Adding Jordan doesn't change the fact that this is just another basketball game. It may be the best one ever, sure, but until the series stops pandering to a niche and finds out why the sales of basketball games don't match the global appeal of the sport, that's all it'll ever be.
Both of these points might discount my opinion entirely, then again, they may not. Once I started to get the hang of that, I enjoyed playing the game. The stumbling block for me, and for this game's GOTY chances, is the bar for entry is just too high.
There's too much navel gazing. The menus make little to no sense, and it was off-putting to figure out where I could learn the ropes, practice, change the settings, etc. The interface was largely counterintuitive, and because of that, it makes NBA 2K11 feel like yet another entry in a series, but with added Michael Jordan, and not a solid stand alone and definitely not Game of The Year. Where I was expecting music and menus I was immediately thrust into the role of one of the greatest players in basketball history, playing in one of the most important series of his career.
The music and menus came eventually, but I was indeed spellbound in those opening moments. The gameplay is slick and addictive. The atmosphere is second-to-none. The presentation rivals broadcast television. Hell, I spent a half hour building my custom baller for the game's My Player career mode. Packed with modes and special features, it's a ridiculously deep sports game. In the end, however, I have to agree with Luke.
The game's surprising depth makes it far too easy for a basketball novice like myself to get lost in a sea of game terminology that I just don't understand. For a sports game to be truly worthy of Game of the Year, it needs to cater to all gamers - not just those already familiar with the subject matter. Stephen Totilo's Reply I occasionally agitate for a Best Controls awards category to become standard across all gaming awards galas, because good controls are more valuable than good graphics, good sound effects or good just about anything else.
They feel good. I'm also praising 2K11 as one of the year's best role-playing games, partially because I refuse to consider the "role-playing game" classification the way tradition has defined it. No, I will stubbornly adhere to the way the English language defines it.
NBA 2K11, in letting me play as Michael Jordan across a series of historically accurate games of elite basketball, enables me to believably inhabit the sneakers of a a real man whose physical accomplishments were damn near super-human. But given basketball games' trajectory toward matching the realism of basketball or a basketball broadcast, I can't consider even as polished a basketball video game as this as anything more than an incomplete advance toward a distant goal.
I can't help but hold the example of what it aspires to be but is not against it, killing its chance of getting my GOTY vote. Brian Crecente's Reply That's funny, I see this as a role-playing game too. That was the biggest draw for me this time around. I played a few games with known, pro-players, including Jordan, but what really captivated me about the game was the notion of starting from nothing and learning and earning my way to a top position in the draft. I know this isn't a first for a basketballer, but it's the first time it's been combined with so polished an experience.
But it's still a very specific core, inwardly looking experience. It may be at the top of its game, but it's a game that is often an overwhelming experience, one that seems to embrace just how insular it is. And I completely disagree with the notion that the latest Call of Duty, Rockstar epic or top role-playing game somehow skates on gamers' expectations of a transformative work. The difference here is that 2K11 is built around a set of rules that rarely change.
If I could approach this basketball simulation as a role-playing game, one in which I was somewhat invested, we'd share a mutual appreciation of the game's merits. Unfortunately, the opportunity to role-play as one of the sport's most accomplished athletes holds no special meaning for me. With no emotional attachment or nostalgia for Michael Jordan, the Chicago Bulls, or their dynasty, I find myself simply playing an enjoyably accurate sports game, but experiencing none of the emotive, immersive qualities of 's other nominees.
While I was fascinated by the depth and breadth of NBA 2K11, as a sports game rookie, my enjoyment suffered from diving into a well-established franchise that I found unfriendly to those without basketball simulation expertise. Sports sims are a language I do not yet speak. I haven't been convinced that this is a game worthy of my vote, but it has been a fine introduction to a genre more worthy of my attention. Owen Good's Rebuttal Admittedly, this nominee was our longest shot and the one most vulnerable to one's taste in games and broader lifestyle.
Luke's rebuttal stings but rings true. NBA 2K11 doesn't pull far enough away from the assumption that interest in a sport equals familiarity with or proficiency in it. If this is an invitation, it's still to an exclusive party. I may have missed an opportunity in my advocacy. Stephen's praise of the controls also points out something many sports gamers take for granted annually.
On NBA 2K11's behalf, I'll consider that making it this far before losing is still a tremendous achievement. But Jordan himself, if this were one of his seven playoff years without a championship, wouldn't take that for much of a compliment.
He'd come back next year more determined than ever. I hope NBA 2K12 - and all sports games - will too. This is the first of four debates surrounding our final choice for 's game of the year. All four will run this week. The winner will be announced Monday. Selecting the best game of the year should be the result of a thoughtful process, not a rush to the finish line.
Last year we completely retooled how Kotaku made it's selection for game of the year , and I think it worked. This year we're returning to that system, a system that has us wait until we've had time to examine our choices and think through our arguments. Today we kick off the debate, a process that has us openly discussing why we think our selection of finalists is or isn't the game of the year. Later today you'll have a chance to read through the arguments we each made surrounding the first of four games nominated internally as potentially the game of the year.
To select those nominees I asked each writer to decide what single game they thought was the absolute best for the year. It had to be a game that they could argue was better than any other.
There was no runner-up or third place selection, so the finalists come off as an oddly eclectic mix. Once selected, we made sure everyone had played all of the games in question and then kicked off a round of internal debate.
A game was given a champion who opened the debate with his reasoning for why the game was the best of the year, that was followed by six writers discussing why they agree or disagree.
Finally the champion has a chance to respond to the points raised. This is what we're publishing over the course of the week. These are sincere arguments, they are meant to change minds, internally, and sometimes they do.
On Friday we will open the debate up to you, our readers. Over the weekend I will ask the staff of Kotaku to reexamine the arguments made both internally and by you and to recast their vote for game of the year. We will announce that winner and the winner of the reader's choice award on Monday. As Kotaku's chief sports writer, my most memorable gaming moments of come entirely within that genre.
No spoilers here, but then, the human drama of athletic competition follows no script. These were just some of my favorite moments from my favorite games of We'll have favorites from the rest of the team throughout the week.
The first day was a disaster. Friday, we needed a comeback, and we got it, with a bullet. I and everyone in my party hit every single bet we made on NCAA 10's advice, including my five-game parlay to cap the evening and pay for dinner. Except they lacked one - Mount Airy's Granite Bears, our rival in the northern half of my home county. Thompson said. It nearly wasn't included. It's hard to explain, but 2K Sports really captured the artistry of Dominique Wilkins, a truly old-school artist who performed above the rim with the smoothness of the old ABA stars, not the anger you see in today's game.
But my holiest experience was taking the Hawks' 5-foot-7 guard, Spud Webb, to the basket. Up, up, straight up he rose, and Webb, the Dunk Contest champion, threw the ball through the rim one-handed, and only then did it hit me. Even though they may have lost to him, we did justice to them. It's what you see and hear the first time you pop the disc in. Listen to that crowd! A lot of times your perimeter players on the weak side would creep into the mid-range or post area in NBA 2K This caused the defense to be a lot more compressed, resulting in an annoyingly packed interior.
Now, everyone spaces the court much better, allowing for more realistic driving lanes and kickout opportunities. The last thing regarding Freelance is in relation to how guys moved away from the ball. If a player cuts to the basket the exact same way he trots out to the perimeter to space the floor, it really takes away from the immersion of the experience for me.
To that end, we added well over dedicated off ball offensive movement animations to give life to our players. And when you couple the new animations with the vastly improved offensive movement model which blend together seamlessly I should add , the flow of NBA Basketball never looked sweeter in the virtual world. The transition game also went through a number of changes this year.
This was a big sore spot for Rob Jones, who wrote the last Developer Insight and he worked closely with one of our AI engineers to ensure that fast breaks ran properly, as well as the secondary breaks and transition offense. Up until this year, plays in 2K basketball have been generic. There were a few team-specific ones, but for the most part, all teams would run the same stuff.
For this year, we hired a 3rd party consultant to not only scout each and every NBA team including classic teams for our Jordan Challenge , but to also implement and test the play data himself. It was a long and arduous process for him, but the work is a complete game changer. Now, I pretty much call a play every trip down the floor. Not only do they run better, thanks to a lot of engineering work to improve the under the hood mechanics, they also serve to put each player in a spot to be effective given his skill set.
As in real life, the plays are also crafted in such a way that several of the sets share the same basic initial setup. This keeps the defense guessing and helps to make your offense that much tougher to pick apart. See all 46 Critic Reviews. User Score. Your Score. Rate this:. Log in to finish rating NBA 2K NBA 2K Share this? Summary: It's the 1 selling and rated NBA series that everyone is playing - from the most elite NBA athletes and superstars to the local court gym rats.
Buy on. Play Sound. Please enter your birth date to watch this video:. January February March April May June July August September October November December 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Enter. Critic Reviews. Score distribution:. Positive: 46 out of Mixed: 0 out of Negative: 0 out of It's more comprehensive than ever; more refined in terms of atmosphere, animations, possibilities; to sum it up, we had never seen that before.
The added bonus of Michael Jordan being included in the game is the cherry on the cake. You need this basket simulator. All this publication's reviews Read full review. Whilst the level of realism on show in NBA 2K11 may make the game sound a little daunting, what you have to remember is that this is in every way a basketball simulation for fans of the sport rather than a sports title for the casual sports game player.
NBA 2K11 is a top contender for best sports game of There have been major improvements over last years edition. The game is hard to master, realistic and complex.
Everything that Michael Jordan touches, turns into gold. NBA 2K11 is the best game of its kind because of all the improvements that Visual Concepts has added. Eurogamer Italy. NBA 2K11 improves everything from the past chapters of the series and it's actually the best and most realistic basket videogame of all time. It's a shame that it still doesn't offer a decent an online experience, but if you love Michael Jordan, this is a love letter for you. User Reviews. Write a Review. Positive: 30 out of Mixed: 3 out of Negative: 8 out of NBA 2K11 is the greatest game I've ever played This game is absolutely incredible.
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