Renewing yourself constantly, at least in this case every year, is not an easy thing, whether you dominate your market or not. In the case of NBA 2K, the flagship license for interactive basketball for ages, the deal is all the more complex since the previous episode had still set the bar quite high, graphically and technically at least. The conclusion falls very quickly after a few minutes barely controller in hand: NBA 2K23 is remarkably beautiful. In terms of animations, the series has never been stingy with movements faithful to the sport it defends, but and this will inevitably jump to the eyes of the most assiduous, their palette has been revised upwards. Same observation for the atmosphere, which has always been a guarantee of success and authenticity: each room now has its own official speaker, not to mention new cinematics to accompany a clutch moment, a shoot or a particularly spectacular action ( zoom on the player when shooting, view from the back during the shot, close-up on the public). In short, the immersion is total and it is all the more so since we have also worked on the faces of the protagonists. The facial expression was one of the downsides of the latest NBA 2K next-gen (not to the point of not rushing into the game either, eh), with its share of blank stares. The rendering has been improved and the modeling of the players has gained in uniformity: understand by this that more stars have benefited from special care, just to avoid, at this time of year, the endless wave of captures showing us basketball players to the totally missed performance.
EVER MORE ACCESSIBILITY
In short, it's beautiful, it moves well. We expect no less from an episode of NBA 2K, but the degree of realism has been pushed further, which is an excellent indicator for the future. In the game, Visual Concepts has chosen a line that should satisfy the most players. Already in terms of difficulty, with a new level: Semi-Pro, which aims to allow a young beginner on the license (and who will therefore have gone through the Beginner mode, of course) to be able to more easily rub shoulders with the level Pro, without having the sudden impression of radically changing dimensions. Then in the ingame visual rendering. In order to satisfy everyone, the developers had the good idea to offer not one or two but five different shot gauges – the variety of which will oscillate as well between the indication given, its representation and its placement on the screen. And the story doesn't end there as there will be another 15 gauges to unlock as the game progresses, making 20 different gauges in total. And so many ways to customize the way you shoot, with the emphasis on pure and hard gameplay (your timing) or/and on your player's characteristics (his real timing).
THE SMALLER THE CITY, THE MORE BEAUTIFUL THE QUEST
All of these mechanics are there to reach a wider audience and make access to the NBA 2K experience less elite than in the past. Good pick, which finally generalizes everywhere in the title: the City, which is the hub of Career mode, has seen its immensity reduced by 20%, necessarily appreciable when you remember its greatness. Above all, you can move around in this universe by metro (too bad you don't get on it and don't have an animation with it), which drastically shortens the length of the round trips to be made. Career mode, although it still has its share of cinematics to support the story, has also gained in simplicity: now, after creating your player, you choose directly the franchise in which you want and will play. Our avatar speaks (and is therefore no longer content to nod his head according to the dialogues) and his environment is summed up, in addition to the city, his office and the training room, to his agent, his assistant and his girlfriend . The plot is more “up-to-date” against a backdrop of rivalry between you (us, it's the taste) and a man named Shep Owens, future crack of the League (like you), drafted (still like you) and who plays… at same post as you. Social networks, the influence of speaking, yours, like his, as well as the search or not for the buzz are all current notions approached in the story, subtly moreover, as building blocks of your player. Moreover, we will note more contemporary dialogues, just to be in tune with the younger generation.
MJ, IT'S STRONGER THAN YOU
On this subject, we find the classics: the embedding or not of his own face in the game, the morphological choice of his avatar, his position, the possibility of testing his build and modifying it before launching. On the other hand, and to avoid the often broken archetypes that we tended to face online, the creation and management of your player's stats (more badges) will have to be even more carefully thought out. To avoid, for example, just wanting to be a trigger at the three points, without taking into account the other shots, the latter are all connected to each other. Impossible to develop one at the expense of the rest. Ditto for access to the best insignia, which can only be done by respecting a certain number of conditions and obtaining insignia of previous ranks. Note also and there, we briefly return to the overall gameplay, that the concept of adrenaline is present in the matches. It is represented in the form of three bars, which allow either to trigger a sudden acceleration, or an explosive dribble. With each possession, the player will have as many attempts to perform these movements as there are bars under his feet, and once the latter have been exhausted, his speed will be greatly reduced - but really reduced - until the end of this same possession. This is bound to change the way some people play and above all make it necessary to think carefully about each of these attacks or, for lovers of dribbling, the way you place them. The City retains its DNA: there are other players online and the usual challenges now inherent in the saga. Added to this are quests, unlocked once your access to the NBA is assured, and a new location, the Theater, which houses several online game modes, with various themes and restrictions, and which will evolve according to the different seasons of the game.
But the two big new features of NBA 2K23 are in the single player content and we can tell you, there will be something to eat and eat well this year. Special edition obliges, Michael Jordan is obviously in the spotlight. Through the Jordan Challenge, we retrace through 15 key moments the career of number 23 of the Chicago Bulls.
But the two big new features of NBA 2K23 are in the single player content and we can tell you, there will be something to eat and eat well this year. Special edition obliges, Michael Jordan is obviously in the spotlight. Through the Jordan Challenge, we retrace through 15 key moments the career of number 23 of the Chicago Bulls. Until then, nothing really new – apart from the number of challenges – since the challenge was already there a few years ago, during the 2011 edition of the game, already dedicated to Jordan. What is striking is the attention to detail put by Visual Concepts to make us relive the life and times crossed by the star. One of the best examples is ultimately the first one, which sees Jordan in North Carolina colors in the NCAA Championship Finals, all with a period filter, period outfits and…the rules of the day, with notably the absence of the three-point line. The challenges are substantial, met and always with three objectives to achieve to validate them. What to do.
THE 4 ERA OF POWER
Same idea for NBA 2K23's management mode, MyNBA, which retains all the characteristics of the previous opus... with the luxury of choosing which generation you want to join and dominate the League. The recent one from the Warriors? The Jordan Bulls dynasty? That of Kobe Bryant? Unless you prefer to dive back into the 80s, under the leadership of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson? Such are the possibilities of temporality offered by the game and at each period its rules there too. In terms of realism, NBA 2K 23 also strikes very hard: depending on the dates and eras (this is the term era that is used elsewhere in the game), the skins will not be the same, we will find people who have disappeared today. Today (former League commissioner David Stern, for example), some franchises will undergo a name change, others will not even be incorporated yet or will arrive later. Again, depending on your initial choice. Inevitably, all this reinforces an immersion that was already high and present in other years. And no one is left out: My Team sees the co-op land in the Triple Threat mode, as well as the end of the contracts for the cards, the possibility of locking a single player in match and therefore, to only progress the card you want. It will also be possible to test your starter before choosing it definitively. So many features to refresh a very, very popular mode and which will still have its esport component, with the famous $250 cash prize tournament. Too bad the career mode dedicated to women's basketball, The W, did not enjoy the same care and the same concern for freshness. Nevertheless, at the time of the balance sheet, it is clear that NBA 000K2 gives us an almost perfect copy. For this, it may be necessary one day to seriously address the issue of online matchmaking. But also and above all to reduce the omnipresence of VC - the virtual currency of the game - in the player experience, the real poison of an opus, if not, in all respects remarkable.
