Like butter, baby.
PlayStation 3
Released in 2012 by 2K Sports
Grade: A+
This game is a masterful basketball simulation experience. It’s fun, challenging, and deep. I haven’t yet played later 2K games enough to give them a proper review, but until further notice, this is my favorite basketball video game.
Where it falls in the series
It’s the seventh NBA 2K game on PS3, and it’s the last one before the series moved up to PS4 and Xbox One. NBA 2K11 is the version that really shot 2K basketball into elite status; NBA 2K12 is a slight step down.
Praises and gripes
The shooting animations are picture perfect and intuitive to control — not just the standard jump shots, but fadeaways, leaners, runners, all kinds of layups and dunks, it’s all here. Dribbling, posting up, and using screens are done really well too. There are a gazillion tricks to learn.
The logic favors deliberate offense, but also allows plenty of freewheeling. Shooting off the dribble and shooting in transition blend well into the flow of the game. Compared to NBA 2K11, the movements seem more smooth and lifelike here, less mechanical.
Players are so well crafted to play like unique, real players with unique skills and tendencies. When you control Allen Iverson, for example, you’re not just controlling a little guy who’s fast and makes outside shots and wears number 3. You’re controlling Allen Damn Iverson. At least that’s how it feels.
The more you play with real basketball instincts, the better off you’ll be. That’s a lot of basketball logic baked into a video game. The AI is deep all around. Even the little things, like going over or under a screen, or showing help defense to let your teammate catch up, have their place in this game.
For example, your point guard will run toward the ball so he can set up the offense, but if you don’t pass it to him, he’ll eventually scram and find another place to go. If there’s not much movement going on, a teammate might cut to the basket, but not so often that it’s predictable. If you end up with a bad mismatch on defense, your players may switch, but only when it’s safe.
The playcalling system is solid, with helpful designs on the court if you choose. There are simple quick plays — isolation, post-up, get your best player open — and a deep list of multi-action set plays. All the coaching options you could want are here too.
The CPU puts up one of the most genuine challenges I’ve experienced in a video game. Not only can you make the game difficult, but it seems impossible to be “cheap.” You’ve got to outplay and outsmart the CPU.
With uniquely skilled players, and teams that have unique systems, every matchup is new and different. If you’ve learned to dominate with one team, start playing with another team for a whole new experience. As usual in the 2K series, there’s an impressive lineup of past teams, with (almost) full rosters. Seriously, look at this list:
- Milwaukee Bucks (1971, 1985)
- Chicago Bulls (1986, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1996, 1998)
- Cleveland Cavaliers (1990)
- Boston Celtics (1965, 1986)
- Atlanta Hawks (1971, 1986)
- New Orleans Hornets (1993)
- Utah Jazz (1998)
- Sacramento Kings (2002) (without Chris Webber)
- New York Knicks (1972, 1995)
- Los Angeles Lakers (1965, 1971, 1972, 1987, 1991, 1998)
- Orlando Magic (1995)
- Denver Nuggets (1994)
- Detriot Pistons (1989)
- Houston Rockets (1994)
- Philadelphia 76ers (1977, 1985, 2002)
- San Antonio Spurs (1998)
- Seattle SuperSonics (1996)
- Portland Trail Blazers (1991)
- Golden State Warriors (1991)
- 1992 USA Basketball Team (The Dream Team)
- 2012 USA Basketball Team
If that’s not enough to keep you going, there’s of course a crazy involved franchise mode, a My Player mode (not really my cup of tea), and a streetball mini-game.
Any gripes about the gameplay would be extremely minor: maybe certain passes could be little faster, and maybe certain actions make you feel “stuck in an animation,” but even those usually end up with the player doing something a player would normally do.
Presentation-wise, the game is “executive produced by Jay-Z,” which means there are some fancy intros, more flair to the menu designs, and trendy music, but they don’t get in the way. The stupid endorsements make their ugly return. Even with replays turned off, you’re force-fed a replay with a Sprite ad splashing across the screen. Also, the crowd sounds realistic, except they never go nuts for big shots near the end of the game.
These are things I can happily accept given how great this game is, especially since developers struggled with basketball sims for so long up until 2K finally put it all together.