‘NBA 2K18’ Review: A Slam Dunk

NBA 2K18 is reaching heights that no sports game has ever reached before. 2K Sports has outdone themselves with “The Neighborhood,” a world that allows you to live the life of an NBA superstar; from getting a haircut to playing in the Pro Am with friends to hitting the practice gym for extra work, users can do it all in 2K18. If you could steal cars and rob banks for VC, it’d basically be Grand Theft Auto.

 

Players have a high-end apartment with their MyCourt, a closet to change clothes/shoes/gear, and a couch to watch 2K TV. The game is so deep that you can play NBA 2K18 on NBA 2K18, so 2K Sports is basically one step away from “inception.”

 

While it might not have the deep customization of flooring, wall colors, etc., it brings back memories of The Crib in ESPN NFL 2K5, and I would expect the customization to only get better and reach and supersede the football game’s customization in the future. NBA 2K18 does allow you to create a unique MyCourt (without spending VC on it) with Halloween and Christmas designs, which is sick.

 

But the top-notch gameplay is what really makes this year’s game stand out. Gone are the animation-heavy movements of previous years. Nothing is pre-determined, and it’s all up to the “stick skills” to make plays. The Pro Am in particular felt so much different—but better—as you need to play more under control, and it feels like the teams that don’t have a bunch of snipers on the perimeter will be able to compete with anyone with elite slashing ability and good closeouts on defense.

 

Also, the archetypes don’t feel as intimidating this year, meaning they all kind of blend together in my opinion, and you no longer have to be worried about facing a certain type of player. Sure, there will be opponents that are tough to stop, but if you are good enough at the game, you shouldn’t get too frustrated about dumb, unrealistic stuff happening due to scripted animations.

 

2K Sports has made a big deal about “The Road to 99,” and rightfully so. It’s a real grind this year to not only level up attributes to increase your overall, but also to get badges. NFL player Tyreek Hill was right in his Twitter assessment, but it should be worth it in the end, and again, I think puts more stock into stick skills rather than who has the best team.

 

Besides, the MyCareer allows you to play NBA games fairly quickly and get a decent amount of VC for playing them. If you keep the quarters at five minutes and the difficulty on pro, games should fly by early in your career, and you get at least 500 VC for each one. Once the real NBA season starts, we’ll also have the daily pick’em (I think that’s what it’s called) to earn VC every day.

 

I agree with the common criticism about cut scenes for people who just want to play the game, but the pre-game process of sitting at your locker before going out to warmup is one of my favorite parts of the game. Users can decide each and every night what gear they want to wear by equipping it right at their locker, which is next level stuff, and something that other sports games need to incorporate (hello, Madden).

 

NBA 2K18 is built around MyCareer, but it’s great to see MyGM and MyTeam haven’t been neglected. MyGM is just an insane experience with the story mode they included, and I recommend taking a break from grinding on MyCareer and playing it for yourself. And if you don’t want the story-style MyGM, that’s fine too, because MyLeague will give you what you’re looking for.

 

There isn’t much to say about MyTeam other that I like the look of the cards a lot better than in previous years. It’s basically the same fun experience, so people are either going to spend time in the mode or they aren’t. I feel like most people would rather grind to improve their players and spend VC there rather than on cards.

 

I could talk a lot longer about the greatness of NBA 2K18, but I think it’s only right if I discuss the issues, too. The loading times have been sometimes exorbitant, forcing users to restart the game/system to do anything at all. Also, there is a glitch where you might suddenly transfer to a different park, despite being in a squad with your friends. The worst part might be not being able to equip gear in Pro Am, and 2K Sports has been quiet on that front, but hopefully there’s a fix soon.

 

I also wish that the MyCareer could be a little bit more of MyCareer, as you have a name and persona automatically given to you. Still, it’s hard to complain when we can play the all-time Lakers against the all-time Celtics…

 

Overall, NBA 2K18 is in a class of its own. And it might just be the greatest sports video game ever.

 

Score: 96/100