NBA 2K20 - Review

Squeaky sneakers sliding across shiny gym floors, the constant sound of the basketball bouncing against the court, the soothing sound of rock as it floats through the hoop and hits nothing but net…SWISH!! NBA 2K20 is here and ready to take on any and all contenders except there aren’t really any contenders as the contenders have given up as they have realised that there is no point trying to live up to this juggernaut of a sports game. Lebron, Kyrie, Jordan, Koby…they are all here and they are all ready for you to take control of them or test your skills against them, enough talk lets get on the court!

NBA 2K20 as usual includes a much hyped story or as it is called “my career” mode where you create your budding NBA star from a variety of body types, hairstyles and faces, you can even scan your face into the game through the 2K20 mobile app if you are into that sort of thing, I didn’t bother doing this as the process of me looking into the mirror every morning is horrifying enough, I don’t want to see my face emblazoned across the screen during every play or cut scene, it would probably put me off basketball for like, but I digress. After choosing what you want your future NBA hopeful to look like (in my case it was a 6 foot 7 small forward small forward with the biggest afro the world has ever seen, because why not.) You then can start building what type of position you want to play and what type of player you want to be, a slasher, a sharpshooter, a stretch big, a lockdown defender…there a so many possibilities of builds here that they are almost endless, and every single choice you make from height through to the size of your wingspan will directly effect your stats and future potential in several key areas of the game. To make it easier to decide exactly what type of player you want to build you can try out your build before you confirm your final decisions, this includes being able to bump your build up to a 99 overall rated player with all potential badges equipped and take the into a scrimmage to see if they play in a way that suits how you want to play the game, this is a great feature especially being able to play as a 99 overall with all badges as this reduces the chance of you creating a build and investing several hours into the game only to realise that the potential superstar you have created is destined to become a bench rider for the rest of his career rather than an NBA league leading future hall of famer.

Once you are happy with the hunky, basketball stud you have created then you are dropped directly into the my career mode, I have been very critical of the stories of this mode in the past especially the Spike Lee directed one which was truly awful, and the AI character last year who had me potentially wanting to shoot myself in the face every time I had to endure a cut scene due to him being a one dimensional eternally whinging man child I am happy to say that this year I think 2K have got it right, the story mode is just the right length and provides just enough intrigue to keep me interested through the whole chapter. Idris Elba, Rosario Dawson and Thomas Middleditch are just some of the Hollywood A-List actors that join the cast this year and they do an absolutely fantastic job, Deric Augustine who voices the main character and your player Che also manages to pull the role off without coming off as an annoying, angsty whiny man-child unlike many previous actors who have filled this position.

I don’t want to spoil too much of the story here, not that there are that many shocks or twists in store anyway but the overall story arc follows you (Che) playing college basketball until one of your fellow players on the team suffers a season ending injury and then loses his scholarship because of this, Che decides to stand up for his fellow teammate and sit out one of the most important games of the year which has dire consequences for his team as they lose their playoff game. It also has consequences for Che as this severely divides public opinion on whether he did the right thing and sees his stock drop in the upcoming draft. Through the rest of the story mode through various interactions with the rest of the cast and from playing various games and training drills you try to build your draft stock back up. Depending on how well you perform you can end up being drafted in the first round or falling all the way back down to being undrafted. Eventually though regardless of your performance or choices you will end up being on an NBA team though or else there would be no point to even having this mode. Thankfully the story mode that leads into my career this year is paced excellently and is just the right length, and also does a good job of introducing you to some of the games more important mechanics.

Once the story mode is over is where the real my career mode begins, you will find yourself as a player on a team and have a low overall rank in the 60s trying to grind and get better in order to get more minutes in each game you play for your team, starting off as this bad of a player is a very frustrating experience and it can take you a very long time to grind to the point that your overall rating is anywhere near good enough to start making shots and plays on a regular basis. Throughout your playing time you earn VC (Virtual Currency) in order to upgrade your players competency in various categories such as shooting, defence, finishing and playmaking, the problem is that as a low ranked player you don’t have much of a chance to earn VC in abundance as how much you earn is directly tied to how you perform in games. With my career being the main mode I play in the game each year I find I get much better enjoyment out of the game by shelling out some real life money for VC in order to at least upgrade my player into the high 70s (this usually costs me somewhere in the area of $30 dollars) This ability to purchase VC to upgrade your player may be a bone of contention with some or in fact a lot of the gaming community with some even going as far as calling it “pay to win” but in NBA 2K20 it isn’t as this is where badges come in. Regardless of how much money you spend to upgrade your player they really aren’t going to reach their full potential until you start working for and earning badges. Badges can only be earned by grinding and playing against other people online or through playing through the my career mode in games with your team or even by completing various training activities at team practice. Badges give your player an additional skill set by improving things such as your shot release, your ability to drive to the hoop and absorb contact and many many other skills. The way badges work this year has been completely redesigned in the past you could only earn badges by activities that were tied into a certain badge, this year activities are designed into 4 categories Shooting, Playmaking, Defence and Finishing, once you fill one of the meters for one of these categories up you get to choose which badge you wish to upgrade from that category, I think this is a massive improvement over the way badges have worked in years past and makes it easier for you to design exactly the type of player that you prefer.

The main reason to play my career and go through all the grinding to upgrade your player is of course so you can take part in online games against other opponents, whether that be on the park courts, through pro am, with more traditional 5 on 5 games in the rec centre or in crazy games in the cages , sometimes with trampolines included! The central hub to my career and the online games played through it is called the park it is also home to various training facilities and shops where you can spend some of your precious earned VC on customising your player by buying him the latest pair of Jordan kicks and outfitting him in various clothes. Playing in online games also earns you rep which in turn unlocks more options to customise your player through buying anything from new emotes to taunt people with through to hoverboards, yes you heard that right, HOVERBOARDS! Throughout the year with live updates the look of the neighbourhood and its courts change and various fresh and new activities and challenges open up, it really is a great way to keep this mode fresh and to keep people interested, in saying that though the neighbourhood this year proved to be a bit of a disappointment to me as it is practically exactly the same design as it was last year even if some of the special events are new and upgraded.

Of course My Career isn’t the only mode in this game and for people who prefer to stay offline Franchise mode returns and in my opinion is still one of the deepest and most complete franchise mode out of any sports game on the market today, a lot of other studios could take lessons from what 2K has built up here and every night I say a prayer before I go to sleep that maybe, just maybe one day 2K will obtain the NFL license back from another certain company that currently exclusively owns the right to produce those games. Franchise mode is fantastic and of course you can elect to control every little detail of your team, salaries, free agency, drafts and many others or you can assign some or all of these tasks to the AI, the choice is yours, but playing this mode does really make you feel you are in control of an NBA team both on and off the court. Another great feature is that the WNBA league has been implemented this year and features its own set of commentators and courts and I must say it is a completely different and sometimes refreshing experience playing through the woman’s league, this is something I hope 2K expand on in the future, seeing a womans my player mode would be an awesome addition in future versions of the game. There is also My Team mode which basically revolves around building a team through opening packs of cards (similar to Maddens MUT mode, only a lot better executed) and then taking your team through various online games and offline and online challenges in order to earn tokens, my team points and more packs of cards to open in order to improve your team.

You can also upgrade various cards by evolving them through completing various tasks tied to each card, a nice idea. You can also buy packs through VC or team points or you can make the decision to open your wallet and pay to buy packs of cards, and I guess now it becomes time to address the elephant in the room and the main argument I have seen gracing the internet over the past few weeks. 2K PUT A BASKETBALL GAME INSIDE MY CASINO SIMULATOR!!! THIS IS PROMOTING GAMBLING TO CHILDREN HOW DESPICABLE!!! These foolish and quite frankly incorrect statements have been put forth by several popular YouTube influencers (I am angry and I am looking at you Joe) and most of them have got their facts completely wrong. Sure buying a pack of cards with real money is a gamble as instead of receiving a rare player out of it you may receive absolute garbage, in reality though this is exactly the same as opening a pack of sports cards in real life is, these packs have various odds of receiving rare cards, the packs cost money and guess what? They are also sold to children! Both opening virtual packs and packs of sports cards in real life are gambling, this I agree with, but it is not fair to blame a video game for something that has been happening for well over 3 decades in real life. My team mode gives you plenty of ways to earn currency to buy cards or even actual packs of cards through just playing the mode and I have built up quite a respectable team without spending a single cent of real life money in this mode.There are also slot machines and other tests of luck like spinning a wheel to earn stuff in this mode, but neither of these are real life currency based so can hardly be considered forms of gambling. Ultimately the decision lays with you, the consumer, spend time playing through the mode to earn packs and players or open your wallet and buy the players you want, sure it is a form of gambling and perhaps the rating of the game should be adjusted so nobody under 18 can purchase it due to the gambling elements, but 2K are not responsible for the games classification so the finger should not be pointed at them.

The gameplay in all of these modes has been greatly improved this year, players move much more precisely and move with the momentum you would expect with each of their various sizes, the dribbling has also been redesigned, in previous versions dribble moves were all tied to the right stick but now some of the more simple dribble moves are tied to the left stick and this gives you more diversity in the way you can control how you want to drive to the basket. Some very impressive dribbling moves can be pulled off if you spend time learning how to flick and move the sticks however one detriment this year is that dribbling drains much more stamina than in years past and hopefully this is something that can be addressed in future updates. Control the players is a joy and whenever something did not go my way it rarely felt like the game punishing me and more felt like I had done something wrong and needed to practice my skills more.

Presentation as usual is utterly fantastic especially in the franchise mode, with the pre-game show, player introductions and absolutely fantastic commentary and sideline and player interviews throughout the game you really do feel like you are watching an actual live NBA game, 2K excel year after year with their presentation and are miles ahead of any other sports game in this area. It is not only the visual presentation, each stadium even sounds different, the crowds chant different chants, the sounds that play when free throws are successful, the music that plays in various situations is all true to life to the stadium you are playing in. The popular 2KTV also returns offering weekly highlights and interviews with the players and producers of the game, this is one of my favourite features as it really gives you insight into the amount of effort and work that goes into creating a game of this magnitude.

NBA2K20 is an absolutely fabulous sports game, it is several levels above any other sports game currently on the market to the point where I would purchase it even if you do have no interest in basketball just so you can see how a sports game should be done, it may even make a fan of basketball out of you, it is just that good! Sure there are negative opinions that express how much games like this being tied to Virtual Currency that can be purchased with real life money but remember the choice is up to you, you do not have to spend extra money on this game if you choose not to, the game still remains an incredibly engaging and fun experience without it.

Review copy provided by 2K