NBA 2k22 is as polished as ever. The 2k basketball franchise routinely rivals the MLB The Show series as the best annual sports game. And this may be the year that 2k22 is the undisputed winner of that battle, though this has more to do with this year's The Show than it does 2k.
Franchise mode is clean and crisp, running quickly and collecting all the stats one might want. 2k22's MyNBA is the pinnacle of the career/association/dynasty/franchise mode among sports games. It's the deepest, most immersive, most customizable sports franchise mode yet.
But there are a few 'buts.' The MyWNBA mode has been greatly expanded but still lacks feature parity with its MyNBA counterpart. The W is a nice career mode that meshes well with a more pleasurable sports career experience reminiscent of Madden's former Superstar modes. But your player gains way too much experience way too quickly and some of the accoutrements winds up feeling too frivolous to remain engaging. It sticks out notably when compared to the NBA career mode.
The gameplay is relatively unchanged, as it has been for the last five or so years. It's as stale as ever and the gameplay engine is just chafing badly at this point. Players still have weird interactions under the rim, taking bizarre angles on layups or paint drives, or god forbid they take another fucking jumper in the lane during a breakaway. All of the interior offense comes off as immersion breaking because the engine can't deal with the mechanics. The number of times a player like Boban tosses up a weakly flicked layup from way above the basket instead of just standing-dunking it because the game can't tolerate properly simulating dominant paint play is absurd. God forbid you play as Shaq and you'll see the same issues.
As always, stay away from the online game modes. They're miserable, microtransaction driven RNG fests. The 'green' zone jumper mechanic is infinitely aggravating. Every edition of 2k's 3v3 gacha-game mode is a cancerous race to find the most busted mechanics imaginable. Using Bol Bol or Shaq to chuck 3s because you've mastered their jump shot timer. Giannis remains as dominant as 04 Vick. There are probably genuinely very fun ways to use that sports-card-gacha system in a single player PvE experience. But none is to be found here.
2k is desperately in need of some reinvention. But it also remains the top dog in its genre. It's hard to want them to rock the boat when the formula is so pleasing. Playing 2k franchise mode and simming your way through 99% of it remains the most Football Manager-esque experience basketball has in the video game space. And that's still quite a fun way to play these things.
Franchise mode is clean and crisp, running quickly and collecting all the stats one might want. 2k22's MyNBA is the pinnacle of the career/association/dynasty/franchise mode among sports games. It's the deepest, most immersive, most customizable sports franchise mode yet.
But there are a few 'buts.' The MyWNBA mode has been greatly expanded but still lacks feature parity with its MyNBA counterpart. The W is a nice career mode that meshes well with a more pleasurable sports career experience reminiscent of Madden's former Superstar modes. But your player gains way too much experience way too quickly and some of the accoutrements winds up feeling too frivolous to remain engaging. It sticks out notably when compared to the NBA career mode.
The gameplay is relatively unchanged, as it has been for the last five or so years. It's as stale as ever and the gameplay engine is just chafing badly at this point. Players still have weird interactions under the rim, taking bizarre angles on layups or paint drives, or god forbid they take another fucking jumper in the lane during a breakaway. All of the interior offense comes off as immersion breaking because the engine can't deal with the mechanics. The number of times a player like Boban tosses up a weakly flicked layup from way above the basket instead of just standing-dunking it because the game can't tolerate properly simulating dominant paint play is absurd. God forbid you play as Shaq and you'll see the same issues.
As always, stay away from the online game modes. They're miserable, microtransaction driven RNG fests. The 'green' zone jumper mechanic is infinitely aggravating. Every edition of 2k's 3v3 gacha-game mode is a cancerous race to find the most busted mechanics imaginable. Using Bol Bol or Shaq to chuck 3s because you've mastered their jump shot timer. Giannis remains as dominant as 04 Vick. There are probably genuinely very fun ways to use that sports-card-gacha system in a single player PvE experience. But none is to be found here.
2k is desperately in need of some reinvention. But it also remains the top dog in its genre. It's hard to want them to rock the boat when the formula is so pleasing. Playing 2k franchise mode and simming your way through 99% of it remains the most Football Manager-esque experience basketball has in the video game space. And that's still quite a fun way to play these things.
By far the best 2k game ever
COPY paste but graphics better at least