Customer Reviews

NBA 2K12 (Covers May Vary)

5 star:		(57)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

Fun and Frustrating...

This is only the 4th NBA 2K game I've played (2K, 2K1, 2K11 now 2K12). I haven't gone through everything in 2K12 but here are my impressions on what I've played so far...

I play My Player mode the most so I'll start off with that...

- It's a lot easier to jump into than 2K11. You play 1 pre-draft game, not the 7 or so in 2K11 that you had to grind through.

- You are interviewed by three different GM's and you can "pick" what team drafts you by answering negatively or positively. The questions themselves sound pretty realistic. I made a power forward and told the Rocket's GM I wasn't happy with being Scola's backup so they didn't draft me. I also turned down the 76ers but told the Wizards I'd like to be part of their young front court and got drafted by them. The minor downside is you don't know which three teams are going to be interviewing you, but it'd be silly if you were able to choose what teams to interview with. I also made a shooting guard and it seems the interview teams range from decent core of talent (suns, sixers) to rebuilding teams (wizards, pistons).

- Draft night, you watch virtual David Stern announce all draft picks. You can't skip his announcements. If you're picked #21 you have to watch him announce #1-20, which sucks.

- You start the NBA season and there are a few changes. You start out at a higher player rating than last year. I started at 62 while 2K11 had me start in the low 50's I think. You upgrade offensive and defensive attributes just like last year with the skill points earned in games. This year they also added an area to upgrade abilities, these would be the special moves you can do in the game (fade away, cross over, post hook shot, etc...) but they're ridiculously expensive. It costs ~10,000 sp to do an ability upgrade.

- This year you can also buy stuff with the money you earn from your contract. You can buy additional skill points, increase the cap of your offensive/defensive attributes, but it's pricey. ($50K for 50 measly sp).

- Post game conferences are the same. You're still ranked in league wide popularity, team chemistry and fan support but you can track where you stand in these categories. If you need a boost in these categories there's a menu where you can spend your money to host a b-ball camp (boost fan support), give to charity (boost league popularity), or host team parties (increase chemistry). I'm not sure if any of these actually affect anything though. Like will a high team chemistry score actually get you the ball more? Will low fan support mean the GM wants to ship you out?

- Game play is still frustrating (in my player mode at least. I haven't played too many regular mode games)

a) The aggressive pass defense is back this year. It doesn't bug me too much cause I think I've just accepted that I need to be smarter about where I throw the ball to. Lead passing and Total control passing are back this year to help with that. But it's annoying seeing the CPU complete full court passes with no problem.

b) You're team mates are still idiots. Examples are taking dumb shots (shooting when double teamed, driving into a crowded paint and throw up an off balance shot) and standing with the ball as the shot clock counts down and either pass it to you with 5 seconds left or shoot from wherever they're standing at. Basically it feels like they all must have "F" ratings by the end of the game.

c) Moving around feels a bit smoother than last year. However you'll still get stuck to an opponent when you collide into them while trying to run past them and jumping to block is in slow motion (by the time I reach the peak of my jump the guy I was defending is already starting to run back on defense).

d) There are a lot more bounced foot animations and they happen pretty frequently. My PG tried to drive into a crowded lane and the ball bounced off someone's foot, I threw a fast break pass up the court and my teammate dropped the ball and it rolled off his foot.

e) A lot of attempted threes are made. Yes you can adjust sliders but I've always hated going through that trial and error process of finding the right settings.

f) The grade penalties are the same as last year (hogging the ball, call for bad pass, allow man to score, etc...) and they're as annoying as last year.

g) The typical 2K physics are still there and seem to be standard for the game. My teammate threw a bounce pass in the paint to the other big and in the replay you can see the ball actually travel through the defenders body.

h) Dynamic goals are new and they're basically impromptu goals given to you during the game. Some are easy (commit zero turnovers rest of the quarter) and others feel impossible (score next 10 points for your team) since they require you to demand the ball and the teammate won't give it to you.

i) I'm 11 games into the season and the past 2 or 3 games I'm starting to notice that my power forward keeps getting the ball stolen while posting up. I get the ball near the key, push Y to get to post up, as soon as I attempt to start backing down the big guarding me just swipes and picks the ball away. This has happened at least 4-5 times the last couple games, I hope this doesn't happen every game or else I'll need to start my player over with another position.

Greatest Players Mode

- This mode has 15 different matchups between two classic NBA teams. You unlock these teams for normal play by winning these matchups. I'm glad they included even more legends (they went way back and included Bill Russell's Celtics and Wilt's Lakers) but there's not much to accomplish in this mode. It doesn't have any objectives like last year with Jordan where you had to repeat his famous moments. All you do is win and unlock the teams. Some probably like this better because some 2K11 Jordan achievements were a pain to accomplish (like 4 steals in his last bulls game). But it just feels like a step down from 2K11.

- I gotta say the attention to detail on presentation is staggering. 2K made presentation to be true to the era that you're playing in. When playing as Russell's Celtics the game is shown in black and white, there's no 3 point line and jump ball happens every quarter. It's amazing how they tried to re-create 60's basketball.

- The commentary is weird. Throughout the game you'll hear the commentators call the game but switch to recalling their favorite memories of the superstar. So when playing Bulls vs Hornets from '92 you'll hear commentary about the game in progress than they suddenly start reflecting back what a great player Jordan was in his time.

Online

- Haven't tried any of it because servers were down this past weekend and didn't seem like it was anything 2K announced ahead of time, if you play online a lot than you'll probably be pissed cause the servers seem to be unstable again this year.

Training Camp for Controls

- The 2K controls are infamously complex and take lots of practice. 2K added this training camp mode and I think it's a god send. The computer literally shows you how to pull off all the moves contained in the game. I found this insanely helpful because I never mastered the 2K11 controls. In 2K11 you'd get instructions of how to pull off a move but kind left to yourself to decide whether you actually did it correctly. The training camp presentation is pretty nice, a CPU controlled legend will demonstrate the move and have you control a current star and try to mimic the move.

Presentation

- 2K maintains their high standard here. Minor complaints would be I haven't found the classic Bulls Sirius entrance from last year (not sure if it's in 2K12 at all. The substitution windows still take up a good chunk of screen space but I haven't seen it block viewing the game after inbounding the ball. The slam cam replay comes up after a big play and I've turned off action replays in the options menu but the slam cam still pops up. The commentary is still great and sounds like a TV broadcast. You still get repeated lines but that's a minor point. One thing that I hated from 2K11 was if a ball rolled to mid-court, you had to wait for the ref to grab the ball, walk over to the end of the court and hand it to the guy inbounding the ball. You couldn't skip straight to the inbound pass. I haven't seen this yet & hoping it's not in 2K12.

To get the game or not, it depends on what you're looking for. Personally I was hoping for an improved My Player mode experience. I love the GM interviews, it's great you get drafted right away but the annoying game play quirks are still there. In the end I still like the game because of my player and I found 2K11 my player a lot more tolerable once you're player actually develops and starts putting up all star numbers.

But if you love playing online a lot you might want to wait a while `till the servers become more stable. If you're a casual sports gaming fan and didn't like 2K11 last year you'd probably give this a rental at best. If you're a hardcore NBA fan it's probably worth getting the game as there's no other option this year other than NBA Jam OFE. There so many modes to play that you'll probably be able to invest a lot of time into the game and get enjoyment out of it somewhere.

I just want to say, I had some reserves about this year's title. I liked last year's 2K11 but I could not seem to really get into the game much. Honestly, I think last year's version was more difficult overall. So far I have tried to unlock the Dr. J challenge and was unsuccessful...lol Even thought I didn't win to unlock his challenge it was still fun to play. Those old school players still "got game" they can ball. I had so much fun with the Legends and My Player modes that I haven't even touched the regular game modes yet. I have officially been drafted in My Player, I had a ball creating my players every nook and cranny...very detailed and so much fun. You can create your players complexion, height, weight, eye color, facial hair, muscular physique, tatoos, equipment ie braces, bands, headbands, socks and sneakers (name brand w/ player endorsed footwear) I have the 2011 Hyperdunks Gray/Black/Red. I was also able to create my players signature style and moves. After I did all of that, I was entered into a pre-draft all-star game being watched by NBA team scouts. I did pretty good 24pts.,(3)rebounds,(2)assists,(4)steals and(4)fouls...yikes. All of your stats are on the top right side of the screen so you can keep an eye on your progress and you also get graded A thru F. The commentators are hard on you if you mess up and will praise you to death if your doing well, they will make comments about if you are draft material or not. This game has a lot of pressure centered around it...all for the best I guess. After this game was over I had(3)interviews one with the Pacers, Suns and the 76ers. I was drafted round (1) pick 13 by the Phoenix Suns. You would have thought I was drafted in real life... it was so exciting. I could go on for ever about the fun I had playing in My Player mode.

I am not the greatest NBA 2K player by far, but now I have some motivation to go to the next level and try to get better and be competitive. I thought last year's 2K 11 was ground breaking, but the critics were right this game is by far the best game of all of the NBA 2K series. It makes you wonder what is in store for next year's edition. FYI, I read that because of the current NBA lockout; 2K Sports was forbidden to put any of the current NBA players on the cover of this year's edition (NBA 2K 12). Personally I like the Legends being on the covers. I like the fact that this year, you can choose (1) out of (3) Legends on your copy of the game, that is Michael Jordan, Larry Bird or Erving "Magic" Johnson. All and all this game is worth it to buy, I don't suggest you rent it because you will have to send it back, JUST BUY IT!!!

Purchased this for my Freshman 9th grader who plays basketball himself... He has been playing nonstop with friends and online with them via Xbox since we received it..., a good escape after homework and or for some downtime not to mention who knows what will become of the NBA Season this year... graphics are great.., and music choices as well... Only issue was shipping, which took over a week instead of two days which it should have with Amazon Prime...(of course this was purchased right when it came out so could have been a stocking issue)

First of all , this is the best overall itteration of 2k yet. Yes, it is better than 2k11.I have been playing this game since dreamcast and have never left. This game has excellent,commentary,animation,immersion,and gameplay. The legends mode is fun also. Overall a very,very solid game. I will say that the online needs fixing. But we are reviewing the game at its core. Meaning can a person without internet access enjoy the game. The answer is yes. I also won't blame 2k for the lockout. They can't add certain things into the game until the lockout is resolved. To all the reviewers who give 1 and 3 stars. Sounds like a personal problem or you misled your own self because when I read your reviews, they are both petty and ridiculous. 2k has been talking about what will be in the game for half a year. So if you purchased it expecting to have nothing but Jordan challenges, the wnba, and an nfl combine mode , then you may need to stop playing games altogether. Awesome game. Better than 2k11. Learn to adjust and adapt. If you don't like it, go buy EA's new basketball game whenever it comes out.

2k sports does it again an amazing basketball game no wonder ea sports left the NBA video games, If you a basketball fan you will love this game

This has everything you could possibly want in a basketball game. Yesterdays legends... check todays stars... check Incorporates live schedules and roster updates everyday... check. But the bottom line is that this game is fun every time you pick it up. The franchise mode is very in depth and playing as Jordan, Bird, Magic, and so on, during big games in their careers is a basketbal fans dream. Buy it!

Yes, it's difficult. Yes, a little more than last years, but I personally like the fact that if you make a stupid play you pay for it! Visually the game is amazing. The my player mode is much, much more in depth this year. The legends mode is a blast. Online association provides endless replayability. If you liked 2k11 and you love a sports game that actually requires you to have a little bit of skill to dominate then get this game. A+++

NBA 2K12 is one of the most top heavy sports titles imaginable. What it does well is exceedingly impressive but faulty features or those that dont live up to potential do enough damage to affect the overall perception and complete value of the product.

(UPDATE) With the lockout ended and the season underway roster updates have arrived to help alleviate some of the problems it caused to the product. First round rookies are in but second rounders still no where to be found and NBA Today is working though seems to lag behind by a day. Patches have also helped to improve some areas of the game though nothing drastically.

POSITIVES

-NBA's GREATEST

This is where primary resources for NBA 2K12 were spent and it pays off with an enriching experience even if it may not have longevity beyond the first play-throughs. The authentic touches given to the 15 match-ups in terms of presentation, commentary, the nature of the audio, and rule implementation is fantastic. It's just unfortunate that those special elements can't be applied to games elsewhere and are instead limited to the mode itself.

-ROSTER OF HISTORIC TEAMS

NBA 2K12 features 36 historic teams - some carrying over from last year (but thankfully with more of the real players included) and several new ones being introduced. Actually the 36 is double the 18 of 2K11 so that is significant advancement. It's a great mix of popular squads and time periods with most complaints coming from the absence of Charles Barkley and Reggie Miller (and with that no classic Pacers teams).

For those bored or fed up with the current state of the NBA the teams are all compelling in their own ways or based on individual history as a fan. For myself it's fun to re-live the days of Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton but really all the teams of the late 80's and 90's for nostalgic reasons. They have to be unlocked by completing the NBA's Greatest mode however - and the Kings and Warriors are limited to the early run of copies via insert code.

-GAMEPLAY

NBA 2K12 builds off what 2K11 did very well - though it doesn't feel all that much different overall and instead has improved incrementally in a number of areas. Gameplay has been the central focus of the NBA 2K series and it still excels there. The new post-up mechanic is the biggest enhancement this year. The number of options available in the post are now numerous and work well which helps better balance out offensive effectiveness from the outside-in. I also really like the ability to contest shots or passes well with the right stick. The overall flow is quite good and fast breaks are also more effective after years of struggles in that area. There's a rich satisfying feeling for winning or even down to executing a single play successfully.

Despite all that there are some bothersome elements such as the CPU shooting (and making) an abnormal amount of threes with far too many players capable of making them consistently, the abundance of deflected passes and inability to "thread the needle" or pass to a cutter in the paint, the lack of ability to choose to bounce pass, defensive rotations are sometimes questionable, and for some reason players can't outstretch their arms when defending inbounds passes. It was also an odd design decision to paint gaudy giant colored circles on the court for zone defenses - though this can be turned off with "Who to Guard" in the controller settings.

-PRESENTATION/ATMOSPHERE

The broadcast style presentation is enhanced this year - with new camera angles, intros, and quarter-breaks. "Playoff crowds" finally make an appearance and greatly improve the atmosphere. The crowd doesn't always react properly to events but are much improved otherwise. NBA 2K continues its excellence in commentary with Steve Kerr as an additional analyst. It's very impressive how the commentary flows - even if something happens on the court that needs to be addressed immediately the guys will go back to and continue the story from the point they left off. The new pre-game intros are sharp as well.

NEGATIVES

-MY PLAYER

What was supposed to be a huge improvement to the career mode is fatally hampered by incredibly bad trade logic. Rosters are constantly churning - often through trades that made no sense for the team or involve big name players that would never be moved. The gameplay experience is still lacking due to poor teammate AI, opponent 3PT attempts/percentages too high (no sliders in this mode), and difficulty in simply moving around as players are like magnets pulling the user into what become akin to brick walls. Despite having the NBA Draft with generated players they actually aren't added to the team rosters which creates issues of its own. There is also a freeze that halts progress if the user's team wins the Championship. My Player does do some things well - its attempts to implement more off-the-court elements are appreciated but they mean little when everything else isn't properly established first.

-ONLINE PLAY/ONLINE ASSOCIATION

Arguably the worst online experience in years and little progress has been made in the last week plus since release. Online play is plagued by overwhelming numbers of disconnects and heavy lag/poor responsiveness - while popular modes such as Crew were removed without any prior notification or even acknowledgement since. It's embarrassing that the promoted new website, which is to house important features consumers were anticipating, not only wasn't ready for release day but remains unlaunched. The biggest disappointment comes with Online Association - admirable in the goal of delivering an online component to the complete offline mode - but coming up short by not including all the necessary options and admin control.

-NBA LOCKOUT

This is no fault of 2K Sports but the lockout does have an effect on the product's value. 2K was smart to increase the presence of legends and historic teams in a year when fans would potentially be turned off by today's NBA. They could have planned a bit better though by expanding NBA's Greatest presentation for use elsewhere, making it easy to edit historic teams and move players onto other rosters, and by allowing historic teams to be used online (without having to pay for it through upcoming DLC). The lack of rookies does sting even in a down year for talent and well-received features such as NBA Today are rendered irrelevant.

SUMMARY

NBA 2K12 is a game that one desperately wants to love but the severely troubled features make it difficult to do so. Coming off a year in which NBA 2K11 delivered just about the total package - 2K12 extends on a good thing with its historic team-related content and the relevance to the product but otherwise fails to come near re-creating the perfect storm of last year.

Every NBA2k game i played after 2k7 is slow or something about momentum and weight that slow the game down. I don't mean the speed of the game....what happened is that when you press a button, don't be surprised if you feel a millisecond delay before any action is being executed. For example, when you change a player direction, you'll see that it won't be instantly after you press the thumbstick. Or if you tell the player the shoot, it's going to take them having to go through certain animations before they shoot, so when you're pressing the shoot button, don't expect them to shoot instantly. So the game plays with your mind and you have to get used to it. It's not instantly and fun like 2k7. I have tell them through forum and discussion talking about this issue since 2k8 and they still have not addressed it. I guess they feel the game need momentum and so they're never going to sacrifice momentum for instant speed of execution. That's why the game after 2k7 will always be flaw. Now i am sure most people will disagree but i don't care....i don't buy it.

Until they change the game's execution or revamped the whole game engine...i will never buy a 2k game. Sure I don't mind momentum and weight and all the realness in the game, but if you hinder the gameplay to the point where a user doesn't seem to have total control over the functionality of the game due to delay and execution and animations, then there is a problem. I have suggested to the developers in the forum as to why can't they create a game like where you can instantly control every movement of the player like 2k7 and still allow momentum and weight into the game?? If you can do that, when you have created a perfect FUN FUN game. Otherwise, it's STILL JUST A VIDEO GAME...not true to real life in terms of speed and momentum.

First let me start off by saying that I do enjoy this game. I've played it for a while now, and I've thought the game's Association (Online as well), My player, and the NBA Legends modes are extremely fun. With that said, there are a few large details in the game that take so much of the fun away.

The game is very difficult. With that said, that's not what bothers me. I like a good challenge, and on typical sports games I usually have to alter with the game's difficulty setting to make the game more suiting. With NBA 2K12 however, I have to go the different direction and take down the difficulty. The first ten games I played were disasters. I lost every single one of them, and finally got a break and won with a buzzer beater in my eleventh game. Yes, your first instinct would probably be to blame me for my losses and I probably would too, except for the fact I noticed some strange things in all of the games.

1. I cannot hit a "slightly" covered three pointer, yet the computer can with my draping on their backs.

2. Stars on my team cannot compete with stars on theirs. For example, I had Derrick Rose playing the computer Joe Johnson. Every time I drove the lane with Rose I would typically be stuffed, or plain miss the layup, which is in contrast to the drives by Johnson. He would pull some crazy move and make almost every layup/shot he attempted.

3. The computer becomes absolutely crazy good in the fourth quarter. In my time playing I noticed that the computer might become Greek gods in the fourth quarter. Zeus passes to Poseidon who parts the sea of defenders and dunks over the 5 inches taller defender. It's absolutely amazing how great the computer becomes in the fourth.

4. If a player is not good at skill, then by god they can't do it at all. For example, if a player is typically not a great 3 point shooter, then even if they are the only person on the court, they will miss 100 out of 100 3 pointers. Same goes with other skills like rebounding. There can be a 7 foot player with a D rebounding rating, and a Point guard can rebound over them with ease.

5. Why can't I pass the ball? I'll have a player literally two feet away from me, press A to pass to them, and somehow the ball will be tipped into the air and 9/10 times I will turn the ball over. I've seen the computer actually pass a ball through my players head from the other side of the court, yet I can't complete a two feet away bounce pass.

6. Why can't I rebound the ball? The computer will shoot, and miss, and I'll have 4 guys waiting around the rim for the ball to fall, and they'll have one and that guy will come up with the ball just about every time. (Andrew Bogut can't be out rebounded by any person alive... according to the game).

If this sounds like a rant, then it sounds how it should. I love/hate this game. It makes me more frustrated than any game I have ever played. Half of the things that happen don't make any sense and it is so incredibly annoying when I'm down by 15 and I'm trying to get back in the game yet no matter how many times I smash the A button, the damn commercials in the game cannot be skipped. I don't like commercials in real life and I sure don't like them in a video game, especially since they can't be skipped.

Final thought on the game is that if you are competitive at all, or like the feeling of winning, then I suggest you don't buy this game, because the unfair/ridiculous things that happen while playing will be enough to make you cry. I can honestly say that player skill is somewhat unapparent in this game. What matters is how fast you can find a psychiatrist to treat you for your anger issues that develop from this game. Oh and by the way, no matter how many times the game screws you, you can't quit it. I play constantly and I hate my life now. Don't be like me... Don't buy it.