NBA 2K9
A Review - By Gaetano Prestia
In a year which saw EA’s vintage basketball-sim franchise, NBA Live, return to good form after a few seasons of inconsistent performances, sports gamers everywhere were looking to 2K to see if they were also able to out-do their great achievements from previous years. With NBA Live 09 improving immensely over the disastrous NBA Live 07 and disappointing NBA Live 08, 2K Sports had an obligation to the genre to maintain its basketball-sim quality. How does NBA 2K9 perform and can it maintain its starting-5 position over the competition?
While NBA 2K8 was a solid basketball, it still had problems with frustrating AI and gameplay glitches that ultimately hindered the gaming experience. Still, the title was very enjoyable and provided gamers with an alternative to the heavily promoted and longer-lasting series from EA Sports.
With NBA 2K9, 2K Sports have fixed some of the problems from the previous years outing and the outcome is a completely rejuvenated and impressive basketball sim. There have been a few new additions on the gameplay front that make the experience even more enjoyable than what it was in previous years and while the leap from 2K8 to 2K9 isn’t quite as large as Live 08 to Live 09, there’s still enough good change to keep the NBA 2K series on top of the competition.
One of the first improvements you’ll see is in the case of friendly AI. Your teammates are far more responsive to your playcalling and requests, with dual-player control being much more of a necessity because of increased opponent defensive AI. Your teammates will respond quicker to your calls for a screen, cut or jump-shot and you’ll also notice improved animations that compliment a successful play. Both your teammates and opponents also take better advantage of poor defence, noticing a defenders inability to cover a strong side. If the opponent AI is covering a teammate on their left side when their right-side is hot for them, your teammate will cut and get open so as to take advantage of that defensive error. It’s not a gameplay glitch, but rather the AI’s ability to make position.
The shot-stick returns for another successful outing, with a more responsive appearance than in years past. You’ll notice your player’s ability to change their shot in mid-air, which is something that fans have been lobbying 2K to improve for the past few years. Previously, you could use the shot stick and start off the shooting animation, however you could suddenly be caught in traffic with an inability to change the shot angle at the last moment. This led to a lot of blocks and steals, but with the ability to change a shot in mid-air, the shot-stick is far more effective.
Furthermore, the gameplay plays a lot quicker than it did last year. NBA 2K8 seemed to slow things down with slower gameplay than what was in NBA 2K7, but NBA 2K9 seems to have gone back up to the quality of quick and exciting basketball. You won’t be scoring 130 points per game, but at least the pace has been increased to compliment other improvements on the offensive side of things.
2K Sports made note of another nagging issue in previous years’ games, making it so big-name players don’t miss easy shots, lay-ups and dunks. Previously, a superstar player could miss a lay-up if you didn’t use the shot-stick right, but now it’s more of a case of the players fatigue as to whether or not they hit a shot. If Kobe is hot, he’s going to hit any and every shot he takes. If you’re controlling him for the easy lay-up, he won’t miss it. This is unlike other years, where a fast-break could turn sour when one of your superstar players missed an open lay-up.
One aspect that seemed to get plenty of negative attention from last years title was the introduction of the lock-on defensive mechanic, which allowed you to defend an opponent and “stick” to them, making it far easier to defend fast breaks and stop quick guards from cutting through the key for an easy lay-up. The major downfall was the games inability to consider defensive abilities and physical attributes when using the mechanic. For example, you could be in control of Eddy Curry and he’d be able to easily shut-down Chris Paul simply by hitting the left trigger. He could slide and keep up with Paul pace-wise, simply because you’re taking advantage of the lock-on D.
It’s been improved this year with the implementation of the right analog stick to compliment the feature. Instead of simply pressing a button and defending an opponent, you now have to ensure you control your player in the same direction as the ball-handler; otherwise they’ll slip away and sprint past you. What this means is that Shaq won’t be able to trap a quick guard like Tony Parker, because you’ll find it difficult to cover all of Tony’s cross-overs and fakes because of how slow Shaq is. Last year, that wouldn’t matter, as the game would control your player as long as you kept the left trigger pushed down.
The Association (this year called The Association 2.0) has also been given an upgrade, with a few noteworthy additions and tweaks that make it a great simulated experience for gamers looking for a challenging and deep manager mode. Firstly, you can scout players before a match (this has been included in NBA Live games for a few years, though), making it easier to acknowledge upcoming star player opponents. There isn’t a number rating system, but instead a letter rating system, although the game still offers more extensive number ratings within the scouting reports.
Some of the most important aspects of any franchise mode are the trading and financial features. Trading has been given a realistic tweak, adding 3-team trades and contract clauses that allow a player to reject a trade. For example, if you want to trade a star for a star, the other team might accept, but the player you’re trading might reject the trade because of a non-trade clause in their contract. It’s realistic and makes a successful trade feel that little bit extra rewarding.
Blacktop returns in NBA 2K9 with an improved dunk contest with easier difficulty. It was near impossible to be successful last year, but the team at 2K Sports have made the mode more accessible to the casual gamer looking for a quick dunk contest to play. Blacktop is still pretty much the same as it was last year, offering something different from the basic simulated basketball experience.
Online multiplayer isn’t quite up to the standard of EA’s NBA Live online experience, but it’s still enjoyable. There’s 5-on-5 gameplay, which is solid, with minimal lag and reasonable online menus. It doesn’t flow quite as well as Live 09, but it’s still a good online experience.
NBA 2K9 will also have Living Rosters, a feature that will update rosters as the real NBA season rolls on. It looks to be similar to NBA Live 09’s living DNA system, but it’s impossible to rate its effectiveness untill the season actually starts.
NBA 2K9 has also sprinted past the opposition on a graphical front, with great court animations and a moving, living crowd. Animations are great to watch and add that little bit extra to the game. Players react to bumping into each other or having a bad call against them and shooting contact looks particularly good, especially if you can change the shot in mid-air and the player works his magic to get the shot up without getting blocked.
Cheryl Miller and Clark Kellogg join Kevin Harlan in the commentary stakes to provide a decent, if somewhat repetitive and generic play-by-play call.
The Final Verdict
NBA 2K9 gets plenty right to provide a great basketball gaming experience. The gameplay has been improved and given a few great new additions and while the series hasn’t taken as much of a leap forward as the Live series did this year, NBA 2K is still miles ahead of the competition on the gameplay front.
Gameplay
8.5/10
Great new features and improved areas from last year’s game. Still miles ahead of the competition.
Graphics
8.0/10
Great player animations and crowd design.
Sound
7.5/10
Nice soundtrack with decent commentary.
Value
9.5/10
The Association is deep, online is great fun and the gameplay will keep you playing for the entire NBA season. Living Rosters should add extra incentive to keep this in your console for a while and Blacktop is good fun for something different.
Overall
8.7/10