The test
Only for years to dominate the game of basketball simulation, especially since NBA Live, its only competitor, gave up in 2018, the NBA 2K series ultimately has only one opponent: himself. And we’re not going to lie to each other, for 3-4 episodes, the franchise has struggled to renew itself. Worse, last year, NBA 2K21 even took several steps back to offer us without doubt one of the controversial episodes, not to say failures, of the entire saga. Aware of this failed act, the Visual Concepts studio gives us an appointment this year to try to rectify the situation. So, 3 points or airball?
With this pace as frantic as that of laying us an episode every year, Visual Concepts had to show signs of fatigue. The Californian studio, which gives us a basketball simulation lesson for each new NBA 2K, disappointed in 2020. We could have hoped that this drop in speed would call into question the production time necessary to develop real new products, but the money do not wait, especially when we know that the franchise regularly reaches 10 million copies each year. Money is also what is often singled out in the game for several iterations, 2K Games and Visual Concepts having decided to integrate a pay-to-win system that has caused much ink to flow. . While it is true that the last episodes tended to push the player to let go of the CB, for NBA 2K22, an effort was made, with a balance that was found so as not to screw up the player’s experience too much. In the Career mode for example, it is no longer possible to exceed the score of 84, even if you want to blaze the VC (for Virtual Currency, the in-game currency), a limit threshold having been imposed by the designers. To continue to advance, it will be necessary to make the beautiful game speak, through the training box or chain matches. Afterwards, NBA 2K22 keeps other bad habits and will always try to push you towards nervous and compulsive buying with increased difficulty from the start of Career mode, just to make us understand that we are not at the level and that spending a few real bucks can be a big shortcut. Of course, we’re not going to be frightened virgins and pretend we don’t know that capital has settled into our favorite basketball game, but it’s also fashionable to put things in their place.
SECOND LIFE
Since we are talking about Career mode, let’s get right to the point and talk about the big news in this NBA 2K22 who wants to be forgiven from his elder brother. Once again this year, Visual Concept is pushing the RPG aspect even further, with a more open city, quests to be carried out, points of interest to follow and a rather absurd novelty: the possibility of moving on a skate to go faster. Of course, in order to go to the end of their delirium, the developers have also set up a whole system of grind to have fun like in a Tony Hawk. Why not, but the system being ultra limited, we can only be frustrated not being able to do more tricks. A little further in the adventure, it is even possible to unlock a pair of inline skates, and many other bonuses so that the movements are no longer a tan. That said, with an ever-expanding play area, one of the main complaints we could make with the previous episodes was the time wasted walking around the city to get from point A at a point B. Visual Concepts has therefore rectified the situation by integrating more sympathetic means of transport, and in connection with the world of sport. But who knows if in 10 years, we will not be able to use a car to go for a training session? Seen at the speed at which the developers are pushing the plug, it’s not out of the question that NBA 2K’s Career Mode ends up becoming a GTA RP. We are trolling today, but we still have to analyze the intentions of the creators who no longer hesitate to show us their intentions, namely to create a second game in their basketball game. A kind of life simulator that continues to solidify over the episodes, to the point that it is possible to spend more time taking care of the image that your avatar returns than playing basketball. It’s both new, but also terrifying, especially since this year, the history of Career mode is based on influencers.
INFLUENCED INFLUENCER
There are indeed so many additional things to do that it is obviously possible to no longer play basketball at all in Career mode. Not only is the city teeming with life now, with lots of NPCs, shops and quests everywhere, you can clearly devote your time to yourself. The game also wants to be quite close to the culture of social networks, we will often be zipping our phone, see the number of likes we have had, especially since there are also challenges to do with his smartphone. In short, you understood it, Visual Concepts wants to make its Career mode a game in its own right, even if it means going off topic. However, it will take a little more know-how for the social aspect of NBA 2K to take off and show genuine interest. For the moment, we may welcome the motivation to go further, everything remains moderately done. The NPCs are often inert and lack varied dialogue, the staging was maddeningly flat and the collision system clearly needs to be reviewed. Let’s close this parenthesis and move on to the heart of the gameplay, since it’s time to talk about real basketball this time around.
Always with the aim of offering the best gameplay controller in hand, Visual Concept goes even further in simulation, to the chagrin of novices who will disembark along the way and eat up the ton of possibilities and information. that must be stored in order to perform beautiful gestures. Yes, NBA 2K22 is a game with demanding gameplay and again this year the developers aren’t here to make it easy for you. The big novelty in the gameplay is the importance of the stamina bar which turns the game upside down and the success of the shots. The more a player gets tired, the less efficient he will be in his throws, with shots that become shorter. This management of the fatigue of its players on the field has been accentuated in this NBA 2K22, which will undoubtedly anger those who chained the intense actions followed by a perfect shot. From now on, each dribble performed will empty your stamina gauge which will literally impact your shot right after. As much to say to you that during the first parts, it is rather confusing, incomprehensible limit. But since NBA 2K22 is intended to be the most realistic simulation, the idea is to get closer to real life. Yes, but to the point of ruining the fun in the games? The debate deserves to be asked.
MORE REALISTIC, LESS ACCESSIBLE
The shift to ultra-simulation may leave some players on the sidelines and divide, but if there’s one thing NBA 2K22 is unassailable on, it’s its realization. On next gen ‘consoles, the game enjoys really successful graphics, with beautiful player modeling, ever more natural animations, even more realistic details on the players (sweat, reflections on the floor, floating jerseys according to the animations) which prove once again all the care taken by the developers. As for the physics of the ball, it also achieves a fairly exemplary degree of finish. Certain football games should clearly seek advice from NBA 2K, to avoid being constantly criticized. This immersion is not only visual, it is also sound, with comments that are always as rich in anecdotes and successful. So yes, everything is still in English and only the purists who watch NBA games at 3 am will enjoy it, but at least they can enjoy guests who come to enrich the subject. Small bonus this year in this regard: the arrival of Public Announcers that we can usually hear during real games and which have been integrated into NBA 2K22. The thing that gives a direct atmosphere.
Impossible not to mention the MyTeam mode which continues to gain in popularity and has only one goal: to do as well as FIFA’s FUT mode which has even become a selling point for the purchase of each episode. One of the new things in NBA 2K22 is the season system that many have been waiting for a while. Each season lasts 6 weeks and all the proposed objectives allow you to gain XP, but also jerseys and logos to be won. It is also advisable to focus on the Pick-up challenges (there is one per day) and allows you to collect additional cards quite simply, without having a super strong team. In any case, we feel that Visual Concepts has shielded the MyTeam mode with challenges and other challenges until more thirst, in order to create this feeling of addiction which works wonderfully on FIFA, the example to follow. Another positive point of MyTeam: the return of Draft mode, which allows you to play with a random team, again taken from FUT. But rest assured, online dating respects player stats to avoid an imbalance that will lead to frustration. The content is bloated and as usual, you can spend most of your time playing cards rather than basketball, knowing that you are taking a risk on the financial side, since the mode does everything to ask you to do blaze the VC. You have been warned.
ALL IS FORGIVEN?
Finally, a word on the Women’s National Basketball Association, which appeared last year in NBA 2K21 and which returns with a little more content. We cannot yet speak of a revolution, but The W mode (which is none other than the career mode for women), has been enriched with an online mode. Not enough to make heads twist, we feel that the developers go there sparingly, the content to evolve with each new episode being sufficiently big that it is sometimes impossible to revolutionize everything. One thing is certain however this year, it is that Visual Concepts made up well compared to NBA 2K21, which can be classified as being a small mishap. Things that happen of course, but that can perfectly happen if the pace continues to be so industrial. Other games have paid the price and just because the Californian studio knows its ranges by heart, doesn’t mean it can’t get it wrong once again. In the meantime, NBA 2K22 is proving to be a good vintage and it should be emphasized.
