I rated this game as a 3.5/5 a week after release, but after playing online... yeesh. 2K21 next-gen has kind of been rejected by the hardcore community the same way Call of Duty: Ghosts was rejected in favor of BLOPS II.

Let's start with some positives. The City is very visually appealing and a welcome change from the copy-pasted "Neighborhood" from the past couple of 2K releases. Graphically, the jersey materials, shading and lighting is very impressive. Skin tones are massively improved, making the player models look even better than they already were. It's a visual marvel.

Other than that... this game is busted. MyTeam and MyCareer are more monetized than ever. On MyCareer, a single game will probably only net you enough VC for a SINGLE ATTRIBUTE UPGRADE. In MyTeam, the introduction of seasons has ruined a mode which has been feasible to play no-money-spent in past years. Seasons is a battle pass-esque model, but unlike most battle passes in games like COD and Desitny, 2K seasons awards game-breaking cards the higher and higher you level up. You can get more XP by scoring with new cards which will cost you real world money to acquire. The servers are booty cheeks, The City is a pretty but over glorified commercial, the Curry slide and fadeaway shots are broken beyond belief, the 6'7" demigod build has completely ruined pickup games and I have never seen as many cheaters using the CronusMax on a game since Warzone.

One day I'll get out of this abusive relationship.

I played the "Arcade Edition" released on Apple Arcade, technically a different game I guess? Anyway I don't feel motivated to submit a separate version on IGDB. It's funny how 2K has gradually ruined the series with pretty evil microtransaction garbage, some of the most intrusive and nefarious you'll see in boxed products, and that when they put out a version that has none of that they clearly don't have their heart in it because it's not going to make them way more money. "Arcade Edition" apparently just means stripping any life out of the game too. If someone was so desperate for basketball on a tablet or phone that they'd consider pulling this out... I dunno, maybe play Bouncy Hoops instead? I remember that being pretty neat.

Sports games for the most part are usually an enjoyable, fun experience alongside having a popping memorable soundtrack. I’ve played a few different sport games including various Basketball games, but this was my first time playing an actual 2K NBA game. As it was free with my newly fresh Xbox Series X, I was happy to get a free game even if it’s not one I would usually play. The NBA series has been around for a few console generations now, releasing year after year so it usually gets a mention, especially with the last few years with controversies such as the battle of microtransactions and glitchy games just to name a few. So, despite all this how many hoops did I shoot?

A few. I shot quite a few hoops;
There is a variation of game modes to play; including MyCareer which is essentially a main campaign, Park which is a casual street match, MyLeague, MyTeam, PlayNow Online, Blacktop and a quick play mode. You can also create your own NBA character and choose from Men and Women’s leagues which is cool to see.
I stuck to playing a few quick play matches, and logged a few hours in MyCareer which I thought was fine, nothing groundbreaking you just play matches and use social media to see fan feedback, things you can post to share to your social media which can boost your team’s popularity and text your team.

The gameplay itself felt fine to me, however it was sometimes a bit overwhelming with remembering what button does what; so I stuck to the basics (run n shoot). It took me a while to train myself to not use the a or b button to take a shot.

As mentioned before, sports games, at least to me, usually have a kick-ass soundtrack with a variation of genre and artists and NBA 2K21 was no exception, ranging from Hip-Hop, R&B and Rap just to name a few.

Pros: The Soundtrack and freedom to customise your character’s backstory/position on the court.
Cons: I believe this may have just been my TV as well, and I’m normally not one to nit pick with graphics but this game didn’t feel up to what the graphics should be in contemporary time.

I wouldn’t go out of my way to play the campaign again, maybe on the occasion I’ll boot it back up for a few quick game matches but other than that I don’t see any replay value.

I was a bit unimpressed with how it looked for an Xbox Series X game; although I feel my TV may have contributed to that as well.

I only stuck to MyCareer and quick game matches, so I can't speak on behalf of any other game mode.

I managed to get a few achievements but I wont go out of my way to get more or invest time. With some of these achievements or trophies, it requires a bit of time and effort.

Overall the game was fine, I had some fun, shot some hoops and found a few songs from the soundtrack to add to my spotify playlist.

2.5/5

I can't say I'm surprised that the $70 next gen version is mostly just a few new features and better looking models and courts, but I am surprised that they made this happen while the game feels less fluid and actually has dips in frame rate at many times. While the MyCareer story addition of the G-League is cute, it lays bare yet again just how thin the actual MyCareer framework is after the story mode is completed. Oh also they made a whole bunch of the WNBA look like shit because they can't figure out hair color and whatnot.

The 2k franchise is certainly one of the largest grifts in the videogame industry. So much so that at this point, with four iterations in a row of nearly identical games, it deserves some grudging respect. There are very few games who would so daringly and obviously turn their IP into a giant advertisement. "The Neighborhood", an online communal area where players can team up and play against one another, has quite literally turned into an online strip mall. Players can run into real life shoe stores, signs for popular sports drinks are plastered on every square inch of space, energy bars and drinks which boost your player’s performance are all product placement. There are even unskippable car advertisements before games. Most of the game modes are repetitive, filled with loot box mechanics to gather players to form your team while the management sim portions leave much to be desired.

The Career mode, however, is undoubtedly the most fascinating part of the game. It’s also one of the most important, as the player you create for the career is also used to play multiplayer. The story is nothing like anything I have ever experienced playing a videogame. Almost none of your interactions with any of the characters on your journey feel in any way like you are having a human conversation. Facial expressions don't make sense. Pauses in strange places and lasting the wrong amount of time. Sometimes conversations just completely derail. Your character's reactions to the things people say generally don't make sense. All of the characters seem to have trouble reading the general feeling within various situations, like dates that are meant to be relaxed are really tense and locker room discussions that are meant to be tense feel comical. In one scene your character may look unbothered about something someone said, and in the next they're absolutely enraged. Even the fake text messages are weird, with emojis in the wrong places or at the wrong times, and word choice just feels off.

It is so alien and foreign to the human experience that it transcends any simple distinction between “good” or “bad”. It feels as if a computer was tasked with collecting the scripts of the most famous sports movies, use them to form the basis of a plot structure, and then run the whole thing through a program called "human-based dialogue adjustments". It is an incredible experience, made even more incredible by the fact that the franchise is often able to draw big named writers to their team. Gazing upon your player’s twisted, tortured expression as he shares a joke with a teammate, who then stares unblinkingly into your characters soul for six seconds before laughing hysterically, is a truly disturbing experience. Listening to your character use internet slang from 2012 while on a first date with a love interest who is drilling you about being too arrogant after having just met you, made me embarrassed. As if I were sitting in a booth at a restaurant with a couple arguing one table over.

To know that someone wrote a story this soulless, so devoid of critique or higher meaning, leads me away from the conclusion that this is simply poor writing, and towards the idea that this is an inadvertent critique of not only the video game industry, but the entire economic system within which it is situated. Because the game itself, the simulation of the game of basketball, is actually quite well done. The movements of the players are fluid and relatively natural. The player is rewarded for smart play and the ai players act in relatively normal ways. It’s the best basketball game on the market, which makes its story stand out in even more marked relief. The career mode tells the story of a world dominated by endless consumption performed by irreparably alienated populous. A people whose screams of agony over their exploited labor is drowned not by the harsh jackboot of violence and repression, but soothed into the abyss by finding meaning through consumption. The competent basketball simulation is merely a platform for the real purpose of its existence: selling virtual currency, corporate sponsorship, product placement and brand building. The story of the game is this reality fully realized and articulated. Meaningless conversation and relationships come and go as the player proceeds towards their inevitable NBA career. The increasingly incoherent writing reaches a crescendo as the story nears its end, knowing that its time is short and that it is powerless to stop this slow march into a life devoid of meaning or purpose. Without strong relationships or a sense of community, the main character and likewise the player are left adrift in a confusing, alien life that doesn’t make sense and whose only recognizable features are flashes of corporate sponsorship and advertisements.

NBA 2k21 is, without a doubt, one of the strongest critiques of neoliberal capitalism that I have played in all my years. And for that, it should receive a well-deserved 2 stars.