The Official NBA 2K13 Impressions Thread

[mpac]

Just got the game yesterday! My initial thoughts;
- gameplay nice and fast. Quite hard defending but it's a learning process
- still challenging but im not feeling that cpu cheating on me like in 2k12
- too many offensive rebounds but can be minimized of box out is used well
- not a fan of the new menus but can live with it
- hard to score with dwade but loving the shooting of ray. Lebron unstoppable as expected. Lewis and mike miller not
- some songs not fitting in 2k bball game
- a bit easier to get that gatorade icon to come out

Overall im happy with 2k13 even if i only played for 4 games in association

[Nick]

-I'm not sure if it's my logitech controller making the response delay or the game itself. For example, I accidentally click the X button at the same time, the ball handler pass the ball to me, I will quickly pass it back ot him.

Apparently there is a noticeable difference when you play between the "default" and "simulation/custom" slider modes... anything but default feels less responsive for some reason. Even if you put it on default, then change one slider +1 or something (so it changes to custom) it still completely changes the flow of the game, according to "WTF" from OperationSports anyway. So maybe that's why?

If you want to change sliders without changing the mode from "default", then use the cheat table

[fjccommish]

Missing - quarter by quarter player stats.

Included - can see player highlights at any time during the game.

[Huba]

Missing - quarter by quarter player stats.

This is perfect. I see thats stats last one in some back-2000's NBA Live game

[PsychoChicken]

Played my first online game on pc just now. Some observations first:

- simulation sliders in association end up with scores that are a touch too high with too many offensive boards (i'm getting 120-110 type scores while trying to play realistically - allstar difficulty)
- while I get 60fps with max settings in association mode I am lucky to get 25fps during an online match - wtf?
- standard input lag etc
- game remembered my coach preferences from single player mode (full play vision and auto plays)
- didn't see any scoreboard bug during last quarter

The game was pretty sweet. I was down 13-19 after the first quarter (nuggets vs warriors (me). Came back to be up 7 at start of the 4th but couldn't make a basket for almost the last 2 minutes of the game. Was down by 1 with 30 secs left when i hit a baseline pullup with curry to take a lead. dude had 24.7 seconds to score and he missed a drive with lawson as time expired but mozgov got the offensive rebound and layed it in as the buzzer sounded. I thought i'd lost but then the game went into the play review cutscene. so sweet to see the ref wave off the bucket at the end

If the fps wasn't so shite during online play i would have been recording. such a pain.

Overall I'm glad i got it for both pc and ps3 but wish the online was more stable (maybe just next to no aussies to play with?)

[shadowgrin]

The celebrity team has a higher team rating than the 72 win, championship Bulls team. How is a team with Justin Bieber and Snoop Dogg rated 99 across the board?

Of course, if 2K realistically rated the celebrity team then all of them would have been rated 25.

Missing - quarter by quarter player stats

Dunno about 2K12 but that one has been missing even in the previous versions.

EDIT. HA!

[JaoSming]

I dont even recall seeing the CPU players walking to the table

[AreaOfEffect]

Playing defense is harder this year. I just cant keep my man in front. Can you guys give tips?

[Spree#8]

The game is a lot better than 2K12, not sure if better than 2K11. All the new moves and options are good and I appreciate what they've done to improve the gameplay, but four things are really annyoing me.

1. CPU fastbreaks - yeah, not gonna be original on this one. Seemingly they fastbreak every time after a defensive rebound, they run 10 times faster than you ever can and it's not necessarily the fastest players. I've just played against the Wizards and had Nene as the first man down the court finishing the fastbreak a couple of times. This needs to get fixed, because it's unrealistic and gets frustrating quickly.
2. On ball defense. The lateral movement controls are horrible. Just a slight tap of the movement button sends me all the way out to oblivion, leaving my man wide open. I will get left way behind even if I anticipate his dribbling move, because I can never move where I want to. And it doesn't help that in said game against the Wizards Nene felt like playing faceup isolations on the wing as well and was driving right by me all the time for a dunk.
3. Screen/pick and roll defense. The guy defending the roll man is always retarded, the roll man is always left open for a dunk. It's that simple.
4. CPU going inside pretty much every time. Well, this one's pretty self-explanatory. 31 of 39 points I allowed in the last game were from the paint. The rest were probably free throws.

Number 2 and 3 combined make trying to play defense a pretty miserable experience. I like the fact that inside shots are actually somewhat defendable now, but if the CPU takes inside shots every possession, they still shoot a rather high percentage. I've tried slight slider changes and they did nothing. What I have left to try is some brute force-type slider changes to give me a bit of an unfair advantage on the defensive end, maybe that'll balance it a little.

All that's bugging me, because I also notice the improvements and see how fun this game would be if it weren't for those 4 things. The new dribbling controls are definitely a plus and the modifier making them shot controls again is a good idea. I like that it is actually possible to break down the CPU defender with dribble moves this year. The inside defense is a bit better and the rebounding seems slightly improved as well. Not feeling the post game so far - maybe because I quickly gave up on 2K12, but I can't help thinking they're too complicated and that 2K11 post controls were far more intuitive. Another thing I gotta adjust to is the jumpshots. I'm still so used to 2K11 ones that I keep getting terrible releases most of the time.

Haven't tried Association or My Career yet, just playing quick games and practice. I'm wondering if the patch will address the problems I have with the game and if it'll come sooner than April.

[Behindshadows]

JaoSming....two ways to add friends for game...add it to steam as a non-steam game...or use Xfire...and we can play again friends with it...

[JaoSming]

how do you play against friends in it? like, what is the procedure in-game?

[SinDS]

I really like the changes to association mode logic.

Trades are significantly more realistic, WAY harder to trade with the CPU (about damn time!). If your player isn't the same stars as the player you want, the CPU will flat out not trade with you unless you give them an arm and a leg. Contracts seem to be really good as well. Harden signed for just under 10m a year. No more 78 OVRs asking for 10m+.

So far I'm really happy. I still wish they'd devote more time to association (give us the ability to move teams, stuff like that) but it's a big improvement.

[Jeffx]

I'm trading in my copy of 2k13 tomorrow for Tekken Tag 2 - still can't finish a game because of the constant freezing. Shame on the 2k team for rushing a game with so many bugs & glitches. I'd rather play 2k11 with updated rosters than this piece of shit.

[JBoom_LALALAND]

I don't like the presentation and the scoreboard. It was supposed to be a realistic game, but now with all the flowers, borders, etc ... it\s so GAY ... cudoz to the team for the AI and animations though...

[bowdown]

I dont like the unrealistic simulation statistics in MyCareer mode when you are benched. The scoring is too damn high....

[Lean]

Although I find it weird when I first heard of it, the right stick dribbling isn't that bad. In fact dribbling animations this year are almost chained seamlessly. +1 there, 2K.

What I don't like is the abundance of the swirls on the menus. I have nothing against rap and hiphop (as I listen to the music sometimes) but putting that kind of an artstyle on a sim-favored basketball game seems to be out of place. It doesn't feel like a TV broadcast now. Some menus felt to have been re-skinned but that's just me nitpicking.

[Andrew]

My copy arrived today, spent a bit of time with it this evening with some freestyle practice and training camp before jumping into an exhibition between the Dream Team and Team USA 2012. Some quick impressions:

- I like the "feel" of the game a lot more than I did playing the demo on my 360. Not quite as heavy, controls felt better.
- I still would've liked controls that were a little more like NBA Live's Freestyle dribbling, but I can see where they were going with them and am picking them up.
- I kind of tune out/tolerate the Jay-Z inspired artwork in the menus this year, though like most I feel they went overboard with it.
- Controlled the Dream Team in my game, won it. MJ was Player of the Game.
- The special intro on commentary for the game between the Dream Team and Team USA 2012 was a nice touch.

I'll likely post a full review next week sometime and further impressions over the next few days, when I've played a few more games and looked through the modes.

[Jeffx]

I traded my copy of 2K13 for Tekken Tag 2, Andrew - couldn't take it anymore. Two friggin weeks of not being able to play because of freezing and no patch yet for PS3 users? F--- that.

It's back to 2k11(with saddzz's(OS) updated rosters including Brooklyn Nets, Dream Team & Team USA)

[bowdown]

I made a layup with Lillard at the Halftime buzzer and the Official review replay kicked in. The replay showed a completely random and unrelated footage instead of the buzzer beating layup and I was like wtf? Luckily I already know about the replay bug or else I would have freaked out.

[Gamalil]

I played this a lot ! At first I enjoyed but now I am disappointed MAIN problem ? DEFENSE ! It's just suck ! Players are way too slow to follow opponent when they cut to the basket I's too easy to score in the paint... This may look like a little but its a lot for me. 2k12 is way better in everything except in graphic and physics.

P.S. And to add this 2k13 music bu jay-Z is awful

[Gamalil]

1. CPU fastbreaks - yeah, not gonna be original on this one. Seemingly they fastbreak every time after a defensive rebound, they run 10 times faster than you ever can and it's not necessarily the fastest players. I've just played against the Wizards and had Nene as the first man down the court finishing the fastbreak a couple of times. This needs to get fixed, because it's unrealistic and gets frustrating quickly.
2. On ball defense. The lateral movement controls are horrible. Just a slight tap of the movement button sends me all the way out to oblivion, leaving my man wide open. I will get left way behind even if I anticipate his dribbling move, because I can never move where I want to. And it doesn't help that in said game against the Wizards Nene felt like playing faceup isolations on the wing as well and was driving right by me all the time for a dunk.
3. Screen/pick and roll defense. The guy defending the roll man is always retarded, the roll man is always left open for a dunk. It's that simple.
4. CPU going inside pretty much every time. Well, this one's pretty self-explanatory. 31 of 39 points I allowed in the last game were from the paint. The rest were probably free throws.

I agree completely

[Patr1ck]

I played this a lot ! At first I enjoyed but now I am disappointed MAIN problem ? DEFENSE ! It's just suck ! Players are way too slow to follow opponent when they cut to the basket I's too easy to score in the paint... This may look like a little but its a lot for me. 2k12 is way better in everything except in graphic and physics.

P.S. And to add this 2k13 music bu jay-Z is awful

You are somewhat spot on. There are times where it seems like my defender just doesn't know that he it's guarding the ballhandler and will back pedal slowly when I am trying to stay in front. Other times, I have no problem because a collision animation is triggered, allowing the ballhandler. I think it might have something to do with being close to the defender, because my defender moves quite well laterally when my matchup doesn't have the ball.

[jjhill001]

I've had the PC version since release and after going through two myplayer first seasons and simulating a few years of association here is my overall take on the game.

Gameplay: One of the reasons I didn't give an impression on any forum until I've actually played it for a bit is that a lot of time when you first get it you are very excited and things don't rack up to annoy you. The game is much better in terms of animations and all that crap. The new controls are cool but I've found it can get pretty easy to cheese the D with post moves especially with a SG or PG because the other players at that position can't defend it as well. There are WAY too many fadeaway jumpers for some reason. There is no situation that I can think that would enable a guy like Samuel Dalembert to do more than 1 turn around fade away out of the post from midrange and making it. This is caused by some players holding onto the ball much too long. (This will improve when rosters with better tendencies come out. more on this later) Players also drive too much which causes too many inside points which has been a resolvable problem with sliders and roster edits in the past. (I'm sorry fans but Ray Allen is pretty much done driving at this stage in his career.)

MyPlayer: One of the best things done on my player has been that you don't have to carry your team by scoring 40 points every single game and can still win. Now with that said some flaws: When you are on offense usually everything is ok but for some reason players hold onto the ball too long or don't shoot when they are WIDE open. I also wish they would either replace the rookie you were drafted in the spot of with you period or actually shake the draft around for it because when I start a new one I've decided I'm going to just nerf the crap out of the guy they draft (Dion Waiters in my case). For some reason your shoes suck I haven't gotten to the point where I'm supposed to be able to make a shoe (I'm not sure if that is or isn't in the game or not haven't bothered because it doesn't really matter to me) One of the cool things that I was looking forward to was being able to buy suits and stuff but that isn't in the game so that's a bit of a let down. One thing that could use an upgrade is being allowed to have some input on offseason activities because after our first season the Cavs signed Chris Paul my initial thought was WTF? I just think the games AI needs to look at current players ratings and potential when doing these silly things. The GM thing is cool but you really don't have any pull. You can suggest guys to go out and sign which they will but they will usually do something stupid to get them for example trading away draft picks when you are clearly a lottery team. I now know how players for the bobcats feel. Stuff like signature skills and dunks seem a little pricey but may just seem that way because my guy isn't an overall over 80 yet. Another thing, I know the game wants to make it possible for me to do all of those achievements like score 70 pts and what not. But let me control the rotation for MY guy or make it based on how well you are doing or your stamina. My guy was playing 45 minutes a game at one point and I play 12 minute quarters. That's kind of stupid I was a rookie. And yeah I was playing quite a bit of the games trying to get rookie of the year but still.

Association: I just sim and everything seems to work well. The only thing that could use some work is better shooting percentages for big men. The biggest problem with Association is that auto generated rookies have far too much potential after 6 years almost almost all the bench players are like overall 80s which sucks but will be fixed when people start coming out with realistic draft classes. Also guys getting signed as bench warmers bitching because they don't play enough is irritating. I'm like your a 36 year old who is an overall 60 that I signed to fill a roster spot shut up. The ultimate sim control thing is neat and is pretty useful if you want to try and get a certain player rookie of the year by making them a priority to get touches. Other teams hold onto their draft picks a lot better than in previous games so you can't just trade some of your crappy players to a lotto team with a bunch of cap space just because the stars add up. Trade offers that you get can still be ridiculous (Brandon Knight and Charlie Vill for Kyrie Irving? Get your head on straight) but I got more that I might actually consider than past years.

Missing Features: We didn't get it on PC which kind of stinks because it was really intriguing but I'm not too butt hurt about it. We didn't get VC which overall seams good because when I first loaded up the game we didn't have any of the issues that console people had with the system. I wanted to be able to edit your players clothes for interviews and what not but it's not a major let down for me. Lack of all-star weekend kind of sucks because it just does is why.

Music: Now let me preface this with I love all sorts of music, hip hop being right up there with rock music for me. But this track list is quite frankly intolerable for me. Which is weird for me to say considering I actually like a lot of the songs on the list. I had it muted within 15 minutes. My reasoning doesn't really fit with a lot of the problems I hear from people "white people still play basketball games". Have you ever been listening to the radio in the car and your favorite song comes on but right at that moment it starts cutting out because the signal sucks and its like stuttered? Well that's what all of the music on this game suffers from because every other word in these songs has to be blanked out. Here is an idea just put the radio version in the game for cripes sakes, or just don't include it if half the song is just dead air. Also one of the cooler things sports games offer is helping you find bands that you wouldn't normally which this game offers none of. That Phoenix song was already in some commercials and nothing else on that Dirty Projectors album was any good but good job on out indie musicing (word?) Jay-Z it surprised me. Another VERY minor gripe considering I've already muted the sound track but everyone knows the coolest part of Mercy is when it's all like "LAMBORGHINI MERCY and then that high pitched keebler elf says some stuff" why do they immediately cut that part and go to the Kanye part it's the worst part of the song. I hope next year they go back to putting their own music into the game I at least made it almost a month before having to mute it.

Presentation: There are things I really like and things I don't like as much but nothing really major in this area. One thing I really like is showing the outside or one of the cool landmarks in a city that they do for teams like San Antonio, NY, and LA. Do that for all the teams dammit. Seeing the Alamo is cool considering I used to live in SA but there are cool things about Cleveland and I'm sure their might be cool things about places like Indiana or Milwaukee, I mean there just has to be right? Also when we ask for better menus we don't mean pretty new borders for them. The wavy tribal crap would look really sweet in some sort of MMO or monster/nature involved game. When I think NBA I think either slick and professional looking, a little bit industrial/urban theme or a combo. One thing I noticed is that when I play two classic teams it doesn't go black and white like in the last game. I thought that was INCREDIBLY cool.

Major Gripes: Just release the damn game for digital download already, you may wonder why this affects me, well a lot of our guys who mod were going to get the game that way. One of the gripes that comes along with this, why is it necessary for us to do things like fix rosters and tendencies, sliders and even graphical stuff that doesn't make sense (fat legs, no reflection or shadow options in game) We should be able to focus on cool stuff like advertisements on dornas and the hoops and goofy things like some random guys favorite player from some team in China not doing things that people get paid for to look out for.

Overall: It's ok, and definitely an improvement over the last rendition. Once the majority of modders, slider makers and roster makers finally get their hands on it I will be satisfied.

[kibaxx7]

Got the game today! As most of you are saying, it's kind of hard to return to previous installments of the series after this.

Waiting for a proper roster and sliders.

[Jackal]

So I've had it for a couple of days, I've been going through all the teams in Exhibition mode and I've made it up to the Kings. Way too many offensive rebounds, too few defensive rebounds, annoying that they can score in the paint that easily & fast breaking happens much too much.

I've taken all the suggestions and decreased offensive rebounds & even done -6 or -7 in coaching playbooks for fast breaks. (Max being 70 for teams like OKC/Suns)

Overall the animations and a lot of stuff is plus...but it's going to take getting used to. Mind you I'm making the leap from 2K11 which imo is the best basketball game I've played.