Image via Complex Original
Lockout? What lockout?
The real NBA is in danger of seeing its season never happen, with players and owners squabbling over boatloads of money for reasons that nobody can fathom.
But video game hoops marches on. Ever since 1999, Visual Concepts has produced an NBA 2K game, and lockout or not, the company is dropping its new hoops release, NBA 2K12, on Oct. 4. Sure, it’s just a video game, but NBA 2K12 will still have plenty on its shoulders, trying to satisfy longtime series fans and satiate others who are looking to scratch a roundball itch.
Good thing the game has lots to offer. NBA 2K12 blends some old-school ideas with a few new touches, and it’s just the thing to get you through that blasted lockout.
It's Definitely Coming
The NBA lockout has no end in sight, since rich owners and rich players apparently don’t know how to share billions and billions of dollars.
But NBA 2K12 has a firm release date. The game will come out on Oct. 4, 2K reps told us, and nothing will prevent that. Sure, the rosters won’t be current, and there’s no telling how many extra tattoos Chris Anderson will get before the start of the season, but Visual Concepts is prepared for that. Much like last year, they’ll do live roster updates. They will also update hairstyles, tattoos and accessories as the season goes on.
If there is, a season, of course. And if there’s not? Well, you’ll always have NBA 2K12.
His Airness Is Back... With Friends
Michael Jordan got his own mode in NBA 2K11, and while it wasn’t always much fun to hog the ball and take every shot to accomplish the game’s goals, the nostalgia factor tickled anyone who knew a thing about hoops.
This year, Visual Concepts is doing things one better, bringing Jordan back with a host of greats – Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Julius Erving among them – in a new NBA’s Greatest mode.
It’s nostalgia at its finest. NBA 2K12 does everything possible to painstakingly recreate each era as accurately as possible, so John Havlicek of the 1960s Celtics dribbles with little regard for protecting the ball, and the Logo himself, Jerry West, jacks long-distance shots despite playing in the pre-three-point era.
Even the broadcast presentation for each era has been recreated. When the Bill Russell-era Celtics faced the Lakers in our demo, we played the entire game in black-and-white, and even the audio had a decades-old raspy quality to it.
It's Got The Look
You’ve seen NBA players dive into the stands to chase loose balls before. And in NBA 2K12, you’ll see the same thing. Players can now interact with the first row of the crowd, leaping over the scorer’s table if they hustle to close to the sideline.
Does that mean you can relive Ron Artest’s fracas at the Palace in Detroit? No, but it is just one example of NBA 2K12’s new visual coat of polish. This has always been a good-looking game, but Visual Concepts took care of little details this year. Players move with a greater sense of weight this year, and Dirk Nowitzki’s ugly fadeaway jumper has never looked so, well, ugly.
For the most part, facial mapping is also better, too. Sure, we caught a few nasty ones – is that Chris Paul or a Gremlin? – but overall, the game looks more realistic than ever.
My Player Mode Doesn't Suck
The NBA 2K series debuted its My Player mode in NBA 2K10, and it just never worked. Yeah, yeah, the idea of guiding a player from NBA Draft to retirement seemed sweet, but in practice it was a yawner. You started with journeyman stats in the NBDL and had to waste 40, maybe 50 hours of your real life to merely transform your virtual self into an average NBAer.
Three iterations later, Visual Concepts is finally repairing the mode – and spicing things up with a few new wrinkles. We only spent about an hour playing the new My Player, but our created character was actually drafted into the first round, and he started his career with the Phoenix Suns.
Visual Concepts attempts to draw you into something more than mere game after game, too, adding more off-the-court RPG elements. Before you get drafted, you’ll play in a rookie showcase. You’ll pique the curiosity of a handful of teams after that, and spend a few minutes answering some text-based interview questions with GMs.
And after that? We started actually started our career coming off the Suns bench, which was much much better than toiling away in the NBDL despite getting picked in the first round.
Playbook Tweaks
Plenty of gamers have never paid attention to playbooks, but there are plenty of Mike Fratello-type micromanagers out there, too, and this year, Visual Concepts gives those folks unprecedented power.
You’ve always been able to customize your playbook, but Visual Concepts makes slight tweaks to the menu to make the entire process just a bit easier. Want to run a play that freed Dwight Howard up with your own big? You can look up the Magic playbook and move the play over to your own bag of tricks. GameFlow this is not, but it is simple and easy, and quite addictive to use.
Another subtle change: Instead of choosing position-specific plays, you now get to choose player-specific plays. It’s another little touch for the hardcore, but like the custom playbook tweaks, this makes the whole idea of NBA playbooks a little more fun to use.
And hey, with no NBA season sucking your time, why not spend a few extra hours building your perfect custom offense?