Defense wins championships, and the improvements to AI defenses in NBA 2K16

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“ Player models are upgraded with new, more detailed body scans, and that has a profound effect on the overall experience.

Upping Its Game

In the studio, Kenny Smith joins Ernie Johnson and Shaq in entertaining, chemistry-led, semi-contextual pregame, halftime, and postgame shows, and Greg Anthony replaces Steve Kerr as the color commentator. The interactions between the commentators is fun, and there are far fewer misplaced reactions than in previous years – although it does still happen from time to time. Player interviews have returned as well, but disappointingly some have been reused from previous years. The addition of stunning new in-studio interviews more than makes up for it, in the grand scheme of things.

The big reason to show up this year, though, is that NBA 2K’s gameplay has been completely upgraded in nearly every way, resulting in a more true-to-life simulation experience. In previous years, I always found it easy to score by cheezing my way past AI defenders, running in circles and forcing them to make unrealistic mistakes. All of that is gone this year. Zig-zagging will result in steals and frustration, and attempts to drive the baseline will end up in terrible or blocked shots. The only reliable way to score is to use real basketball concepts, so if you’re a student of the sport you'll find yourself being rewarded for your knowledge. Loading

Whose Career Is It, Anyway?

“ You can relocate and completely rebrand your team with a mind-boggling amount of options.

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“ Even if a heated conversation was all about a choice I needed to make, I was never allowed to make it myself.

Racking Up Ws

You have to improvise, because opposing AI coaches will start to learn your tendencies and try new ways to stop you. For example, defenders had been going underneath screens, allowing me to step back and take open jumpers; after a few successful attempts they started going around screens, forcing me to drive the lane instead. This constant game of cat and mouse kept me on my toes, searching for new ways to make plays.Additionally, the controls have been adjusted and streamlined, adding dedicated buttons for lobs and bounce passes. The most meaningful change, however, is to the post game, which is now initiated with L2 (or LT). Backing a defender down feels much more responsive, since you no longer have to wait for animations to settle before making your next move. But I learned quickly that even perfectly timed shots won’t always go in, which is much more realistic than before.But the most notable and popular game mode is MyCareer, which has been taken in a completely different and unfortunately static direction. Spike Lee wrote and directed this mode as a documentary-style movie entitled Livin’ Da Dream. Once you create your character (whose unchangeable nickname is Frequency Vibrations, by the way) you’re dropped into the life of a high school phenom from Harlem with dreams of the NBA. Those early high school games are a bit dull, without commentary or any real challenge, since my player was a 6’7” point guard and the tallest guy on the court. But being recruited by officially licensed colleges and universities is extremely well done.Even looking past the lack of choices, the story became disjointed during my rookie season. The cutscenes led me to believe that I was a special player, but my overall rating was 55, since I was unable to earn any virtual currency up until that point. The AI improvements carry over to MyCareer, which made it extremely difficult to make any positive plays with a weak player. As a result, on the court I felt like I kept letting my team down... but off the court, I was signing shoe deals. Another flaw that can’t be overlooked is that your family, including your twin sister, is black, even if your created character is not.

Livin’ Da Dream reaches its conclusion after your rookie season, which only has eight playable games. After that, it opens up and plays more like the mode I was expecting, with 82-game seasons and new and exciting ways to improve your player on off days. That’s why I can enthusiastically recommend NBA 2K16 even with MyCareer’s failure to properly contextualize my player’s rise to stardom: at the end of the day, it’s all window dressing for the gameplay underneath – and in this case, that gameplay is spectacular.

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