The MyCareer mode in NBA 2K16 is the most creative feature

NBA 2K16 has the best career mode we have seen so far in any sports game. It lets you create and customise your own avatar, who starts out as a high school basketball hero. Directed by Spike Lee (Malcolm X, Oldboy) the NBA2k16’s ‘Livin’ Da Dream’ narrative provides a heartwarming story of a young man making his way into the NBA hall of fame. In the previous titles, you could easily exploit the opponent’s defence by cleverly timing a few usual moves with the best player on your team. Just like we do in the amateur levels of FIFA or PES. However, NBA 2k16 boasts of a smarter AI, and the opponents change their tactics based on your game style. So, you can’t execute the same move twice, or make the same run again without running straight into the opponent’s defence.

It takes some time to master the game and even when you do, the incredibly sharp AI will keep you on your toes the entire time. It’s just that simple. Bad shots rarely go in, and great shots don’t always fall. That’s the way basketball is in real life, and you really get an appreciation for that concept when you play head-to-head with another person. Watch as you or your opponent are penalized for bad shots and poor passing. I played online against a guy who had the Cavs. Missed shots quickly turned into transition opportunities. If LeBron James had the ball in the open floor, he was almost unstoppable, and that’s the way it should be. Hands-down, the new MyCareer mode in NBA 2K16 is the most creative feature of this latest iteration.

Not only do you get to make your very own player and follow his journey from high school superstar to college standout and future NBA legend, but it’s a fully fleshed-out narrative experience written and directed by the one-and-only Spike Lee. The controls, plays, tactics and rules are all there – but they’re tricky to grasp out of the box. The accompanying tutorial videos provide a brief insight into the fundamentals of the game but these lack enough depth to really be helpful. Even having watched them repeatedly, the refined control system still proved tricky – and plenty of experimentation and practice was needed to understand the full effect of the various buttons. Much of my early gameplay consisted of sprinting, basic passing and failed attempts at three pointers.

My defence was shoddy and I gave away an innumerable number of fouls. With persistence and a little practice, however, fake passes, step throughs and spin shots started creeping into my game and became second nature. Of course, as time goes on, the people signing your paycheck are going to expect more and more from you. Has it been a few seasons since your squad last made the playoffs? Might want to make the post-season a real priority, even if you know there’s a good chance that you’re going to be eliminated in the first round. Sure, throwing the season might net you a higher slot in the NBA Draft, but those higher picks won’t do you much good if somebody else is coaching the team next June.

The franchise’s popular MyTeam mode also returns in NBA 2K16, giving you the opportunity to find out just how godly a team would be if they managed to sign Michael Jordan, LeBron James and a smorgasbord of other players (famous and otherwise) from the National Basketball Association’s 68-year history. Unfortunately, it is also evident that 2K Sports bit off more than they can chew, by trying to make the MyCareer mode more compelling with the introduction of Spike Lee’s story. It made the first few hours of MyPlayer almost unbearable, forcing you to deal with a cheesy plot and providing nothing to make your MyPlayer yours. I hope the team learns from this, and I look forward to what they bring to that mode in NBA 2K17. Until then, I will be immersing myself in season play, MyGM and enjoying the best part of this game: playing ball.