The Official NEXTGEN NBA 2K14 Impressions Thread

[chicagoRAW]

VC is easy money for 2K so I doubt it will go anywhere, except be even more prevalent in future versions of the game. I'm sure they purposely made it that you get so little of it from in game tasks so people are more inclined to purchase it.

Gameplay wise, rebounding has gotten frustrating for me. Offensive rebound frequency more than anything, because of how the offensive rebounds occur. A lot of times there are 3 defensive players, and the offensive guy ends up with the rebound. I've had situations where the defensive rebounders don't even go for the rebound, the ball hits the ground right under the hoop, with 2 defensive rebounders just standing around and the point guard from the offensive team picks up the ball.

Fast break AI has also been frustrating. I had a 3 on 1 with the timberwolves, the guy on the right kept running to the basket, while the guy on the left stopped at the 3 pt line. Kind of the same situation happened with the clippers, 3 on 1, blake griffin on the left side stopped at the free throw line instead of continuing to run, which i was counting on.

Also wouldn't mind if the gameplay overall was a tad bit faster.

When doing dribble moves, too often players like Chris Paul get knocked off balance, and fumble the ball, that whole animation sequence, don't even see that happening in real life ever really.

This happens too much in the game. Just terrible boxing out, then Meyers Leonard goes half ass with his left hand for the rebound.

phpBB [video]

[L10]

what are this sig skills:

at 0:03 or 0:04/7:11 jamal crawford 2nd sig skill: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL2q7oQt13M
at 0:41/14:23 david robinson 1st sig skill: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7nNI2TweXs

Edit: oh first one is catch and shoot an eraser the second one, they changed the icon

[Phreak50]

^ I don't get your times posted or the problem?

[bowdown]

Meyers Leonard is a pretty shit rebounder so that might have played a role in that outcome

[JaoSming]

Still waiting on roster update for MyGM, had enough of MyCareer, so tried some MyTEAM with MyPS4.

Got blown the fuck out by the Magic in Domination....well shit. Really frustrating game, if I even breathed on the steal button I got called. Jumpers weren't falling, just terrible all around. Then I saw some of my fans in the Magic's crowd, hanging their heads low and shaking them. Very nice touch.

F it, got a 2* performance out of the game and I got rid of the Hawks home unis in favor of the retro homes from ORL.

[BrotherJRB]

I passed on Next Gen this morning. Had the Xbox One in the cart and decided not to pull the trigger with my new egg card.

Anyway great info. No CAP....

Are there any new coach settings for next gen?

[chicagoRAW]

Meyers Leonard is a pretty shit rebounder so that might have played a role in that outcome

Except that it happens all the time to everyone. Just played a game where the ball hit Pau Gasol in the face, his arm was straight out so the ball rolled on his arm and another player got the rebound.

[xKrNMBoYx]

I'm a super fan of 2K14 and I'm impressed with the next-gen version but at the same time it's not up to par of my expectations. I can't give every detail on my experiences but I can sum them up as best as possible.

Graphics
Overall I feel it's a big improvement compared to the current-gen, well now last-gen consoles. But as a PC gamer, I was spoiled by the great graphical mods (textures,lighting,etc.,) provided on this forum and other sites. I like the emphasis they put on the faces, and the movement feels/looks different. Crowds look improved and courts look better than stock 2K on PC/360/PS3. Now there are problems with body size/ratio. Some people look too slim compared to their real-life counter parts. There is an issue with all of the eyes, and some faces just don't look great. To put it simple the graphics seem like a good overall when it's compared to the current-gen version. But when compared to the "true" current-gen aka modded it's not a large improvement minus some animation upgrades.

Game Modes
I honestly have yet to dab in MyGM and MyTeam. MyCareer is the only thing I am playing minus practice, quick game, and blacktop. I know the story line is cheesy and not as good as it could but I like it. It's refreshing compared to the previous generations of 2K basketball and it has small details that I wished for long time ago. Technical Foul, Calling your teammates foul as yours is all great but it's a bit simple. There's two ways you can basically play in the career mode. A good team player that sucks up to all team mates, GM, Coach and one that basically is full of himself. The later way makes it hard to play as their approval ratings are directly related to your choices.

UI
Ugh, this is one of the worst currently. It's overly simple and ugly at the same time. The UI for upgrading stats, moves, etc is harder to use. It's a big of a learning curve even though it's simple to me.

Gameplay
It's about the same as current-gen 2k14. Dunks are more blockable, and movement is about the same. That is the issue. I've always had a problem with the tempo of 2K basketball, the car wreck like collisions of the players, and the tight floor spacing and movement. This continues to be an issue to me at least. It's also harder to move in my experience compared to 2K13. If my player slightly contacts another I automatically get rerouted another direction. I like to play as a big man due to loving blocks. Saying that blocking has become too easy. I love that I can get a lot of blocks but it's unnatural when you average 4.3 blocks per game on Pro and higher, and can get 10+ blocks on Rookie. Turnovers are much more frequent. Rebounding is an issue. I've struggled with reboundng if the character was bigger like 7' 2", but never had a problem with 6' 11" or 6' 10". That could be the issue but in a lot of cases the ball hits me like my head and my opponent gets the rebound. Even with defense. I can block a ball easily but help defense sucks and most times my teammates can't rebound then. So the opposite center/pf gets the rebound. Next problem is that it takes forever to jump up to block or contest again.

Controls
They're similar but not the same. I am having issues with pump faking, and sometimes the controller takes my dribbling/crossover movements as shooting.

Customizations
HORRIBLE. What is the deal with presets on creating your player? I was hoping to create a close copy of myself but I'm stuck with presets of random people or specifically Mike Wang. Until they add the same kind of create-a-player slider/setting I will not think of getting a newer version of the game. That is unless it's a perfect game minus character customization.

Overall I'm happy, but when it comes to rating I don't think it's quite high. It's 2K's first try at next-gen and I see potential, but it's not as polished as I was hoping for. I really hope 2K fixes some of the issues I have seen for 2K15 or I will be postponing any further purchases until the game fixes most if not all the issues I/others see in the game.

I have only played the demo of Live 14, and seen/read reviews/videos. There are definitely improvements, but I think there is less compared to 2K. If Live 14 came out as a current-gen game it would have done decent getting around a 7/10 or so. But as a next-gen game I think it fails in several departments. I can only tell for sure if I buy the game and play but from what I've seen it's not worth $60 when there are so many other great games I have yet to purchase.

Honestly if 2K and Live released their Next-Gen games for PC I would have not purchased a PS4. The reasons would be that I could pay $180-200 for a AMD 7850/70 or R9 270 and max out the next-gen game on the PC. If not I could have used the $399.99 of the PS4 and gotten a R9 290 and not have to upgrade my GPU for a LONG time. But 2K14/Live 14 news got me to purchase a PS4 eventually even though I did not preorder it. So far I have not been impressed enough not to have any regrets. I just hope that Watch Dogs/Witcher 3/Dragon Age Inquisition/Thief/etc are good enough of quality on the PS4 for my purchase to have been a good decision.

[jwph85]

I've played 2k8, 2k9, 2k11, 2k12, 2k13, 2k14 (both current and next gen).
Since 2k11 I've been playing the myplayer/mycareer mode for at least 4 seasons per series (apart from 2k14, was into my second season on the current gen, and into 25th game in the next gen) on every possible difficulty levels so I am fairly experienced in that department. While I have enjoyed the game mode there are a few things people may like to see improvement on.

First of all, voice acting. The same voice, same lines during post game interviews etc no matter how tall, how your myplayer looks since 2k11!
It would be great to add a few more voices and attitudes instead of a single default hip hop like guy which some people may prefer but I would personally like to have someone who could talk/act like David Robinson for example, you know, a guy with 'class' (no disrespect to the current myplayer character).

Secondly, playoff stats! It puzzles me why the playoff stats aren't kept, when stats are so important thesedays. True, winning rings and personal awards may mean everything to some, but to others like myself, we would like the playoff stats to be readily available too when I decide to see say Kobe's playoff stats from 03. I for one play/simulate games on 12minute quarters so that my mpg is accurate with the rest of the league as well!

Lastly, I don't know if these issues can be patched but a few things relating to gameplay. On both the current and next gen 2k14, way too many calls on goal tending and kicked ball violation which you rarely see in any real life basketball games, let alone the NBA. Turnovers are too frequent as well on passes especially. And on half court offence, your computer teammates/opponents run down the shot clock on EVERY possession since 2k12, and usually drill the shot at the last second no matter who and how the shot was taken! That to me is just too unrealistic. Also rebounding on the next gen, my Center is a 7'2" 270lbs giant and he simply could not get a rebound. So I decided to max out everything to do with rebounding including the signature skills (all maxed to level 3, and 99 on ratings). Yet this monstrous figure simply cannot get rebounds off midgets! I'm sure others are frustrated about this. My guy is averaging 31points and 4 blocks, which are lovely but 6 rebounds a game? I mean a few guards get 6 boards a game! It also has to do with the reaction time when i press the jump button, the guy simply refuses to jump and grab the board. What on Earth. This was never an issue in the previous instalments but the next gen is driving me nuts on the rebounding issue. It's almost as if the rebounding is fixed.

I won't even go over the cheesy and extremely frustrating storyline on mycareer (storyline is fixed no matter how good your myplayer is doing).

Overall a great game, and I know people are whining including my self, but some of the issues I've addressed, loyal fans have been longing for years.

Thanks 2k!

[BronBron06]

LeTravel

[shadowgrin]

Lebron being a jerk to Doris Burke.

[formx]

LeTravel

So I wasn't the only one who experienced that glitch.
Happened to me in MyGM with Gerald Wallace I think

[Andrew]

I've had the game for a couple of weeks but haven't posted any impressions yet, so I thought I'd post a few.

Unfortunately, I have to say I'm disappointed in the game and haven't been enjoying it at all. Don't get me wrong, technically speaking, it's a great basketball game. However, despite all the hype to the contrary, it plays the same as the PC version, with all its flaws and frustrations. To be honest, I haven't been able to finish a game in the last week as all the things that bothered me about the PC version - psychic steals, out of control moments, the CPU being incredibly cheesy and teammate AI that leaves much to be desired - have just been annoying me too much. Those issues rear their heads, I find myself getting too frustrated with what's happening and getting a little sloppy as I try to make something happen, inevitably leading to the CPU running away with the game.

Some of that's on me of course and again, I feel it is a great game when it comes down to it. It looks amazing, the strategy is there, it basically ticks all of the boxes when it comes to a simulation basketball game. I can see all the good stuff, but I'm just not enjoying my time with the game so far. I can't fairly say that the game has taken a step backwards or anything, yet it kind of feels like it has. Strange...perhaps I just need to give it more time and work around the flaws.

I definitely don't like what they've done with MyCAREER though. Some amazing work has gone into it, but it doesn't feel like it's the right direction for the mode to take. It's ironic that the intro talks about no one writing your MyPLAYER's story but them, because I certainly don't feel in control of anything. So far, I've spent more time waiting for the game to load and going through cutscenes than I have playing games in the mode. The fact that the first stage of the mode is basically the same for everyone doesn't strike me as a good approach. It's a shame, I really enjoyed MyCAREER in NBA 2K13, but I think I'll be leaving it alone in NBA 2K14.

MyGM has potential, though at the same time I feel like it's too drastic a change with some stuff I really don't care about. It's ridiculous that you have to spend VC to be able to reorder your roster. It's not much VC, but it's poor form when we're talking about basic functionality.

As much as I disliked the menus in NBA 2K10 and NBA 2K11 PC, I think the frontend in NBA 2K14 on PS4 is the worst the series has had. Very contrived and cumbersome to navigate. compared to what they've got on current gen.

So, I'd say my impressions are more negative than most people's, but having said that...I still feel like there's something I've yet to try that will allow me to enjoy the game as I did NBA 2K11, NBA 2K12 and NBA 2K13; perhaps some slider tweaks and the like. I've not been wowed as I hoped I'd be, but I want to give it more of a go before I write it off as a release that I just can't get into. Like I said, I know the good is there.

[concolt]

This game is bull. I lost 35,000 with my first MyPlayer and 2K still hasn't gave that back and now MyPlayer won't even load and I lost another 35,000.

[Davon6]

The menu system....

[Davon6]

So after playing the game for sometime now I have to say anyone stating it plays exactly like current gen is nuts. Though there are some things that are carried over for the most part the game feels different in a lot of ways.

[trules73]

[Andrew]

So after playing the game for sometime now I have to say anyone stating it plays exactly like current gen is nuts. Though there are some things that are carried over for the most part the game feels different in a lot of ways.

What are some of the differences you've noticed?

[cyberdark19]

I just saw that in MC you can equip 7 sig skills. Think that's a bit OP, 5 were more than enough.

[Mr.13 in 33]

I was playing my GM i was down by 2 and i went to do a put back lay up but my players arm went over the basket and he missed the shot. The free throw system is broke still in this game also but overall the game is fun

[Davon6]

So after playing the game for sometime now I have to say anyone stating it plays exactly like current gen is nuts. Though there are some things that are carried over for the most part the game feels different in a lot of ways.

What are some of the differences you've noticed?

Well the main difference I notice beside the obvious graphical difference is the weight of the players. They don't seem as floaty when moving as current gen. Also, the weight of the dunks is pretty powerful. And I know most people will say the animations are the same but in truth they aren't. Though some do seem similar there are a lot of subtle animations that give the players more life. The games themselves feel more fluid and the atmosphere really makes it feel like you're playing an NBA game.

Example of two games I played back to back:
The way I play when playing the cpu is that I create a roster I like to call Legendary Pepper. What I do is place a lot of legends back on their respective teams to play along with current stars. Makes the league much more unpredictable and competitive. Anywho, I'm a huge old school bulls fan so to have DRose, MJ and Pippen on the same team is hella fun. I played two games back to back where it came down to the last second and the intensity you get from Next Gen is so much better than in CG. Both games MJ got the ball with maybe 5 seconds left and his signature fadeaway saved my ass twice lol. The first game was the best. I was playing the Brooklyn Nets and I had hit a shot to put us in the lead with 10 seconds left. But wouldn't you know it, Darren williams comes open off a screen and Thwap! 3!!! I was like F@##!!! Still there were 4 or 5 seconds left. So shortly after the timeout I get the ball in to Jordan and couple of crossover moves and Thwap! game over!! Jordan saves the day!!! Now I know that can happen in CG but heres the thing, Next Gen seems to ramp that up because of how realistic the players look, move and react. When I hit both shots my fellow teammates went into a celebratory frenzy which really magnified the moment. I really love this game to be honest. Granted there are some things that still need improvement but man, I'm having a blast.

I tried going back to CG just to see how it felt and yeah, no going back. I love Next Gen 2k14. The taunting, the powerful interior moves. How the stars on each team play like stars more so it seems. So many little nuances that I can't really think of them all. Anyway, thats my two cents.

Oh and one other thing I like better with Next gen is that the players actually run fast enough to catch up in transition to get a block on a breakaway. In CG it seemed like the players ran slower so that the fast breaks could be more successful. I've had a couple of nice blocks getting back on defense fast enough and not feeling like someone was pulling my players jersey slowing them down like it does in CG.

[Andrew]

We must be playing a different game. To me, it feels very similar to the PC version; perhaps less "floaty", but the same "running in mud" clunkiness is there, along some of the really cheap AI that seems to have been introduced this year. A lot of the things that were bugging me in the PC version are there in the PS4 version. I really haven't been able to enjoy the game at all so far.

[bowdown]

Hey guys, this isn't really an impression but a suggestion (wishlist material) for next year's game. I was thinking adding player specific grunts/noises to the game audio would make things feel even more realistic. Hearing real player grunts and noises when guys are fighting for position, fouled, blocking a shot, dunking, etc. would really make things feel that much more immersive. I don't know if it would be a big project to implement. They can get the audio from when players come in in their studio or just from game footage. You think this is something we might eventually see in the future?

Right now they just have generic grunts and yells for all players.

[Andrew]

I don't know that it's the first thing I'd look to do with the next game, but I guess it would be easy enough to do when they're recording the player interviews.

[Supriemo]

To me the Next Gen 2k14 is by far more Superior to the current Gen. The only thing i miss is association mode, MyGM is "weak". I thought they would bring back the D-League but whatever, its only relevant to the guys like me who play association mode 90% of their time playing 2k games. Once SupReditor 2k14 (viewtopic.php?f=151&t=94269) is finished anyone want to do some Next Gen modding for the D league teams ill be on board to contribute.