Official NBA 2K18 Impressions Topic

r u guys getting any type of reactions from the ai on pump fakes and jab steps?

MyCareer has never been my thing. I may play it in a few months to try something different but not sold on it.

MyGM - I for one love the story element so far. As a Nets fan I find it truly realistic. You think Billy King gave up the house for Garnett and Pierce just on his own accord? Definitely love the pressure you get to do moves from people around the organization. The owner's son showed me how great Michael Beasley's PER is for his salary (top in the league) and suggested I get him. The Knicks immediately made him untouchable (which feels storyline more than sim). The owner demanded I get him, so if I wanted to keep him happy I would have to give up D'Angelo Russell and like a 1st round pick for Beasley (which isn't happening).

I love that side of the GM mode. It makes me feel accomplished if I rebuild a winner with all of those obstacles i.e. terrible owners.

The only major negative to MyGM is not being able to use custom rosters. However hopefully we can just hack the default 2k rosters like we did last year.

MyLeague - It's still MyLeague. I want GM's to be part of the staff in that mode though and it would be perfect.

Bugs - Can't start a serious Franchise yet due to all the bugs. The one I'm seeing right off the bat is that Bird Rights are broken. Joel Embiid for example has 1 Bird Year so Philly can't resign him. Not sure how stuff that I encounter within minutes of playing a mode makes it past testing.

Draft and Stash creating multiple players is a ridiculous bug. Like how could that have not been known about months ago when they were building the mode? If it's fixed in patch 1 though all is forgiven.

Gameplay is much improved. Off ball defense from the A.I. is MUCH better. Also spacing is great. Last year I would have to set my Offense to Space the floor because Motion Cuts just had my A.I. players leaving open spots on the court for no reason. Glad this is being improved.

I will wait for patch 1 to dive deeper into the Franchise modes though.

Yes, I did get some defenders up in the air on pump fakes. I'm going to assume that players with relevant ratings (my slasher with 44 3pt rating can fake all I want, but even brain dead zombie wouldn't bite on that fake) will have better success. Also I can imagine that better defenders will jump less.

One good thing is, I am getting more free-throw attempts. Which is a positive ofcoarse.

I played with guys like DeMar Derozan and James Harden and consistently get 6+ freethrows a game whenever I play. During simulation, that's another story lol... NBA 2k never get's realistic FT stats during a simmed season. The only time, I've gotten lucky is when I have had Shaq and draw foul tendency to 99 and scoring under the rim to 99 and attack strong to 99. He attemped close to 700 FT's but... that was like once before patches.

Anyways, I tweaked the foul tendency to 90's for both blocking, shooting, reaching etc so there are more free-throw attempts during game play.

Is it worth buying this for PS3, or should I stick with 2k16 for another year (and try to find updated rosters)?

The PS3 and 360 versions don't even get mentioned during the preview season these days. They're definitely afterthoughts now, so I'm guessing the experience on offer isn't too great.

Okay after playing a few more quarters with many different teams (mostly classic teams - loving the late 90ies to mid 2000 teams - that's just my time ) I can say more about the game and I am not that disappointed anymore - still I think the game is very expensive for what you get.


For me, the gameplay is most important.

- I really love the new systems. It really feels different if you play "7 seconds or less" or "half court offense". This was so overdue, gives teams an identity and improved the game play a lot. Also the defensive settings etc have really improved and you actually see them on the court. But as always, 2k is so bad in roster creation etcm, that it will take me a while to edit stuff. How can the 04 Suns not have "7 seconds or less" as a system. I see they played a lot of pick n roll, too. But they CREATED this system under Mike D'Antoni. WTF!

- the new sliders give me tons of possibilities to change the pace and gameplay. I am already tooling around and it works very well. The foul sliders work out better than last year for me. With the over the back fouls increased I really noticed how I got called for over the back fouls when I tried to force the rebound by jumping hard although being boxed out and in bad position far off. I like that.

- rebounding and defense really profit from the ball being more "lose" than last year. There are rebound battles, balls knocked lose and ending up out of bounds and simply more realistic deflections.

- defense has improved overall. Less mental lapses by my AI colleagues, double teaming finally ends up in having a chance to STEAL the ball, not only to force a jump ball. There are still some issues with leaving players open, but well, it's a computer game and even in the real NBA bad defenders get hung up nowhere near their assignements.

- post play is way better imho. The fluidity makes it easier to pull off exactly the move that I want. Further the feeling for the defense is better. I can see and feel which side the defender is giving me and make the right moves. On the other side if I speculate or anticipate the post player to spin right and he does, I have a really good chance of getting the ball and forcing a very bad shot. When I have Shaq in the post, I can go beast mode and force my way to the basket. But then again, when I did not have great position a bit further away, I got blocked by Arvydas Sabonis twice because I was not close enough to dunk it.

- running plays is better. Quicker, easier and when broken, the play seems to continue until I can get through the system

- I like how the shot taking and making by the AI is much improved. I see floaters when I try to block with my big men, I see step backs (which by the way are really easy now as you can pull them off quicker) and I see that especially the good players, have an idea of what a "good" shot in the right situation is. On the other side when Tony Allen drives to the rim I see a brick against the backboard on an heavily contested shot and that is okay for me

- no more way off air balls on slightly contested shots with the clock running down. Very good.

- I still dont like that when I play with real player % (which I do), many shots seem to bounce around the rim a lot instead of more swishes. When I watch an real NBA game, there are maybe two or three bounces around the rim in one match. I have that after two minutes as the "release" does not count and shots never get swishes.

- Passing is improved, especially since they added a slider for pass speed. I upped it and it's cool to see quick passes with good speed. Also - unlike last year - the lead passes by big man on outlets finally work for players who are known for it. I also like how the adjustment sliders for passing (distance vs open vs direction) seems to work better than before.

- as always, 2k just does not do a good job on rosters and tendencies which really would help the game a lot! I will again do all by myself based on real life stats and tendencies and I know that this will improved the game immensely. But this time I feel like it could be close to realistic gameplay. But why do I have to edit this by myself?

- the graphics are very bad. I play with reshade and its better now but still the lighting is underwhelming. I hope there will be a good global soon. Also jerseys, faces etc. are so off.

- HOW CAN SO MANY PLAYERS LOOK SO BAD. Some player have GIGANTIC heads like KG, Battier, Yao and others. Some bodytypes just suck. White players seem to be a problem - all of them look so off. Look at Larry Bird WTF!?

- I have some framerate issues like everybody has. Since my system sucks, I dont want to put too much emphasis on this as criticism though.

- havent tried Myleague or MyGM yet

- I dont play anything that has to do with myplayer or VC. I only need good gameplay and then I start a dynasty (when I have found the perfect sliders and updated the opening roster)

cheers

[Dee4Three]

My issues with the game:

Gameplay:

- Players feel and look like they are skating. It reminds me of some of the older Live games with this.

- Passing is delayed. It looks like some of it is because of the passing animations. It makes the gameplay stall, and is an odd fit with the current gameplay direction. So while everything else is fast, passing (Which is a fast element of basketball), is slowed down or delayed.

- Players feel so light, and mostly the same. Using Lenny Wilkens feels like using Iverson, players don't differentiate from eachother to me. It's like one big game of players looking the same body type wise, and playstyle wise.

- Dribbling is so fast with certain players that it looks unnatural and silly. Literally moving hands 100MPH while dribbling. It doesn't feel good to pull off a sweet dribble move with Iverson, when I can do the exact same thing with Jerry West.

- Because of the list above, the game feels hectic even when trying to slow the gameplay down.

Graphics:

- Up close, many of the faces look awesome, and the graphics overall look solid. But from the gameplay view, the game looks and feels dead. No NBA excitement, it's dull.

- The lighting is as bad or worse than 2K15, I have never watched a broadcast that looks even remotely that dark. It used to be mostly just the classic teams, now it's current and classic teams.

- The crowd is so dark, and not engaged. You will hear sounds from the crowd, but no movement. It's a snoozefest.

- The body types got worse in my opinion. The body types in 2K17 outside of the skinny body type were better. The players in this game lack traps (Straight line from shoulder to shoulder), they clearly don't work out right. No muscle tone on the players can be found, and it's like 2 or 3 body types for the whole game.

- They butchered many of the classic players faces (Including Larry Bird and Clyde Drexler), I don't know how those faces get into production looking like that, it's horrible.

- Players heads are far too big at times for the body. Kevin Garnett looks like a bobble head, so do many other players. The artists behind the game seemed to forget that all human beings have necks, and they must be added to complete a human body.

Rosters:

- The classic teams seem half done, hardly any authentic faces for the years, and a slew of fakes on each team. Yes, licensing is a problem, but to have 5 or 6 fakes on teams that are not that old makes me question an effort issue. Or, a not want to pay for it issue... or both.

In Conclusion, I much prefer NBA 2K17 pre-patched at this point. Not only does the gameplay feel better (Again, I said pre-patched), but the atmosphere and graphics are far more appealing than the dead feel of NBA 2K18. My biggest issue with 2K17 was the defense, and the excessive bumping. I've been able to fix the defense for the most part by using pre patch gameplay, and slight slider adjustments. I've been able to curve almost all of the excessive bumping by changing body up sensitivity to 0 for user and CPU. 2K17 for me is a lot of fun now.

In my opinion, this game should not be reviewed as high as it is, good thing I don't pay much attention to after release reviews from the big names. I gave a 2KU review, but the game does not feel as good on release. Also, you truly notice the atmosphere/graphical issues when you jump into a regular game. And btw, I know that me liking 2K17 more at this point isn't the popular opinion or choice, but it's how I feel.

Last edited by Dee4Three on Fri Sep 22, 2017 1:01 am, edited 1 time in total.

My issue with passing is that if I press the button to request pass (on break for example) while the ball is already on the way (even if it's just leaving passer's hands), I'll automatically pass it even full second later when I get it.

Well, after Dee4Three's post here and on his YouTube channel, i tried again 2K17. And, no way for me.

I wrote so many times here my deceptions about 2K false announced "improvements", but this time I must write (many times) that I like this (vanilla) version.

I only play vs CPU and the gameplay is so much better with 2K18 :
+ Fights for the rebounds
+ big men runs very slow no and cant catch a PG
+ first step is very fast
+ no more CPU unrealistic fast break full court pass,
+ I dont feel the game is scripted like it was on 2K16/17
+ In game UI is so much better too.
+ jerseys looks so much better
+ 2K removed the fucking assistant coach

Few bad points that i can manage
- HoF is too simple, but I think it perhaps can be tweaked with the sliders.
- some ugly faces (Bird, Shaq), ugly necks (I.Thomas), ugly teeth (old MJ)
- First step is even too fast vs CPU
- MyGM scenario

Are you playing it pre patches? If not, 2K17 post patch gameplay is not good.

That's why I said pre patches.

Also, I know it's not the popular opinion right now, by a long stretch, it's just my opinion.

2k17 : December version.
i'm disapointed for you, especially you saved my 2K17 season.
In fact, i dont understand some of your issues you : delayed passes, overspeeded dribbles ?!
perhaps should you try to tune your settings (vsync ?) and adjust your sliders. It could change your experience.

2k17 : December version.
i'm disapointed for you, especially you saved my 2K17 season.
In fact, i dont understand some of your issues you : delayed passes, overspeeded dribbles ?!
perhaps should you try to tune your settings (vsync ?) and adjust your sliders. It could change your experience.

I tried messing with it, it was the same for me.

And I'm glad you loved my rosters, I appreciate the support.

So I just found out you can launch a quick game from your appartment in career mode.

That is actually a very nice feature.

You of course get the VC from it.

The PS3 and 360 versions don't even get mentioned during the preview season these days. They're definitely afterthoughts now, so I'm guessing the experience on offer isn't too great.

Yeah, the PS3 version is a $60 roster upgrade. But I can't play with outdated rosters so I bought it. Knicks are pretty decent. They're loaded with players who can hit the J when Carmelo or KP get doubled in the post (Beasley, THJ, Lee, Thomas, Jack, Baker). But why do the announcers keep saying the names of players not involved in the game? I hope there's a patch for this.

My issues with the game:

[list]Gameplay:

- Players feel so light, and mostly the same. Using Lenny Wilkens feels like using Iverson, players don't differentiate from eachother to me. It's like one big game of players looking the same body type wise, and playstyle wise.

- Dribbling is so fast with certain players that it looks unnatural and silly. Literally moving hands 100MPH while dribbling. It doesn't feel good to pull off a sweet dribble move with Iverson, when I can do the exact same thing with Jerry West.

Dee, I agree with you on many points. I also recognized the skating problem. It has not been that worse since 5 years or so.

But about the speed - they have really added a lot of sliders (like moving with ball and without) which help out for this problem. You can make big guys feel "heavier" without losing the explosiveness for smaller guys.

The PS3 and 360 versions don't even get mentioned during the preview season these days. They're definitely afterthoughts now, so I'm guessing the experience on offer isn't too great.

Yeah, the PS3 version is a $60 roster upgrade. But I can't play with outdated rosters so I bought it. Knicks are pretty decent. They're loaded with players who can hit the J when Carmelo or KP get doubled in the post (Beasley, THJ, Lee, Thomas, Jack, Baker). But why do the announcers keep saying the names of players not involved in the game? I hope there's a patch for this.

I'm not sure they've done much (if anything) in the way of post-release support for 360/PS3 since PS4/X1 became the focus.

is anyone else experiencing the following?

- players don't bite on pump fakes
- cpu doesn't take many timeouts

Is anyone experiencing some weird camera shake when having the ball on offense ? this happens to me like half the damn time almost, it's super annoying...

I haven't been able to find a way to turn it off but from what I can see it happens when you are on the road and on a scoring drought. You have to score a few buckets before it goes away. Super annoying.

players don't bite on pump fakes

I've had a few bites, but they're generally rare with competent defenders.

cpu doesn't take many timeouts

I dunno, generally I see timeouts being taken as needed.

players don't bite on pump fakes

I've had a few bites, but they're generally rare with competent defenders.

cpu doesn't take many timeouts

I dunno, generally I see timeouts being taken as needed.

Must be just me. I've had just 1 pump fake work successfully in about 15 games, and the CPU only seems to take TO's when it's down otherwise it'll just take 2-3 all game long.

Are you playing 6 minutes quarters? Because I play 12 and maybe CPU doesn't take timeouts because players aren't fatugued.

Are you playing 6 minutes quarters? Because I play 12 and maybe CPU doesn't take timeouts because players aren't fatugued.

11 minute quarters. Timeouts are taken if I'm winning, but if I'm losing the CPU will only take a maximum of 3 timeouts during the whole game.

The PS3 and 360 versions don't even get mentioned during the preview season these days. They're definitely afterthoughts now, so I'm guessing the experience on offer isn't too great.

Yeah, the PS3 version is a $60 roster upgrade. But I can't play with outdated rosters so I bought it. Knicks are pretty decent. They're loaded with players who can hit the J when Carmelo or KP get doubled in the post (Beasley, THJ, Lee, Thomas, Jack, Baker). But why do the announcers keep saying the names of players not involved in the game? I hope there's a patch for this.

I'm not sure they've done much (if anything) in the way of post-release support for 360/PS3 since PS4/X1 became the focus.

Aside from uniform/court tweaks, and the all-time players for each team, nothing's changed for PS3. My guys are still clueless on 'D', leaving 3pt shooters wide open to double the post.

I'm not surprised. I'm surprised they're still developing that version.