NBA 2K22 - Review
As is the usual every year when hype starts bubbling up regarding the start of a new season of one of Americas main sporting codes my attention starts to shift to the release of the new edition of the video game that does its best to depict what it would feel like to partake in that particular sport. This time it’s the NBA’s (National Basketball Association, for those nerds who are not sports nerds) time under the microscope, last year 2K sports did a fantastic job creating the foundations of a great next gen basketball experience, especially with the creation of “the city” and all the various new gaming mechanics that went along with it. With this being the 75th Anniversary season of the NBA hopefully 2K Sports can pull out something even more special to mark this landmark occasion. Will they take out the title or will they end up fouling out?
I was a bit worried with the lead up to NBA 2K22 this year, sure there was the usual amount of information about the game trickling out in drips and drabs but there wasn’t really any videos of gameplay being officially released by 2K, unless you count the videos that looked more like a YouTuber’s hype reel than an accurate representation of what we would find in the game this year. There were promises of a much improved city with deeper gameplay systems to go along with it, a new reworked staffing system for the games franchise mode, new offensive moves and a revamped shot contention and blocking system and a new seasons system that would expand on what was introduced in last years game. It was amidst this atmosphere of hype that I loaded up this years iteration of 2Ks NBA franchise and I am happy to say that 2K have delivered on most of their promises.
The City and MyCareer are without a doubt the part of the game that has received the biggest overhaul this year. As per usual this mode revolves around creating a player, and for those uninitiated the amount of options and complete freedom you are given when you create your player can be absolutely overwhelming so I suggest checking out a few YouTube videos on player builds first. Once you have created your player you take them on a journey through the NBA learning new skills and upgrading your player with the ultimate goal of making the hall of fame, not only this you will use your created player to hit up the many courts around town and test your balling skills against other online opponents. The upgrade that 2K have applied to The City this year is a massive step in the right direction with one slight issue stopping it from being almost perfect, more on that later. Last year the city was massive but it’s biggest flaw was that apart from the basketball courts scattered across the city and a few random quest giving NPCs walking around the streets it was totally devoid of life, it felt more like Melbourne under whatever number lockdown we are going through this time due to Covid than it did a hustling bustling basketball hub for the MyCareer mode of the game.
Thankfully this has been addressed and The City is now bustling with life, both in the form of NPC quest givers and other real life players. The way this has been achieved is by basically turning the city into one of the zones from World Of Warcraft, quest givers now inhabit every nook and cranny of the city rather than wandering around aimlessly, there also hundreds of other NPCs chilling out in various areas having picnics, taking yoga sessions and even jogging around in packs, between all of this and real life players travelling around to start and complete different quests The City really does feel alive. All of this however comes at a cost, while the city initially feels great to travel around in whilst completing quests, due to the size of it the travelling starts to become a chore, there is a fast travel option that you can unlock after you have travelled a certain distance in the city but unfortunately it takes a fair while before you get to unlock it.
My biggest criticism of the story component of the MyCareer in the past has been that it largely addresses what happens on your players journey on the way to becoming a starting player in the NBA and does nothing to simulate what it is like to actually be in the NBA once you get there. Thankfully, all of that changes this year, the story this year still focuses on your actual journey into the league but the bulk of the story plays out after the NBA draft and tries to simulate the trials and tribulations of a player stepping into the world’s biggest basketball league, you can even branch out into the fashion and music worlds if you so desire. While none of the quests feature writing that will make the N.Y. Times best seller list they are up to snuff for what is largely a sports game and certainly add another dimension to the MyCareer game mode and by completing these quests you will gain access to bigger and better sponsorships which will in turn earn your more VC to spend on cosmetics or upgrading your player. One of my other biggest criticism last year was that during MyCareer mode when playing games in the NBA the presentation seemed to have been stripped back to a bare minimum unfortunately nothing has changed in this area except for a few generic chants directed at your player from the crowd. It feels like 2K are trying to force a different presentation mode in MyCareer that relates more to the atmosphere of being a player on the court rather than an actual televised NBA game, this is all fine and good but at least give us an in-game option as to which presentation style we prefer.
The biggest elephant in the room when it comes to MyCareer has always been that you can spend real life money in order to level up your players attributes quicker than you can by simply grinding and playing the game. In the past I have defended 2K in their attempts to get people to open their wallets and buy in game currency, unfortunately this year my defense of them is waning a fair bit. The reason for this comes down to a couple of things, the first being that they are now charging a much larger amount of VC to upgrade your player to full potential, the second being that to progress through some of the quests in the game you are forced to spend VC on acquiring certain outfits from clothing stores in the game, the last reason being that in the past when purchasing sneakers in the game you could wear these both in NBA games and whilst walking around and playing games in The City, this year they have changed this so that sneakers fall into two different categories, ones only wearable in the NBA and others only wearable in the city, this is really off-putting and just reeks of trying to get people who have already spent a large amount of money on the game to part with even further money. Hopefully this isn’t the start of a trend of 2K trying to monetize further areas of the game in the future.
MyTeam returns as usual and is the mode you should start in if you are interested in collecting basketball cards and building an NBA team to play against the CPU or take on other players around the world. The mode consists of either buying or earning packs of cards through challenges in order to try and assemble the best team possible. Last year we had the introduction of badges that we could attach to cards in order to improve their on court statistics and this has been expanded upon this year with the ability to upgrade your players shoes with various different buffs that change their in game abilities, this is a great addition. MyTeam : Draft is a new mode this year that takes a leaf out of both MLB The Show and Madden’s book and allows you to draft a team from a constantly updated pool of players, you can then try your luck taking on other players using your randomly generated squad.
MyNBA mode is where you will most likely reside if you are more of a fan of playing against the CPU rather than real life players, it is the NBA 2K22 game mode that is basically the franchise mode and management game modes all rolled up into one package, you can customize the complexity of this mode as much as you like, you can simply just take control of your team on the court or choose to meddle in all the behind the scenes action such as team finances and training, this year 2K22 also features a highly improved and more diverse roster of support staff and trainers to help you tweak your winning chances even further. ‘The W’ which is the franchise version of the WNBA also has some major improvements this year including a new player progression system featuring badges and off court experiences that will further help to uniquely shape and define your player, the W online also makes a return for those wanting to take their game online. All in all The W is not really a game mode I am that interested in but it is nice to see 2K are dedicated to adding improvements to this mode for those who do enjoy it.
When it comes to changes to in game mechanics thankfully the shot aiming system from last year has been given the boot, some people may have enjoyed shooting this way but I tried for hours and could never seem to get the hang of it, it just never seemed natural to me. Added this year on the offense are the usual new signature moves, combos and dunks with the difference this time being that these are all skill and timing based rather than being locked in to animations. On the defensive side of the ball a new shot contention and blocking system are the main features and promise to make playing defense in the game more rewarding. At first this just sounded like the marketing jargon accompanying that usually come attached to every yearly iteration of sports games but in this case 2K have actually delivered, gameplay feels much smoother than last years version and the CPU defense can be utterly punishing, which is great as it forces you to learn a lot of the new moves in order to become more proficient at the game, and proficient is what you will need to be especially if you plan on taking your player online! 2K have also expanded their seasons system this year and it basically works the same as the battle pass system in PUBG or COD (thankfully it is free) and will see you levelling up and earning rewards the more you use your player in online game modes, this is a great way to prolong the lifespan of the game.
With the enhancements 2K Sports have made with MyCareer this year and with the overhaul of The City plus the many changes to on–court gameplay NBA 2K22 provides a massive upgrade to the solid foundation that was created last year. The game is an absolute must buy for anybody with an interest in basketball. The only worry I have for the future of the franchise is the fact that 2K seem to be finding more ways to make players part with cash in order to progress through the MyCareer mode, which I guess is fine, they are a business after all, however, it just seems very sneaky and predatory when they go the wrong way about it, the issue I mentioned earlier of how they have made 2 different categories for sneakers is a perfect example of why in game purchases are becoming less tolerated by gamers every single year.
The Score
8.5
Review code provided by 2K
The Pros
+Fantastic presentation and graphics
+Loads of different game modes will ensure there is something for everyone
+New on-court mechanics feel fluid and great to use
+Enhancements to the city are great
The Cons
-In game purchases are starting to feel mandatory rather than an option
-Presentation for MyCareer games is still stripped bare and lacking
-Not many changes to offline modes
