The revamped online versus experience in NBA 2K16 is crippled
The NBA season is rapidly approaching and developer Visual Concepts has just released their latest addition to the NBA 2K series. With no real competition for a couple of years, 2K did a great job with both NBA 2K13 and NBA 2k14,with a slight downward trend from one to the other. We gave 2K13 a solid 9 while 2K14 dropped by half a point to 8.5. With no competition to push the developers to really add something new other than a few bells and whistles, they seemed content to push out a game that seemed like not much more than a roster update. The graphics for both 2K13 and 2K14 were great on the ps3, while the somewhat updated graphics could have been better for the PlayStaton 4 version of 2K16.
October 7 marks another edition of one of the biggest video game franchises in the history of gaming. The NBA 2K coins series hasn’t just grabbed the majority of basketball video game sales since its inception in 1999; it’s become a huge part of basketball culture off the pixelated court as well. NBA players play it as much as some fans and are quick to want to hit up the 2K Sports crew (headed by Ronnie Singh) to find out their ratings in the game long before the game is released. The other online offerings, such as a barebones versus league and the competitive collectable MyTeam mode, do little to serve players who prefer real competition over games against the CPU, effectively making NBA 2K16 a nonstarter.
However, the revamped online versus experience, dubbed MyPark, is crippled by its problematic structure and laggy performance. In theory, the idea of having a virtual space where players commune to join pick-up games sounds great, but it’s downright maddening in practice. I would rather join a 2v2, 3v3, or 5v5 match by simply selecting my preference in a menu and loading directly into a game rather than wandering around a basketball park waiting for others to jump into a queue the same time as me. When you do finally get enough people to play a game, the delays, drops, laggy performance, and lost progress in the ranking system mar the experience. In its current form, MyPark isn’t just hindered by minor annoyances; it’s downright inhospitable.
Indeed, most of the enhancements stem from the way that things are packaged. New this year is the face scanning technology, and the addition of TNT’s very own Shaq and Ernie as pre-game analysts. Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past couple of weeks, you’ll have heard about one buy NBA 2K16 mt coins for ps3 or two face scan horrors, leading to some hideously hilarious adaptations of what is supposed to be your face. It is a bit finicky, but if done correctly, the PlayStation Camera powered results are great, making it a nice use of next-gen technology.
If porting in your very own face doesn’t seem like fun, there are a ton of other options, from changing skin tone, to sculpting individual features of your face from cheekbones to eyebrow ridges and more. It almost feels like a full 3D modeling tool, which can be overwhelming for some but is pretty awesome for obsessives like me. It’s also worth noting that bodies don’t really have near as much variety in them, which is a shame but I suppose you probably wouldn’t see very many obese people playing in the NBA.
The gamer-centered focus is reflected on the preponderance of the word “My” in the games various modes such as MyCAREER, MyPARK, MyTEAM, MyGM, MyLEAGUE and MyMYSELFANDI. Alright, I made up that last one but you get the drift. You can even further customize your digital lookalike to look more like your beautiful self through facial scanning with devices such as the Kinect or the PlayStation camera. Just note that you’ll want to do so under optimal lighting conditions lest you end up with a mug that’s more tailored for the Mos Eisley Cantina than the basketball court. Got the Star Wars cantina song now stuck in your head? Well, you ain’t getting any sympathy from me as it’s been playing on a loop in MyHEAD all morning. Get it? MyHEAD? Because the game has modes called, um, never mind.