Console Corner: NBA 2K20 review
If you have been reading about NBA 2K20 recently it will undoubtedly have been negative.
The game -the latest in the genre-leading, EA-killing franchise - has been courting controversy for everything from microtransactions to a rash of launch glitches and gambling elements.
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Hide AdAs I write most of the bugs which hit the NBA 2K20 launch earlier this month have been fixed, and I haven’t got much space, so let’s get down to the nuts and bolts... is it any good?
Anthony Davis features on the cover of the regular edition while Dwyane Wade takes centre stage on the ‘Legend Edition’. A notable inclusion this year is that for the first time ever in the NBA 2K series - stretching over 21 games! - all 12 teams from the WNBA are included.
That’s a great step forward and as someone with a young, sporty daughter it is hugely encouraging to see. I would be lying if I said I had gone beyond playing a couple of games with the women, though.
MyCareer returns with a host of new customisation options before you embark on forging your basketball career. English actor Idris Elba - of The Wire and Luther fame - stars as your coach as the 2k series continues to sprinkle stardust and celebrity as part of its glossy package.
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Hide AdThe game’s returning MyGM and MyLeague game modes, which task the player with managing all basketball operations for a specific team.
MyGM mode is effectively a movie with a lack of really engrossing interactions. MyTeam (the equivalent of Ultimate Team on FIFA) is back too.
The idea being gamers assemble and play with their team in basketball tournament-style competitions against other players’ teams in a host of varying formats.
Virtual Currency is key to any progress in this mode.
And there is no getting away from the much-publicised fact that NBX 2K20 takes a few too many liberties when it comes to microtransactions. It is easy to see why the game has come under such heavy criticism for the microtransactions and comes just as politicians call for a ban on loot boxes and the like in-game.
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Hide AdBut I’m just interested in playing basketball and NBA 2K20 still does that better than anyone else and indeed better than ever before.
The action on the court is gorgeous, slick, dripping in realism and a thrill to play for veterans of the series and newbies.
NBA 2K20 has taking a lot of criticism in the build-up to and since release.
Some of it is justified. But the simple fact that seems to be getting lost on some reviewers and gamers is that NBA 2K20 is still the best around bar none.
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Hide Ad2K are doing what I never thought would be possible with a basketball game and they should be held in high regard as a result.
But perhaps this is a line in the sand for the series on the current generation of consoles. It feels as if things have plateaued and the series needs the power of the next gen machines - coming soon - to progress any further.