What’s Changed? What’s New? Plenty…
Most people are curious as to what is different year to year in a sports series like NBA 2K. Sometimes it’s graphics, of course there are updated rosters, sometimes you get new modes – with NBA 2K9, the 2K guys stressed that, more than any other year, NBA 2K9 is packed to the brim with improvements to achieve what they termed the ‘full package.’ The intent was to touch every aspect of NBA 2K and improve upon it, while adding new or greatly enhanced features like Living Rosters, Player DNA with 2K Share, and five on five online gameplay that emphasizes team play. All of these changes would have been much harder to implement without the absence of a College Hoops 2K game this year. The additional help has been key to giving the team a few extra developers to flesh out this year’s NBA experience as much as possible.
One of the most exciting features for this year’s version is Living Rosters. Xbox 360 and PS3 versions have the ability to connect to 2K’s servers and retrieve updated player ratings, tendencies, rosters, and even unlock new animation packages depending on how players are performing in real life. You also get to participate in user polls and read up on the latest news and 2K Insider’s blog posts – just check out the screenshots for more information.
Before moving on, let me give the example that was used during the conference call as to how Living Rosters works. Take a rookie who’s performance in college has built up a lot of hype about how good he might do in the NBA this year as a rookie. He was great in college, so his player rating out of the box for 2K9 is pretty good – but as the real NBA season goes on, maybe he won’t be so good; or maybe he’ll perform like another Lebron. Depending on what happens in real life, the ratings, tendencies, and available animations will change in the game. These new animations allow for more snazzy looking plays, but unfortunately these unlocked animations are not available in online play because for online play, a common or equivalent roster must be used across each console. And while it may not be updated quite as often as NBA Live’s service, you don’t have to pay any more for it – EA is charging an additional $20 for their similar service.
Speaking of online play, NBA 2K9 is packing quite a punch this year. You can expect support for full five-on-five play, which sounds awesome if you can find a group of gamers who are dedicated to playing as a team. The developers admitted that there isn’t anything directly they can do to ensure that you’ll play with team-players, but did indicate that there would be a rating system whereby players get marks for playing as a ball hog or loner or as a team player. As is the case with most online ventures, it shouldn’t be very long for a dedicated community to start forming teams, so I have confidence that this feature is going to work out pretty darn well for itself.
Create A Player, AI, Controls
The Create A Player option has been expanded in interesting ways. Rob Jones talked about how currently, there isn’t really a great way for players to share their custom players. With 2K9, you can upload your player to 2K’s server, where it will be viewable and searchable by other users, who can then download it.
New facial animations were talked about too. While the obvious main focus is on the starting players, expect bench players to get the proper treatment anytime they’re in focus, too. A new engine was built to assist in making the skin of players be as realistic as possible.
As far as the AI, there have been some changes. Late game AI is apparently improved, and the AI will more consistently make good decisions about what to do when they’re down. They may not do what you expect them to do or what you would do, but the developers indicated that they expect the AI to perform wisely given their situation. Also, the AI is more adaptive now than ever. So for those gamers who like to play 2K more like an arcade and throw the ball up court and try for a fast break dunk every play, the CPU AI on your team will try to adapt to that and make up for your shortcomings.
In terms of controls, there have been some significant changes done here, too. The right thumbstick, aka the Shot Stick, is much more functional now. The use of the triggers that was seen in previous versions of 2K, I believe most recently in 2K7, have returned to add more fidelity and options for gamers. The term ‘contextual animation’ was also brought up in that gamers have more options and more distinct control over how their players behave on court. For example, on the offensive end with various types of shots, you can perform floaters and leaners, in addition to last year’s runners. ‘Step throughs’ and ‘up and under’ moves are integrated too. You can even pass out of a layup now to avoid a rejection, and alley oops should be a little more usable now, too. In previous versions, and I can confirm with NBA 2K8 in a season I played through earlier this year, alley oops simply weren’t doable in a lot of cases. Your player would not toss up the ball, and this was because 2K8 was created in such a way to keep you from throwing those really inadvisable passes. The indication I got is that this year’s version relaxes those constraints, so that could be cool and interesting.
As far as other gameplay changes, expect more deflections and interceptions during fast breaks to keep those types of plays in check. I can tell you that I’ve had the CPU run over my guys more than enough times to make me wish it were easier to stop these types of plays, so it’s cool to see what should be a welcomed improvement here.
D-Lock, Association, Versions
Another element to this year’s version that has been tweaked is the D-Lock. This function allowed players to lock their character onto an offensive player with the ball so that they can more easily keep up with the ball handler. In 2K9, mismatches, the example given was Shaq vs Chris Paul, are going to be more exploitable – in other words, Chris Paul is going to win that match up more often than not do to his speed and quickness. The ability to side step will be helpful for defense players however.
With these control changes, and some criticism from 2K8, expect a tremendous improvement in documentation. The manual is said to be very informative and packed with help for players to get used to the controls. There is even an in game tutorial mode now (and I don’t mean the Practice Mode). The developers also said that further documentation and help beyond the manual will be posted on 2ksports.com.
Yet another revamp this year is the Association mode. Association 2.0 is basically 2K’s franchise mode. For me, I’ve never tried Franchise mode because I’m the type of gamer that wants a fun experience without a lot of backend work. I’m part of that large group of gamers that wants a simulation NBA game that isn’t going to overwhelm and bog me down with the more hardcore options typical of franchise modes. 2K looks to have struck a balance here in allowing gamers to let the CPU handle those options (like deadlines and roster management, etc.) and let you focus on what you want to do. Rob emphasized that their goal with the Association this year was to make it more accessible to the average player. The Association is also integrating NBA.com into your game as well; check out the screenshots for details.
Also, for the first time ever, 2K is bringing their game to new frontiers by reaching out to PC gamers. NBA 2K9 will be the only NBA game on PC this year, and while it doesn’t feature online play, it’s a direct port of the Xbox 360 version and only retails for $19.99.
Speaking of versions, the developers said that this year’s PS3 release will be identical to the Xbox 360 version, and that goes for both offline and online modes and features; so PS3 gamers have nothing to worry about there. However, Trophies weren’t included, while the Xbox 360 version will feature 50 Achievements. A PS2 version is also available.
Lastly, players can expect a large collection of legend players to return, but unfortunately due to licensing problems, no classic teams will appear. Also, Kevin Harlan will take the mic with Clark Kellogg doing the color commentary instead of Kenny Smith, with Cheryl Miller working the sidelines. I like Kenny Smith on TNT, but I didn’t like him much as a commentator in NBA 2K8, so I’m actually glad to see this change.
Conclusion
All in all, it looks like a really strong year for the NBA 2K series. We should be receiving our review copy next week, so check back with us for our full review in about ten days.
