NBA 2K16 improves upon an already fantastic game in previous NBA 2K15
Carrying over from last year’s NBA 2K15, 2K Sports have made significant improvements to make the game look more life-like. Having three years of the current console generation under their belt, the California-based team have again stepped it up visually. Gone are the canned “emotional” looks on the players’ faces when they are flying through the air for a dunk, that immediately disappear as soon as the ball goes through the hoop; instead, the facial looks change more organically according to the situation and feel less like an animation triggered by an event. Full body scans introduced this year allow the digital counterparts of NBA players to not only capture their body frame, but also the way they run and shoot the ball.
The crowds, bench players, and coaches have all been upgraded to allow a more immersive experience. It might sound strange, but it actually adds a lot more drama to the standard career mode. You get to play through the standard amount of court time as you normally would, but this is bolstered by the in-depth approach to building a player from the ground up. All the while, you’re subject to the twists and turns of your manufactured narrative. While there’s a sense that you’re never truly in control of the overarching story, it adds an extra dimension to what is essentially just a series of simulated games.
The story is brilliantly directed by movie director Spike Lee and contains many emotionally-packed scenes, which detail the day-to-day life of an NBA player. Then after concluding you are given the chance to continue your player’s career after his first rookie season; continually improving your skills, gaining new endorsements and making friends with some of the NBA’s biggest stars. Gameplay is as fluid as ever and provides players with either a quick and enjoyable pick up and play experience, or a long and challenging one depending on how long they wish a game to go on for. Essentially, the first four hours of the myCareer experience are hijacked by Spike Lee’s first “video game film”, Livin’ Da Dream, which is one of the most stereotype-ridden pieces of media I’ve ever subjected myself to.
The highlight every year is the career mode. With Spike Lee’s involvement in NBA 2K16 adding something very special to this game’s MyCareer. Spike Lee wrote the storyline for the mode and has also been involved as a director and producer on NBA 2K16. Right from the beginning of our career we’re impressed by Spike Lee’s contribution and immersed in the story that sees us rise through the ranks, starting in Harlem. We begin our basketball career at the Fairview High School Tornadoes, and from there we progress to the highest level of the game. After high school you choose a university and then get signed as a top talent in the NBA Draft, hopefully realising your dreams along the way.
Forget the fourth wall breaking or how it apes the story lines of Lee’s 20-year old film He Got Game-Livin’ da Dream forces players to sit through two hours of cutscenes starring a character named Frequency Vibrations, hiding players from the actual improvements and new Connections and Endorsements systems in NBA 2K16, with a hackneyed story about an alarming number of racial stereotypes. Once it’s over, myCareer has never been better – but those painful hours of sitting through Spike Lee’s trash dumpster fire of a motion-capture “film” are lost forever, moments that contradict the very nature of creative freedom the rest of the game tries to nurture in players.
Overall, NBA 2K16 improves upon an already fantastic game in last year’s NBA 2K15. The action is very close to a real NBA game and the graphics are top notch. Living Da’ Dream is a disappointment, but it’s fun after you get through the main story. And playing with others or doing leagues, NBA 2K16 really, really shines. 2K has done a fabulous job with this year’s version and it’s definitely my go to basketball game to play on the PC and console.