBA2K basketball in its purest form. It got me hooked, and here’s hoping that if they ever include the WNBA again next year, they’ll add more modes for it, like MyCareer.

MyCareer 2K20 headline

Speaking of MyCareer, 2K brought a few changes as to how players get to create their virtual self via the MyPlayer Builder. It’s a more streamlined take on Create-A-Player, where the game gives you a few presets as to what kind of playstyle you prefer, how athletic your character will be, and how good your character can potentially be by letting you preview your players’ max stats (they even let you demo it). You can even make a preset of whatever you’ve brewed in the Builder for future reference. Once you’ve created your virtual baller, it’s time to go to college!

NBA2K20’s MyCareer mode starts off strong in its prologue section. Titled “When The Lights Are The Brightest”, you play as college superstar “Che” as he brings his Bay City college team on the road to being champions. However, a teammate’s injury and decisions regarding his team's organization bring Che to a crossroads where he must take a stand on what he believes in. What follows is Che’s journey from being an underdog in the NBA Draft Combine to earning the respect of his peers and colleagues while trying to juggle the pressures of fame, off-court relations, and sponsorships.

This may be the most grounded and cinematic MyCareer story yet compared to the series' past takes. NBA 2K20 doubles down on the presentation by bringing in Springhill Entertainment, a production company founded by Maverick Carter and Lebron James. They also brought in some big names such as Idris Elba, Rosario Dawson, and a mix of past and present NBA players that act as personal mentors to your character.

My only caveat of MyCareer was an issue building up in past iterations, and that’s the number of times you’ll have to see the loading screen. The game will put you there every time there’s a new cutscene, every time you go to the menus, and every time you go to Team Practice.

And of course, similar to 2K’s past MyCareer stories, When The Lights Are The Brightest ends pretty fast. Its final scenario happens during your first official game in the NBA. And from there on out, we’re back again to the ridiculous, gross world of the Neighborhood.

The flow of MyCareer’s core gameplay is fine. Every week you go to Team Practice, play a game, get paid in VC, upgrade your player, repeat. And this can all be done within the confines of the MyCareer menu. 

But should you wish to venture outside, all that you’ll see is just… the same Neighborhood hub as last year’s. I’m not even kidding. Sure, the “brands” and some mechanics were changed, but what we have here is the same layout as before. The barbershop is in the same spot, you can still buy clothes in the aptly-named SWAG store, the Gatorade gym features some new equipment and worko- wait, who am I kidding- None of these things matter. Sure, they are cute and add a bit of personality to your player, but for whose sake? For the players to see you “Swag up” in the game’s inconsistent and bug-riddled MyCourt games? Oh, did I mention that Neighborhood still has the same inconsistent and bug-riddled MyCourt games? Yeah, it deserves repeating

And let's not forget how much these branded items and trinkets cost in VC. There’s a football for sale in-game that you can pass on and use to interact with your online buddies. And it costs around 50,000 VC. A $20-40 item that won’t even work half the time? I mean, we won’t judge how you spend your IRL money, but seriously, something wrong is going on in NBA2K. The franchise wasn’t this gross with microtransactions before, and they’ll definitely not stop here; it’s just another bleak signpost of things to come.

In the End, it’s Just Basketball

Aside from MyCareer and the WNBA, don’t sleep on the game’s MyLeague and MyGM offerings. As I mentioned in my 2K19 review, these modes are usually the hidden gems in NBA2K. MyGM in particular has been streamlined, so it’s now easier for newcomers to grasp. It might be boring for some players, since you’ll be staring at menus and cutscenes all day, but hey, there is a genuine market for general manager games out there, and NBA 2K’s take on a basketball manager sim is as good enough. 

And that’s what it’s all about, to be honest. It’s all about basketball. All about the base game. Just like Che’s moral qualms in MyCareer (hah!), you’ll find that NBA2K0 is worth your money if you focus on the game itself and not on the superficial things you can buy with your VC in MyCareer or in MyTeam. Because even as its aging graphics engine speaks to a need for a shake-up, NBA 2K20 is still undeniably the best you can get when it comes to basketball sims. Now go back to your dreams and keep hooping… or maybe go outside and actually play!

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6/10

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Highlights

(+) Still the best basketball sim game, with reworked mechanics making it seem fresh  for returning players

(+) The most grounded/believable MyCareer Prologue Story yet

(+) WNBA is a fresh addition to the 2K franchise

(-) Loading screens show up on most of what you do in MyCareer

(-) Graphics engine is showing its age

(-) Gross microtransactions are back and worse than ever

(-) Lots of bugs found online in My Neighborhood and online games

What I’ve Played

• Finished MyCareer’s “Where The Lights Shine The Brightest” prologue

• Spent 10-14 hours grinding out MyCareer mode while lamenting the same problems present in MyNeighborhood

• Brought The Las Vegas Aces to 10-4 in Season Mode 

• Get scolded and benched by Idris Elba twice.

[This review is based on a PS4 review code provided by 2K Games.]

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