DEMO IMPRESSIONS

[Cool2Fool]

The only thing that could cause the game to look bad is poor filtering. If you look at 2k8, it has good filtering, and there are no mipmap problems. Everything looks great upclose, so it's not a graphics problem it's just that the filtering needs to be tweaked. If the full version looks like that, we should ask that it be patched.

Looks like isomotion has a new learning curve. You can't just do a bunch of moves and get to the rim. I tried with Kobe and couldn't really get anywhere. I ended up in a 2 player animation with tight defense.

I am loving the post moves. It looks like there is alot of improvement in this area.

I am not sure if there is any offball control like in 2k8 because it doesn't seem to appear in the demo, but the b button does call for a pick.

It's been 3 years and the goaltending problem has only gotten worse. Block a shot right near the rim and it's goaltending.

I actually feel like I am locked into animations more than in the past. This could be a placebo effect from learning a new version, because I felt the same way when I first tried 2k7 after playing Live for years, but then I got used to it.

CPU AI looks to be very smart. If I leave a man open on defense, that player will find a good spot and the cpu ballhandler will find him.

I think it's not because of poor filtering but 2k intentionally made the court blurry so that it could gain performance and run smoothly. It's dumb how you pause and they zoom the camera out and the crowd looks crystal clear even those are that farther away and yet they chose to sacrifice the court and upgrade the useless crowd. They could of blurred out the crowd from distance.

[Andrew]

Downloaded the 360 demo yesterday and had a couple of games. I liked it a lot more than 2K8, the player movement felt great though I still prefer Freestyle when it comes to trying to break ankles and do more advanced moves. I guess it's just a learning curve but with Freestyle I can pull off the exact move I want whereas with Isomotion, I basically wiggle the left stick and hope for the best. I'm sure it's more effective in the hands of someone more experienced with Isomotion but I still prefer the dual stick approach of Freestyle.

The presentation is fantastic, that's an area where 2K easily beats Live. I think Live is getting better in that regard as they get back to more of a TV style presentation but I do like how 2K is keeping it simple with a broadcast orientated introduction showing the starting lineups and whatnot. Live has tried to be artistic in this area but it just comes off as being unrealistic and a bit detrimental to the atmosphere. I definitely like what 2K does in this regard, especially with the videos and introduction once teams are selected. The use of real NBA footage might not work so well in Association though as blockbuster trades and subsequent fictional lineups are going to render the footage as being outdated. Cool nevertheless.

For the first time, my experience with the gameplay was consistent with the praise I often see for the 2K series. My past experiences have not been so positive with the CPU shooting around 75% no matter what I did defensively and generally not giving me desirable results out of the box despite frequently being touted as ultra realistic without any tweaking. 2K9 felt quite different though and after I got used to the controls it did perform quite realistically, which I found much more agreeable than my previous experiences with 2K.

I don't know if I'll ever be a convert, I'm looking forward to NBA Live 09 despite it being a PC only release and the whole Freestyle/Isomotion issue is still a stumbling block for me. However, so far I like it a lot more than any other NBA 2K game I've played. I'm still more interested in seeing Live improve and I may never quite get used to 2K's approach with Isomotion and the like but I certainly won't be a fanboy about it in terms of denouncing 2K9 as a shoddy product as it's anything but that. Still not a convert yet, though.

[JaoSming]

The use of real NBA footage might not work so well in Association though as blockbuster trades and subsequent fictional lineups are going to render the footage as being outdated. Cool nevertheless.

It was stated that those videos are only shown for the exhibition games and won't appear in the association.

Glad you liked it though, it is going to be an entirely different experience this year with that kind of caliber game coming to the PC.

[Andrew]

Ah, in that case no problem. Using some in-game generic highlights (similar to what NBA Live on the PC has done the last couple of years with the players shooting around before tipoff) could work in Association though in any event, the videos do spice up exhibition games.

[Coyroy]

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