Well another year has come and as we approach a year with only college basketball to look forward to, at the moment, the NBA will still be represented by NBA 2K12. Now last year's 2K11 I thought was the BEST basketball game ever made, I was wrong because it has been surpassed by NBA 2K12 in every way. I'm going to break it down for you all out there.
Presentation
Now 2K brought it last year with presentation though some things were lacking, like arena specific sounds, they had some not all, and crowd reactions to certain situations. Well that has all been addressed this year as clutch moments bring proper crowd reactions, if you're up at home the crowd will always be in a frenzy cheering on every bucket you pour on. If you're getting blown out well crickets can be heard in the disappointment in the crowd. Every arena has a "Broadcast Stadium" camera which is how I play although most prefer the 2K camera, I've grown up on broadcast style, and each one looks absolutely great. New to the presentation element this year are new enhanced intros to the teams. Some games you'll get the basic 5-Man staring lineup in others you'll get this cool player by player intro that looks absolutely great and because it varies so much you don't really get tired of them. New to the commentary booth this year is Steve Kerr who seamlessly adds a great sense of a real life broadcast that you'll get from TNT. It's amazing how well that he Kevin Harlan and Clark Kellogg work so well together, and in a year's time at that. This is by far the BEST commentary you'll find in any sports game, a title previously held by MLB The Show. Then you have little things like stat overlays and upcoming games showing up in the lower left to promote upcoming games. And it doesn't stop there in My Player David Stern, love him or hate him, lends his voice to announcing you during the NBA Draft granted he didn't record all the schools available its still pretty cool. This has to be by far the best sports presentation in any game ever made spot on and major kudos to 2K. The one drawback to the game has to be the faces on the players as some still look like aliens although some look good but others are just downright ugh.
Gameplay
Here's where a game makes or breaks itself and 2K definitely made itself in this category. By far the best game play in any basketball game ever created is what makes this game simply astounding. The level of control given to you by 2K is absolutely ridiculous. Gone are the days of canned animations everything can be chained or linked to make your own shot work for you. Drive the lane fake out a defender going one way, lose the help with a pump fake, go for the layup absorb the contact count it and 1, Its all possible in this game, granted you take the time to learn the way to pull these moves off. There is a great Training Camp mode which teaches you everything at your disposal that you can do while playing the game. Its amazing the amount of control you have on both ends of the floor, I love it. Player collision is great and adds a real sense of realism of a real basketball game. Now I don't know if the game itself was toned down in terms of difficulty or not but three point shots are easier to knock down for me at least, I'm pretty sure this can be adjusted but by default, Superstar Simulation for me, it seemed pretty easy for me. Also ball physics are great, in addition to there being no canned animations the ball isn't just attached to any player it is in itself an entity, no rebounds are automatic until secure and blocks happen a lot more realistically, at first I thought I was getting too many blocks when I shouldn't have but that was just one game. My Player is new and improved and gives you a sense of actually playing out the life of an NBA rookie to Superstar, its fun and very engaging. Association mode is enhanced by the added ability to go online and play a full season with others worldwide or just with friends. Blacktop Mode now has a crowd although they are just there for looks its still better than the helicopter spotlight games of last year maybe this can be patched lets hope so.
Final Verdict
If you're a fan of basketball and video games there's no reason not to obtain what should be sports game of the year. Greatest Mode with time accurate presentation and one thing not being emphasized enough in my opinion is that while in greatest mode they highlight 15 players they give you 30 classic teams in all with accurate rosters. Presentation is top notch and gameplay is everything you want in a sports game even though there are always improvements to be made we'll wait till 2K13 to see that. Let's enjoy this phenomenal game for now.
Graphics-8.5 +Arenas and Presentation -Player Faces
Gameplay-9.5 +So much control over players, collision system works well -steep learning curve
Presentation-10 Best ever in any sports game commentary, stat layouts, replays everything seems like a TNT broadcast
Re playability-10 Greatest Mode, My Player, Association, Nikeid so much more to keep you going.
Overall-9.5/10
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
NBA 2K12 Initial Impressions
There's no reason NBA 2K12 shouldn't win sports game of the year and its evident across the full realm of everything the game has to offer. In my opinion there hasn't been a SPORTS game that has given you the amount of capabilities that NBA 2K12 offers. I mean look at EVERYTHING that you have at your disposal here. Deep franchise, deep career mode, a training camp to learn everything you can do in the game, even make your own damn shoes. And those are just the features, game play wise I have never felt so in control of my player on the court, ice, field whatever. NBA nails this beautifully. The various amount of ways to move on the court on both ends is just simply astounding. I guess the only thing 2K has left to work on is player models, because everything else is ridiculously awesome. If there is a downside to the game I haven't found it in game play, and we all play games for game play. Sure any game can look good but can it play and that's what 2K has nailed right on the head. My Player is by far and away more fun than ever, Association Mode is amazing as usual, little things like upcoming games showing up at the bottom of the screen is ridiculously awesome, and don't get me started on Greatest Mode, TREE ROLLINS IS IN THE GAME PEOPLE!!! If you're a fan of basketball and video games this is a must have.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Gears 3 Multiplayer Review
Ok so I've had Gears of War 3 now for close to two weeks and I'm engulfed in the multiplayer experience that Gears offers. It's streamlined right from the get go to where you can invite any of your friends into a party from the main menu and get started.
First let's talk about the actual game modes now within Gears you can play any game mode with multiple people from the campaign right down to Beast Mode everything can be done with anywhere between 2-10 people depending on game mode. Now that's awesome in itself but the one thing I really want to emphasize is TEAMWORK or lack there of in some cases. I've played through all the different game modes and of course Horde is quite possibly the most addicting, but that's my opinion. In Team Deathmatch its 5v5 with a respawn count rather than a score system. The team that runs out of lives first loses in a best of 5 series. Now I don't know if people are so accustomed to Call of Duty's run and gun style but that DOES NOT WORK IN GEARS PEOPLE!!!! There's a reason this game has set the standard in terms of using cover because it works awesomely but people don't seem to know how to use it in TDM. I've come across plenty of teams who know how to work as a team and I commend them but for some reason I get stuck with players who just don't get it. It's definitely a game in which your friends will work better than random players. In Execution its pretty awesome that you get to learn and experiment with the various forms of execution available in the game. Besides its the only way to kill an opponent. Warzone the classic mode returns one life per player. King of the Hill domination style gameplay which players control different sections on the map when they pop up. Wingman is a blast to play with a friend 2v2v2v2 it really shows how much you can dominate with a teammate. Capture the Leader is ok if you have a team thats dedicated to protecting the leader of the team.
Now onto Horde which is freaking awesome because of the added ability to fortify a command post for your team. Now with each round you earn cash based on your performance in said round leading up to the 10th round aka the Boss Round which is by far the best round, anyway you build spikes turrets sentries all kinds of things to help protect you from the locust. All of these can be upgraded once you use them enough I love the turrets and the wires that you can get. All of the fortifications that you can obtain work very well. Now the difficulty is ratcheted up this year and it works well especially with a good squad behind you. Its easy to get lost in time playing this mode alone and with DLC coming soon it gives the game endless re-playability.
Beast mode on the other hand while fun is taken away because there's a time limit on seeking out COG's to kill and since it seems no one plays Beast mode its hard to get a team together to see how well it can work. And I've only played it alone and the fact that main characters have to be executed and in addition COG's can revive their fellow COG's it really adds an element of strategy.
All in all multiplayer in Gears is addicting and fun and can be enjoyed throughout the whole game it makes the game's lasting appeal really awesome. If you have any questions I haven't covered let me know i'll answer them.
twitter.com/blaze187ace
First let's talk about the actual game modes now within Gears you can play any game mode with multiple people from the campaign right down to Beast Mode everything can be done with anywhere between 2-10 people depending on game mode. Now that's awesome in itself but the one thing I really want to emphasize is TEAMWORK or lack there of in some cases. I've played through all the different game modes and of course Horde is quite possibly the most addicting, but that's my opinion. In Team Deathmatch its 5v5 with a respawn count rather than a score system. The team that runs out of lives first loses in a best of 5 series. Now I don't know if people are so accustomed to Call of Duty's run and gun style but that DOES NOT WORK IN GEARS PEOPLE!!!! There's a reason this game has set the standard in terms of using cover because it works awesomely but people don't seem to know how to use it in TDM. I've come across plenty of teams who know how to work as a team and I commend them but for some reason I get stuck with players who just don't get it. It's definitely a game in which your friends will work better than random players. In Execution its pretty awesome that you get to learn and experiment with the various forms of execution available in the game. Besides its the only way to kill an opponent. Warzone the classic mode returns one life per player. King of the Hill domination style gameplay which players control different sections on the map when they pop up. Wingman is a blast to play with a friend 2v2v2v2 it really shows how much you can dominate with a teammate. Capture the Leader is ok if you have a team thats dedicated to protecting the leader of the team.
Now onto Horde which is freaking awesome because of the added ability to fortify a command post for your team. Now with each round you earn cash based on your performance in said round leading up to the 10th round aka the Boss Round which is by far the best round, anyway you build spikes turrets sentries all kinds of things to help protect you from the locust. All of these can be upgraded once you use them enough I love the turrets and the wires that you can get. All of the fortifications that you can obtain work very well. Now the difficulty is ratcheted up this year and it works well especially with a good squad behind you. Its easy to get lost in time playing this mode alone and with DLC coming soon it gives the game endless re-playability.
Beast mode on the other hand while fun is taken away because there's a time limit on seeking out COG's to kill and since it seems no one plays Beast mode its hard to get a team together to see how well it can work. And I've only played it alone and the fact that main characters have to be executed and in addition COG's can revive their fellow COG's it really adds an element of strategy.
All in all multiplayer in Gears is addicting and fun and can be enjoyed throughout the whole game it makes the game's lasting appeal really awesome. If you have any questions I haven't covered let me know i'll answer them.
twitter.com/blaze187ace
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