It's not just football in life and while waiting for FIFA or PES to resume their sacrosanct annual warfare, in addition to the resumption of the various national championships all over the world, basketball is not in stay right now. Obviously, due to Covid-19, the NBA season is still being played out and, finally, the release of the all-new NBA 2K perfectly matches a part of the current exercise, thus extending the pleasure of fans with the controller in hand. Above all, an NBA 2K is always synonymous with an event, even more so this season, with a spotlight on Portland Trail Blazers playmaker Damian Liliard (Standard Edition) and the posthumous tribute to Kobe Bryant, who died at the end of January, in an eponymous version called Mamba Edition. In short, we will not be going overboard by saying that NBA 2K21 was expected like milk on the fire, and this, in all compartments of the game. While waiting for the revolution announced a few months ago with the presentation of the same opus, but with next-gen sauce this time, this current-gen version is revealed in the same line as the previous ones and therefore displays unparalleled graphic quality. We are not necessarily in front of an episode more beautiful than NBA 2K20 for example, even if once again, the result on the screen is stunning. Some players have received very special treatment, reinforcing the realism of the whole, which is always reflected in the mini-shows between each quarter, a TV production worthy of American broadcasts, a presentation of the players faithful to reality and to a sound of the rooms always modeled on what can be heard at the four corners of the various North American floors. But other stars have not been spoiled by the developers, prompting the questioning of some on the Web, such as Stephen Curry or the ever rising star of the Dallas Mavericks LuKa Doncic. A pitfall, slight - this is not the first time that NBA 2K misses players' faces - but which is far from being a detail on arrival. We will come back to it.
ONE SHOOT TO DIVIDE THEM ALL
If graphically, the whole is always of flawless quality, it is controller in hand that an episode of NBA 2K is judged. Faithful to a questionable policy or not elsewhere, Visual Concepts has therefore partly modified the two most important game phases of modern basketball, shooting and dribbling. In the latter case, everything is played with the right stick, with movements triggered according to the chosen direction and, also, according to the characteristics of the players, such as their signature movements. The rendering, once assimilated, is quite instinctive. This is not at all the case of the shoot, with a completely revised system. While the shooting bar was located until now under the feet of the players or at least at the level of their hands, it is displayed above their head. So far, nothing too disabling. The problem lies in the management of this gauge, with a line in the middle of it, itself located in a small dedicated square (do you follow?) This square becomes larger or smaller depending on the characteristics of your player, the attempted shot and position on the floor. So many factors to take into account and which were already decisive in the past.
The new shooting system? If the challenge is there, it does not necessarily help the title to make itself more affordable for those uninitiated in basketball.
The trouble is that this time, the timing to have is finer, so fine, that it escaped (and still escapes) from (too) many users, who did not hesitate to complain quickly on social networks. In addition to viral videos, it was above all the tweet from… Damian Liliard himself who cast a certain chill, the NBA star, widely highlighted in the video content of the game (NBA 2K TV), not hesitating to criticize the shooting system and its inability to score baskets that are still open. If a corrective patch was put in place fairly quickly, it only concerns the difficulties supposed to be accessible to novices and this is the main reason for this correction. If it also applies to the Career, this is not the case for the Neighborhood game modes, one of the essential lungs of NBA 2K gameplay. And, even with the patch, you will have to be patient to master this new system. If the challenge is there – and NBA 2K has always been famous for offering this type of challenge – it does not necessarily help the title to make itself more accessible for those uninitiated in basketball. No tutorial to take things in hand, either with the button or the right stick, apart from a mutual aid tweet from Mike Wang, the Gameplay Director of this opus. A little light no? Moreover, it is not really on this point that we expected change from the development team.
IT'S NOT THE NEIGHBORHOOD THAT'S LEAVING ME, IT'S ME WHO'S LEAVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Back to the neighborhood. The latter has basically not changed in its structure. It is in its form that it evolved. In an obvious concern to put an end to the repetitiveness of the mode, Visual Concepts has changed its universe, by pushing the walls of the city: exit the center, with the stores, the home of your avatar, the training center and the other public interactions, place for… the sea. Renamed 2K Beach, the Quartier takes its mark on the edge of a beach, with a Ferris wheel, more colorful environments, outdoor grounds and covered grounds (urban football type) and famous land promised to the famous Pro AM and REC. But the actions to take are the same. The ways of integrating the shops and their content remain more than familiar, in short, apart from the decor, few or almost no changes have been made to the Quartier. This is not the case of the Career, which is always intended, as custom now requires in a 2K, to be scripted. It is, around a young basketball hope, Junior, who must manage the invading shadow of his father, a former local and university star, while a career in the NBA, for which he was not destined at all. first, opens up to him.
Despite the criticisms, NBA 2K21 therefore perpetuates the tradition and fully assumes its pay-to-win game essence, with a player creation system similar to last year.
If the script of The Long Shadow – the name of the prelude – is good, the whole lacks a bit of depth and immersion, like what NBA 2K20 offered last season. Nevertheless, beyond the always very Hollywood cast (Djimon Hounson or Jesse Williams), we appreciate this plunge into the meanders of high school basketball and then university basketball, with the choice of the establishment of his dreams, which will determine part of your avatar's basketball future. On the other hand, we can only deplore the absence of the Combine and the Summer League, added last year and which extended the life of this prelude as much as its interest, and a fairly dry passage between the university and the NBA. , even if the Draft always remains such a tasty moment. But the transition takes place via an intelligent change when entrusting your career to expert hands: that of favoring the family unit, very present in your life before your arrival in the big leagues, or of trusting an agency, supposed allow you to obtain bigger contracts, but a lower fixed income. We can just point out that the result of the Draft, whatever your background at the university level, is a little biased in the sense that you will still be spoiled for choice, which was already the case on the previous opus. .
A LITTLE LIGHT CAREER, AN INTERFACE THAT IS TOO
If we haven't done it yet in these lines, we remind you that NBA 2K is based on its own ingame economy, the VC (Virtual Currency). Currency that is used for everything in the game, regardless of the mode played. This is even more impactful in Career mode - like every year after all - with a very low, very slow progression outside VC and which the new shoot system, frustrating and conducive to the failure of certain objectives, makes even more spread out in the weather. Unless we go to the checkout, which many denounce, once again... but which many also do, once again, as can be seen from the general level of grades of each other crossed in the Quartier. Despite the criticisms, NBA 2K21 therefore perpetuates the tradition and fully assumes its pay-to-win game essence, with a player creation system similar to last year, except that you can create a bigger player. Enough to give a boost to the Career? In terms of player build, there wasn't much to tweak and on that, Visual Concepts necessarily scores a good point. The same cannot be said for the general interface and navigation in the game, which is very austere, where NBA 2K has accustomed us to more punchy and more dynamic menus.
MY TEAM: THE WIND OF FRESHNESS
At the time of the assessment, we find ourselves in front of a new opus finally in the same vein as its predecessor… For the same defects. If NBA 2K20 was essential – and this will also be the case with NBA 2K21 in the end – it suffered from a general lack of inventiveness, despite a very good single-player campaign. There, the Career is less "huge", the My GM mode still seems as reduced to abandonment - understand by this that there is no major change, neither in substance nor in form -, the system of shoot is furiously debated and the race for VC is still imposed to shine fast, strong and well. Fortunately, the My Team mode has undergone some happy changes, such as the merger of duplicate cards, the appearance of consumable cards (especially badges) and, above all, a progression system by seasons (like what Ultimate Team already offers in FIFA), with objectives and rewards to unlock.
On arrival, we find ourselves faced with a fairly lazy episode, which clearly plays the card of immobility, as much by choice perhaps, as because of the current context, necessarily impacting on its development.
But on arrival, we find ourselves faced with a fairly lazy episode, which clearly plays the card of immobility, as much by choice perhaps, as because of the current context, necessarily impacting on its development. The pandemic can explain certain choices, such as not having updated the workforce, not having touched each other's ratings - we kept the NBA 2K20 rating - but we could also have waited in this case the end of the season to release this new episode. We may have also and above all played the security card on the Visual Concepts side on this generation of consoles, just to ensure a smooth transition to next-gen consoles. We easily recognize that it was not easy to develop two different versions and with much higher stakes, in particular, for the edition to come in a few months. But we would not have spat either on a little more dynamism overall. Together which remains satisfactory, with solid foundations. But who will not be unanimous this time.
