In our NBA 2K24 review content, we look at the new version of the sole king of basketball and touch on the general dynamics of the game.
NBA 2K24 review We can say that the NBA 2K series has become the leader of the industry on its own in basketball games, after its closest rival EA gave up. This leadership, in retrospect, is richly deserved. It’s easy to say, this year we write the number 24 next to the name NBA 2K, but this game is actually the 25th game of the series (the series started in 99). In 25 years, the NBA 2K series has not only improved itself, but, as I just said, it has managed to push the NBA Live series, one of the best games of the period, to the dusty shelves of history.
NBA 2K24 review
Although this position of being the leader of the sector alone is a well-deserved success, it is an undeniable fact that it brings complacency as a bonus. Recently, the series continues to appear every year with steps such as 1 forward, 1 back, or 1 forward, 2 back. Let me explain a little more what I mean. Some of the games of the series come completely packed with great innovations, which is what I call 1 step forward. However, since there are limits to what you can do in a basketball game, the game actually continues to benefit from previous innovations for the next 1 or 2 years.
NBA 2K24 review
I have to say that there is still a thin line in this period of back and forth games. If you ask me if it is good as a basketball game, I can say that it is very good when I evaluate each game individually. For example, is NBA 2K24 the best game you can play with current NBA and WNBA rosters and ratings? Unquestionably yes. So is it a better game than NBA 2K23? Let me tell you that in the last paragraph, after telling you a little about the game.
NBA 2K24, when viewed on its own, is a very full game, as I just said. It continues by adding a little bit to the Jordan Moments and NBA Era eras, which are, in my opinion, the two biggest innovations brought by the previous game. As you know, last year, Michael Jordan was chosen as the legendary player and the Jordan Moments section was launched, where we can recreate iconic moments in Jordan’s career, such as the points he scored and the matches he converted.
NBA 2K24 review
Especially in the first game, when we played with the North Carolina jersey, the old atmosphere was reflected very well from the scoreboard to the screen filter. This year, there is no Michael Jordan in the legends section, Kobe Bryant, the cover star of the upper packages, is honored instead. I have to say that this was done very well.
Mamba Moments
The game has a mode that focuses on important moments in Kobe Bryant’s career, just like last year’s Jordan story. By entering here, we repeat Kobe Bryant’s achievements one by one. In the first game, for example, we are asked to score 48 points and collect 10 rebounds with Kobe. As we achieve the desired targets, we earn stars, and with the stars we earn, we can decorate our career player with Kobe’s equipment. Even though I think it is not very satisfactory in terms of the rewards it gives (maybe the card given to those who play MyTEAM may be valuable), I did not pay much attention to it since the aim was to revive Kobe’s career anyway.
NBA 2K24 review
Kobe’s presence is felt in many parts of the game. In MyCAREER mode, there is a Kobe statue right in the middle of the city. When you walk on the street, you can come across various Kobe graffiti. Again, as I said before, there are Kobe clothes that we can put on our players.
Let’s continue with the innovations. NBA Era’s feature, which was added to the game last year and which I liked very much, is also included in this game. The game, formerly MyGM and now called MyNBA ERAS, offers us the option of managing a team in 5 different NBA periods. Last year, there were 4 different periods: The Magic vs Bird, Jordan, Kobe and Modern time. This year, The LeBron Era is also added to these. It focuses on the period when Lebron was doing wonders in Miami. In fact, although it is close to the Kobe era in terms of players, Kobe focuses on 2002 and Lebron focuses on 2010s. The years when Derrick Rose was in Chicago and Westbrook and Durant were in OKC.
NBA 2K24 review
The two biggest innovations of NBA 2K23, which I played a lot, were Jordan Moments and NBA Era features. In the game, which is not a big innovation this year, Jordan Moments has turned into Mamba Moments, and only the Lebron era has been added to the Era section. So, as I said at the beginning of the article, if the game took one step forward last year, it has entered a pause period this year.
New animation system
The biggest innovation announced by the game this year is the new animations that join the gameplay called ProPLAY. In previous years, thanks to motion capture technology, players’ movements were transferred to the computer and thus transferred to the game. Even though these were successful and realistic, it was not possible for each actor to fully reflect his own style.
NBA 2K24 review
In order to focus on the most realistic NBA game experience this year, 2K analyzed the star players and added new animations in detail from their movements during the match, dribbling, rebounding and shooting styles, and named these realistic playing animations ProPLAY. Let me point out that ProPLAY is only valid for PS5 and Xbox Series X and S. These animations are not available on previous generation consoles and PC.
The NBA 2K team’s promotional video for ProPLAY, which I have shared below, actually briefly shows you how to experience realistic moments in the games.
NBA 2K24 review
MyCAREER mode has been the subject of various stories over the years. Sometimes Spike Lee directed it, sometimes it was played by master actors such as Michael B. Jordan or Idris Elba. This year’s story mode is again dull like last year. Now, they will have experienced the difficulty of constantly finding new stories in their careers, and this year, just like last year, they are giving their career stories a rest. Probably one of the innovations that will come next year will be the beautiful story in your career. Although the story is not easy to get through etc. Options like these were tiring for many career players. That’s why this situation may make them happy.
Since I like team games more, I play the newly named MyNBA Eras section every year. I was looking at career when there was a good story. This year, the game quickly creates a character and throws you into the middle of the city. This year’s city is also larger than last year. To add some story, there are two factions in the city: Rise and Elite. Both of them have different styles of attack and defense and the bonuses they give you in the game. In addition, the REP system, which has not been used for 2 or 3 years, has returned to career mode.
NBA 2K24 review
I have always found the graphics of the NBA 2K series very successful. Even though it had some clumsy animations, its graphics were always very good. However, the graphics, which started to shine a little last year, started to look very bright to me this year. I don’t mean shiny figuratively, even the skin of the actors you know shines. This amount of reflection and brightness seems a bit of an exaggeration. Of course, you get used to it after a while, but I didn’t want to leave it without mentioning it in the article.
The timing bar in the shooting system has also changed as every year. This year they call it clue. It gives you a clue where exactly you should throw, but the system is the same as we know. It just feels a little different when you’re going for a dunk or a layup in the paint. Now there is a much larger green area, but if you miss it there, letting go of your finger may result in failure.
Last year, I said that Michael Jordan was chosen because he had the number 23 next to his NBA2K name. This year’s story is actually the same. Kobe is on the cover of NBA 2K24 because of Kobe’s jersey number 24, and the inside is decorated with the story of the Black Mamba.
NBA 2K24 review
As a result, we can divide NBA 2K24 into two again. If you are looking for a basketball game with up-to-date rosters and want a good game, NBA 2K24 is your best bet. It really provides a very good basketball experience, it is impossible to deny that. But when we consider that it comes out every year and compares it with last year, I think we cannot do anything better this year. It doesn’t have even half of last year’s innovations, and it doesn’t make you feel like you’re playing a new game.
If there were no current rosters and rating numbers, I would even say don’t switch to the new one. Micropayments for VC and MT are also in full swing. But when you play the MyNBA mode like me, you don’t need to spend much of these. Frankly, I would prefer most sports games to be released with a seasonal update every two years, with solid innovations, instead of being released every year. The score I gave for NBA 2K24 is actually low compared to last year. But if you haven’t played this series for a long time and are asking how the game is, then we can increase this score to over 80s.