NBA 2K11 Demo Released: Impressions

[shadowgrin]

Da Czar's demo footage

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[cam]

Anyone from Australia know when the demo will come out for PS3?

[wabenne]

I definetly like what i'm seeing and how its playing and that is just with limited functions in the game. So when the will product comes out with all actions available should even be better which is a plus. Got to get use to the dribbling scheme.

But I do want to ask and I guess its something that I haven't like about 2k while the faces look awesome the bodies are almost always to bulky i mean I dind't know kobe was the ripped its looks like he benches 300 or something. Other then that lil irritation the game looks great. Now i look forward to the Elite Demo to see how it fairs, but regardles 2k11 is a must buy especially with Jordan and historic teams

[fjccommish]

Someone on OP Sports mentioned that if Gasol is controlled to double team the PG the Celtics still blindly run their play. They don't go right to Garnett for an easy 2.

It isn't true. I tried taking Gasol off Garnett and even Davis once he subbed into the game. The Celtics immediately found Garnett or Davis for an easy 2 every time.

[Patr1ck]

Quick breakdown on how to run a play(in the demo atleast):

Once most of your players are past half court tap LB/L1 and then quickly follow that up by pressing the icon of the player you want to run the play for. For example, Kobe Bryant would be B or O. So initially, tap LB/L1 and then quickly tap B/O. A red circle will be under the player of choice, Kobe in this case. You will now need to press another face button (A,B,X,Y/X,O,Triangle,Square) to initiate a play. If done correctly, play art will show up on the court.

[hova-]

So I played a couple of quarters and that's what I think of it:

++++

- Thank god, they got rid of the laser passes inside. Getting the ball down low through a defender is impossible now. You need to post up or find space/wholes in the defense.

- They finally brought back the J to this game. Jumpshooting is awesome, the release is very important and you have full control of your own shot. Releases are also A+ (Pierce for example has his own signatur three pointer which looks different than his mid range J)

- I love the collision animations. Sometimes you will find yourself in the air and a defender will try to contest and completely bring you off balance, which will cause your player to fall down hard.

- Good to see the manual post up back in the game.

- The rebounding has improved and the animations look better. Imho it looks a bit more like live's rebounding which I liked.

- The passing is awesome. Really really awesome. More bad passes by bad passers and also difficult passes are difficult to bring to your man. Players need to fumble around catching the ball and will loose it if they are near the sideline. Bad passes will also cause the receiving player to be out of position after catching so that the defense may recover. Many new passing animations give the whole game a fresh feeling. Faking passes is also a nice lil gimmick, but it's not really effective for me right now.

- Signature style is on point once again. Players look like their real life counterparts, act like them and move like them. You cannot praise enough what 2k did in this area in the last 4 or 5 years.

- illegal screens when you try to play the pick and roll before the guy who sets the pick has his feet set. Over the back calls. Overall good foul calls.

----

- I am not completely satisfied with blocking shots. Sometimes it looks akward and still a bit canned. Sometimes Js seem to be too easy to block. But all in all it has not gotten worse.

- Instead of lockdown D we now have "intense D". I do not really not what the "intense D" button is for, I cannot find a difference when I hold it. Maybe that is my problem ... so staying in front of a Rondo or Allen who size up and fake drives all the time is pretty difficult, but I guess that's a thing of learning how to play.

- The "Hard Foul" is not really hard and right now I was not able to foul someone hard while he tried to score easy points. So for me this has not been more like the intentional foul (which still exists). Maybe I have to try out more for further explanation.

- I can't do ish right now with the new iso motion controls. I thought the old system was pretty decent, so I don't understand why they changed it. But I guess that's also a thing of doing a tutorial and getting to now the controls.


So all in all this game should be awesome. With improved play calling, some graphical and signature improvements and tweaks and not to forget the whole classic/Jordan stuff, this will be my number one bball game. But honestly, I had no doubts before ...

[The X]

Downloaded and played a few 4 minute quarters to get a feel of 2k11. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the improvements. I haven't been that impressed with 2k since about 2k7, but 2k11 feels a whole lot smoother (I know everybody is saying it, but you gotta play it to get the feeling) than 2k10.

Positives:

- Game plays smoother
- Graphics seem sharper
- Momentum seems improved (although will take some getting use to)
- Spacing seems improved
- Players with unique talents & bodies like Gasol & Rondo are gonna be real assets in 2k11 & a pain in the arse to defend
- Animations look fresh & improved (e.g. new catching animations for bad passes put players out of position)
- Basketball seems a little less on string & a little more its own entity
- Kobe is a killer in midrange
- The Truth has multiple sig shots just like IRL
- The CPU doesn't seem to cheese with stupid backdoor passes & I found if I doubled off players that the CPU would find them. When you get scored on, it feels like bad defense on your part or good offense on their part, not CPU cheese.
- No CPU cheese catchup on fast breaks. Fast breaks feel like fast breaks
- Laser passes seem to be gone

Jury is out/Negatives:

- Very bare bones demo (only one 4 minute quarter, could only use Lakers, no commentary, no playcalling etc). Why they didn't use MJ in say Bulls vs Celtics in '86 is beyond me? Why not use MJ to try to sell more games?
- On control. They feel better than 2k10 (not that hard), but still not 100% sure. A step in right direction. Probably just need a lot more time with it. Don't know what to do with intense D, hopefully Czar comes out with something after game hits.
- Too many blocks
- I noticed another dodgy goaltending call. They need to sort that shit out

Very pleased with the presentation. Its a bit overkill, but it gets you hyped for the game.

I think it might be because they are replicating 2010 NBA Finals. I would suspect that atmosphere isn't that hyped when playing in Memphis

Anyone from Australia know when the demo will come out for PS3?

Not sure, but I just used my secondary US PSN account to download it

[Patr1ck]

You can run plays. Best way to so it is to get the ball to Kobe, then tap lb/l1, then press the face button of the player you want to run the play for, then press another face button to select the play. You don't get any overlay, so its blind playcalling, but at least you can. You should then have to give the ball back to Fisher. The reason is because the face button will still perform an action in the game while calling a play.

[JaoSming]

saw a thread on OS and just confirmed it. There is no more invisible barrier around the court! If you throw a bad alleyoop (LT + B this year) the ball will just go into the crowd rather than hit a wall and bounce back.

It's the little things that make me so, so, happy

[soho]

Great improvements for me i was satisfied with graphics on 2k10 so i didnt care a lot about it .. all i wanted is improved my player and Gameplay ... and idd gameplay is sick cant w8 oct.. probably 12 or so to get hands on game cuz EU release is 8 and mail from UK takes some days too

but i m happy how game plays

Small thing what i noticed today .. in crowd some pps are moving from seats etc on stairs goin toilet or smth .. add more realism into game

[Killer Crossover aka OG]

Looks quite good, but still I'm missing the Starting Five up atmosphere

[hova-]

Is it just me or are there still some akward high off the glass shots. Seems like many shots just hit the backboard a little bit too high.

[mp3]

Overall iam very impressed with the demo, the game looks and feels a lot smoother than last year but like already mentioned the on ball controls will have some getting used to.

Shooting is on point and i feel like i have more control on the shot than last year , anyone else agree ?

Defence has stepped up , defenders defend this year !

I felt rushed in the post vs KG but felt like i was in control vs Glen Davis and the post moves are a step up this year i was pulling some moves off that i had no idea how i did it but i had a great step through with Gasol

Ive only played a few games before i set off out for some really hoops on the hardwood but iam pretty hyped about the game overall good demo.

[JaoSming]

from SteveOS, made this game look even sexier

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[Vl@d Zola Jr.]

Hey, guys, if one could grab a roster file and send it to me, i would really appreciate this...

[JaoSming]

already tried, I couldnt open the demo files like I could with the NBA Live demos

[Daniel24]

Wow i havent been here for a while... I am currently downloading the demo and will post my impressions sometime today.

[The X]

Is it just me or are there still some akward high off the glass shots. Seems like many shots just hit the backboard a little bit too high.

There definitely is. Mike Wang said over at OS a little while ago that they had fixed that, although he wasn't sure if it was before or after build used for demo. So, that should be fixed for the final game

[hova-]

Is it just me or are there still some akward high off the glass shots. Seems like many shots just hit the backboard a little bit too high.

There definitely is. Mike Wang said over at OS a little while ago that they had fixed that, although he wasn't sure if it was before or after build used for demo. So, that should be fixed for the final game

Ah okay, thx for pointing out. I read that they were gonna fix it, but I thought that it would already have been fixed for the demo. It's not a big deal, but as I said it's looking a bit akward.

[Axel The Great]

Just played the demo. Awesome. I like that they added freestyle passing. Sucks that we can only be the Lakers. Sure buy this year.

[ThaLiveKing]

Da Czar's demo footage

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If that's how Czar plays, he would get blown out by me LOL

[hova-]

The big men tend to jump too high on rebounds if you ask me. Just noticed that.

What I think would be great and I commented on it in the latest insight:

"I'm excited. This sounds very very good.

One question:

Is there a chance to let players react to blocks and swat shots? For me it always is a bit disappointing to see a big swat and the guy who blocked it just stands around like after a usual loose ball / turnover. Would really add some more real life flavour if players would at least high five or maybe even pose a bit (like Mourning in his best days)."

I think that would be a decent addition of how guys act on the court. What do you think?

[ThaLiveKing]

Here's another video. No highlights, just gameplay.

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[Sportsgamer]

I have a question about jab stepping: I saw in the demo that the yellow bar was decreasing while jab stepping. Is that true? How is jab stepping performed?

[Vl@d Zola Jr.]

already tried, I couldnt open the demo files like I could with the NBA Live demos

Oh, it's a pity (( So, we'll have to wait until the full is released. I'm rewriting the Core now...