After being a fan of the NBA 2K series for years and with the disappointment of NBA 2K21 on PS4 and Xbox One, which I guess we really should call last generation consoles now seeing as both the PS5 and Xbox Series X have arrived, I was hoping that the last title was only disappointing because perhaps 2K Sport had been putting all of their efforts into creating a great experience for the newer generation of systems. 2K has certainly been hyping the game up with the various snippets of information they have been releasing up to its launch, promising plenty of new features and graphical improvements over the last gen version of the game, which as I pointed out in my review seemed to be pretty much a copy and paste of the previous year's game.

The centerpiece of the NBA 2K series is definitely the MyPlayer/story mode and this year is no exception. The old system of pie charts has finally been given the boot and you can now truly create the player you want to, the new system is absolutely amazing and I spent hours in the character builder trying out different builds and tweaking stats just to see which builds might give me more all-important badges over another, some stats are even tied together now so just by adjusting your 3 point stat you can get a bonus to your mid-range jumper as well, the build nerds amongst us are really going to have a field day trying to find the perfect meta to attack the court with this year. In the story you take control of Junior, a young high school basketball player haunted by the loss of his father. The story sees you take Junior through his high school and college career with a goal of being drafted to the NBA, as you go through story mode you play through games earning VC in order to be able to update your player, this is one of the reasons this franchise excels over story modes in game such as Madden, the story actually gives you a reason to play it as you are progressing your player by doing so.

The story this year even has a branching arch where you can choose to either go to college or instead play in the NBA G League with both of these choices providing different benefits to your player and a different story to boot, I must say that I actually preferred the G League storyline where you come in as the rookie trying to earn the trust of your misfit band of teammates. This is a fantastic addition compared to the previous gen addition however the story does still end without the loose ends of your father’s death being tied up. The great thing though is that in the next gen addition of the game the story doesn’t abruptly end when you get to the NBA, the story continues on with you still interacting with your agents and with your friend and teammate who got drafted alongside you, Hendrix Cobb. Thankfully after game press conferences are also back in the game, I know the press conferences are a divisive topic given that a lot of people find them to be annoying but I really find them to add some depth to the game. Contract negotiations have also been updated and now have a tier system where you have to satisfy certain requirements before being able to move up to the next tier of contract.  

As usual, once you make it into the NBA you play games in order to accumulate VC in order to upgrade your players attributes and also in order to buy moves and clothes so you can sport the latest drip as you roam around the neighborhood. The job that 2K have done with the neighborhood on next gen is absolutely fantastic. Gone is the usual neighborhood consisting of a few city blocks and a couple of different courts. The neighborhood is now an actual city and it is freaking massive! It is so big that you are given a free skateboard to be able to traverse around more quickly. When you bring up the map you can even set waypoints to where you want to go, making the whole thing feel like an RPG. Speaking of RPG’s the game now even has quests! You will find NPCs walking around as you travel around the city and they will give you various objectives to complete to win prizes, these can range from winning 5 games against other players through to playing a 3 on 3 game against NBA legends such as Michael Jordan and Larry Bird. Factions have also made a return to the neighborhood and the 4 factions are led by various NBA 2K YouTube personalities who act as the faction's mayor. You get to choose to align yourself with one of these factions and even vote in future elections to appoint new mayors. The depth here is absolutely incredible and I find myself discovering new courts, quests, and shops in the city each time I play. The only issue I have is that all of the city is locked behind what I like to call a “play wall” meaning that in order to reach the city you need to spend several hours playing multiplayer games on the rookie courts in order to increase your rep before you are allowed access to the city, this may turn a lot of players off and restrict them from ever accessing the city, which is a shame. 2K has even added the addition of being able to create WNBA players and play through a career mode, the mode is nowhere near as in depth as the NBA one but still it’s a fantastic touch and adds even more depth to the title.

My team once again makes a return and basically revolves around building a team through opening packs of cards (similar to Maddens MUT mode, only more competently 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. One of the main editions to the mode this year is the ability to collect “badge cards” that you can attach to other player cards that give them extra abilities, I think this is an absolutely fantastic edition and only further goes to diversify teams. Franchise mode and GM mode have now been rolled up into one package, which makes sense really, and now gives you a fully customisable experience where you can create the league that you want to play in, the number of options here is truly stunning and quite frankly a little bit overwhelming, the amount of customisation and tweaking you can do here puts it right up with titles like Football Manager and Out Of The Park baseball. I must admit that I rarely play franchise or my GM modes, but these new additions have piqued my interest and I am actually looking forward to exploring more of this mode in the future.

The major change to this year's game comes through the shooting and dribbling mechanics, though these are entirely optional, and you can revert back to the previous control scheme if you wish. The shooting this year has given a major overhaul and shots now rely on both timing and aiming, in the past you nailed a shot by hitting the shoot button (or stick) exactly when a meter filled up beside your player this would then give you a “green release” that was guaranteed to go in the bucket, this year using the shot stick you need to pull back and then push forward into a predetermined point on the shot meter thus aiming the shot in the direction you want it to go, with timing adding an extra bonus to your chance of it going in.

This is a massive change and I found it extremely hard to get used to so I reverted back to the button shooting that I am used to from last gen, other people seemed to have adapted to the new shot aiming mechanic in no time at all though, so it is really up to personal preference and what suits you best, the changes provide two different ways to pay the game and there is no harm in having a choice, so I think this is a good addition to the game and is hopefully refined in future editions.

2K sports have long been known as masters when it comes to the presentation side of things and with next-gen they have raised the bar further than even I thought they could. The neighborhood is massive and looks absolutely gorgeous, the player models are almost photorealistic, and the animations are absolutely incredible. When I ran out the tunnel from the locker room in my first NBA game my jaw hit the floor, the arena feels alive and the amount of detail is stunning, you can even hear chatter between the players in breaks from play, encouraging each other or heckling members of the other team, it really does feel like you are right down on the court and is the closest thing I have ever experienced to the real NBA in video game form. Not only have the graphics been upgraded but there are now two different commentary teams that call the games, the new crew consists of Brian Anderson, Grant Hill and Allie LaForce (sideline reporter), I much prefer the usual commentary team of Kevin Harlen and Clark Kellog and crew, but it is great that 2K have added a whole new commentary team to the game and I think that as the years go by and the new team gets a couple of more lines recorded that they will be up to par with the usual crew.

NBA 2K21 is an absolute showcase for what next-gen consoles are capable of, from the stunning new graphics, animations and audio through to all the tweaks that have been added not only just into the career mode but the franchise and GM modes as well. This truly does feel like a title that has been built from the ground up to be a next-gen experience, it has completely removed the bad taste left in my mouth from the version of the game that was released for the PS4 and Xbox One. You can tell 2K sports have put a lot of work into creating a solid foundation here to refine and improve upon as these new consoles kick into gear. If you are a fan of basketball, then get down to the store and buy this game, it’s that simple.