From: 2K Sports For: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, PC
★★★★
By MATT CURRIE
Where to look? What to do?
Firing up NBK22 is like walking through a bustling Bangkok market (pre-Covid, of course).
If creating a budding NBA superstar tickles your fancy, jump into the expansive world of The City in MyCareer. Or you could try MyTeam, the mode that allows you to draft a squad and combine current icons with legends from the past.
Play a pick-up game, jump on a skateboard and explore The City, and play some street ball with fellow hoopsters. Heck, go get inked up at a tattoo parlour. Or, if you’re a franchise geek like me, there’s MyNBA.
There’s certainly no shortage of things to do in 2K’s latest instalment of its simulation basketball game.
For someone who has given the last few editions a pass, it was reassuring to find 2K can still push out a crazy-good franchise mode, something Madden gamers have now been begging EA to get off their backsides and do for the best part of a decade.
MyNBA is so deep and customisable it’s almost overwhelming, ensuring countless hours of gameplay — and management — for those who want to control every aspect of an NBA franchise, and that depth is where the true strength of this game lies.
GAMEPLAY
The days of anybody picking up a controller and being decent off the bat are long over.
Realistic player movement, and noticeably improved AI, mean you need to put some hours into learning the ins and outs of the game, both with and without the ball.
In a welcome addition, losing stamina while dribbling up a storm now impacts the shot meter, making it tougher to hit shots, and causing those inclined to hold R2 to rethink their strategy.
PRESENTATION
Highlighted by ultra-realistic player models, the game looks incredible, and does a fine job of replicating a real-life NBA broadcast, courtside interviews and all.
That said, I’m not sure how many people will welcome or even tolerate Shaq’s monotonous dribble at halftime.
VERDICT
2K’s basketball efforts remain atop the pile of sports sims, although the nagging overuse of microtransactions irks.
- Matt Currie
The highly anticipated Battlefield 2042 has just held its open beta, and the early signs are promising ahead of the multiplayer shooter’s full release on November 19.
Battlefield returns to a modern/future setting following two decent but occasionally humdrum games, set during the world wars.
As expected, there were a good amount of glitches to be found in the beta, which did not show off the very exciting ‘‘portal’’ mode that will bring in maps from previous games.
But the game looked stunning, gun mechanics were smooth, and some of the hardware on display was impressive.
- Hayden Meikle
