The Prelude Impressions

[ThePointForward]

I don't know, I prefer the presets over the 2K17 (and similar) system.

Maybe it's because the face scanning never produced remotely satisfying results for me and I was stuck with the default character.
Like I said, I expected that you'd have several presets and then the face sculpting editor to fine tune.

I believe that the end goal should be editor where players can create any face they want. For devs... I'd say the goal is "being able to recreate any NBA player in the editor".

[volsey]

So I saw a video where there was literally 5 haircuts to choose from. Now I mean possibly there'll be more in the full game, but I doubt it.

They literally went out of their way to comment on how they added more hairstyles in the game, and then there's actually much much fewer than previous games?

Like what?

[StyxTx]

VC is one of the MAJOR reasons I am no longer buying 2k. They can take it and...........you know the rest.

[Dee4Three]

Just played 2KU for quite awhile, so many improvements. (X1)

1. The spin moves are faster, and they have a real quick spin move now that you can do when you havn't lost your dribble yet. Body steals don't happen as often when trying to pull off spin moves.

2. The unrealistic excessive bumping is gone! The game flows so much better because of it. Now, instead of a bump that would make you caught in a stumble animation, you are just shut off by the defender, or you can get him on your side and have him ride you to the basket.

3. The new pump fakes look much more realistic.

4. Dribbling feels so clean and free now.

5. Excess unnecessary animations seem to be gone. I felt like I was in complete control.

6. Defense feels great, but I won't be able to tell until I get true 5 on 5 gameplay upon release.

7. Players feel light, not stuck in the mud.

8. Passing feels so much better, no unrealistic slow passes.

9. Seems like they fine tuned or got rid of protected shots... yesss.

The only problem I have so far has nothing to do with the gameplay, it's the body types. So many of the players look the same size, like Jr Smith, Kevin Love, and IT. They all look the same. I think that the game maybe only has 3 body types this time around.

The gameplay is the most important though, and this game feels amazing.

[Andrew]

So I saw a video where there was literally 5 haircuts to choose from. Now I mean possibly there'll be more in the full game, but I doubt it.

They literally went out of their way to comment on how they added more hairstyles in the game, and then there's actually much much fewer than previous games?

Like what?

There are more in the full game, but you have to pay VC for them at the Barber Shop in The Neighborhood.

[Dmayne]

@Dee4Three that's good to hear... now we just need to get on 2k to put some extra time and work into the details and we should have a great game for many years come.
-more body types/shapes.
-tweak player tendencies, especially on the classic teams.
-correct jersey/team/gear colors for ALL teams in game. (create a new template)
-accurate shoe colorways for all players.
-well rounded CAP system that allows us to re-create missing players.

just think if 2k wasn't releasing on this pc... we would all be forced to buy a console.

[Rodzilla91]

- Prelude was very short but that's not really surprising - I'm not one of the people hating on it, cause I wasn't expecting anything at all. Would be nice to at least have a full 5v5 real game experience though. 2KU doesn't cut it, and the occasional tips are annoying to try and spam through.

- Movement feels very different, perhaps more responsive, what I mean by this is that in 2k17 there was a tiny bit of momentum or sliding during movement, but now it seems to be rather "pinpoint" when you stop. Take it as you may but I'm fine with this.

- Dribbling is different as well, a lot quicker and tighter feeling imo, sometimes you face the basket as you dribble as opposed to trying to dribble and moving all around in all different directions in 2k17, I'm fine with this.

- Shot meter is ok, but when I shot it fading oob the meter displayed on my character and it threw me off.

- Cheesy cheesy story but I tend to dismiss it, cutscenes could be skippable.

- CAP looks nice and I'm looking forward to the customization features, but I'm not a big fan of giving less options to toy with when you have a face scan, sometimes I'll get a dr seuss chin in a scan and be screwed because now there isn't a way to tinker with it. As hype as I was for CAP before I'm not too sure now, maybe I just haven't carefully looked at every eye option, every nose option, etc, but it seems a bit smaller than what I at least thought

- Like 5 hairstyles? No facial hair? At least not yet I guess. I'm not too mad about paying for different hairstyles, especially when 1k vc is very easy to earn, so I'm not hating on that.

So basically it wasn't too bad. I wish it had more replayability but it's just a short demo to see what you have to work with when the game comes out. Can't expect much from 2K.

[Andrew]

Played through it last night. My overall impressions are as follows.

POSITIVE

• Generally speaking, the gameplay feels good. Player movement feels a lot better, as it really seems like there's no more sensation of running in mud. Both the 2KU and MyCAREER portions of The Prelude felt like a good experience overall, so here's hoping what LD2K said on Twitter is true, and the devs won't be looking to radically modify gameplay with patches; just address exploits and bugs as necessary. You can really feel the improvements on defense, where anticipation and proper movement will allow you to stick with your man, and not fall victim to getting caught in an animation.
  
  
• The changes to the controls haven't been too drastic, so the game feels quite famliar. It doesn't seem like there's too much to re-learn, so there's no artificial difficulty from having to get accustomed to a brand new control scheme.
  
  
• Shot feedback is good, the meter is OK. It's not too intrusive, but it's not as easy to see as the old one. Again, I like that the basic concept of the meter hasn't changed, so you don't have to learn new mechanics. There's a good amount of "pick up and play" for returning gamers who spent a lot of time with NBA 2K17, which as I said before, avoids a bit of artificial difficulty and makes a better first impression.
  
  
• I like the general concept they're going with in MyCAREER this year. With the exception of NBA 2K15, we've always been drafted and had to make the best of the situation. There's nothing wrong with that approach of course, but it's a nice change of pace to be able to pick the team you want to play for out of the gate, and not have to replace a real player in the Draft.
  
  
• The change to MyPLAYER Archetypes seems to have been for the best. I think some of the ratings configurations could be better, and oddly if you make a Sharpshooting Playmaker you can't get any Hall of Fame level Badges, but again, the general concept is very solid.
  
  
• Although there's a downside to it (more on that later), the early stages of the story aren't very long, and it doesn't take too long to get to the NBA.
  
  
• By eliminating the college gameplay, we're able to select from any school in the game, so we can customise the background of our character a little more. Nnot that it changes much, of course, but it helps with the role play and personalisation aspect somewhat.
  
  
• You at least get a free signature jumpshot and can try it out, which is nice considering some of the other issues with content that's going to be behind a VC paywall (again, more on that later).

NEGATIVES

• Face scanning is buggy and cumbersome once again. Putting aside user-inflicted issues such as shadows and bad lighting, it's very easy for the app to lose track of your face, require re-scans to pick up bits that it missed or doesn't feel were good enough (despite being initially accepted), and even when you do have what seems to be a successful scan, it can fail to upload, or render in the game itself. The error message when this happens is pretty passive-aggressive, so I found myself getting very frustrated with the app's shortcomings. Compared to my NBA Live 18 scan, done with basically the same lighting, the final working result is also pretty subpar.
  
  
• The character customisation tools feel very basic. If you can't get the face scan to work, you're not going to be able to sculpt a very satisfactory representation of yourself. As disappointing as my face scan is, I'll take it over the generic faces you can create.
  
  
• Putting most of the hairstyles and all facial hair behind a VC paywall via the Barber Shop is pathetic. Absolutely pathetic, and very greedy. Sure, you can earn a decent amount of VC reasonably well, and with proper budgeting, have enough to do everything you want. It still stinks, especially when it's just five basic hairstyles, and no facial hair at all. It reeks of another way of subtly encouraging microtransactions, and there's no goodwill in that. Like I said before, they're the dominant brand doing record sales numbers, and raking in heaps from microtransactions already. I'm appalled, but sadly not surprised, that 2K are being given a pass and not being called out on this more. It's not going to kill them or anything, but I for one do not feel good about the brand when they do stuff like this.
  
  
• The Prelude is short. In some ways this isn't a bad thing, as it means the early stages of MyCAREER are over and done with reasonably quickly, but it also feels like you don't get to do very much. Three street games, two tryout games with the team of your choice, and that's it. It feels like it's over before it's really begun, and you don't really get enough of a glimpse of the gameplay. Sure, you can replay 2KU as much as you want, but it's hard to get a great feel for the game when you're constantly being interrupted by the tips pop-ups.
  
  
• As such, there's no real replay value. It would've been nice to have a game we could replay like in last year's Prelude, or a Play Now game like the NBA Live 18 demo.
  
  
• Unlike last year, you can't start upgrading your player in The Prelude. Considering that your ratings are once again rather low, it's a blow not being able to earn some VC and make a few upgrades ready for the game next week. You also can't even see your ratings, though it's clear from the Archetypes screen that they're far from impressive.
  
  
• The story...where to begin? At least it doesn't seem like it'll be that intrusive. It is painfully cheesy though, and the acting is pretty woeful. It depends how intrusive it'll be once MyCAREER is underway, but I don't mind the backstory too much. I can kind of overlook and ignore it to some extent. The friend character is particularly cringe-worthy, though. She's not quite Mickey Rooney as Mr. Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffany's, but there's still something very uncomfortable and stereotypical about the character. The blatant pandering to Ronnie 2K was pretty gross as well. I have no idea what they were thinking with the writing, acting, and direction for the story this year. It's up there with "Livin' Da Dream".
  
  
• One for gameplay. Although the gameplay doesn't feel as heavy as it did and that's very encouraging, there are times when it does feel a little too light. Some of the layups felt a bit awkward, too. It could just be because I'm playing with a low-rated MyPLAYER once again, though. Again, 2KU gameplay felt pretty good.

STRAY OBSERVATIONS

• We don't get to see any of the The Neighborhood, except in the opening cutscenes. It would've been nice to be able to wander it and see some of the storefronts (messages about "check out the inside in the full version" could pop up when you try to enter them), and perhaps be able to play some pickup games. It would've been a good stress test for the servers, too.
  
  
• The patch that has come through today has apparently fixed the pre-order links. Not that I needed to use them, but I was wondering what was up with that.

[sticky-fingers]

Just played 2KU for quite awhile, so many improvements. (X1)

1. The spin moves are faster, and they have a real quick spin move now that you can do when you havn't lost your dribble yet. Body steals don't happen as often when trying to pull off spin moves.

2. The unrealistic excessive bumping is gone! The game flows so much better because of it. Now, instead of a bump that would make you caught in a stumble animation, you are just shut off by the defender, or you can get him on your side and have him ride you to the basket.

3. The new pump fakes look much more realistic.

4. Dribbling feels so clean and free now.

5. Excess unnecessary animations seem to be gone. I felt like I was in complete control.

6. Defense feels great, but I won't be able to tell until I get true 5 on 5 gameplay upon release.

7. Players feel light, not stuck in the mud.

8. Passing feels so much better, no unrealistic slow passes.

9. Seems like they fine tuned or got rid of protected shots... yesss.

The only problem I have so far has nothing to do with the gameplay, it's the body types. So many of the players look the same size, like Jr Smith, Kevin Love, and IT. They all look the same. I think that the game maybe only has 3 body types this time around.

The gameplay is the most important though, and this game feels amazing.

Sounds good
Can you explain the new pump fake ? IA fall in now at midrange and at 3pt ?

[Dee4Three]

Just played 2KU for quite awhile, so many improvements. (X1)

1. The spin moves are faster, and they have a real quick spin move now that you can do when you havn't lost your dribble yet. Body steals don't happen as often when trying to pull off spin moves.

2. The unrealistic excessive bumping is gone! The game flows so much better because of it. Now, instead of a bump that would make you caught in a stumble animation, you are just shut off by the defender, or you can get him on your side and have him ride you to the basket.

3. The new pump fakes look much more realistic.

4. Dribbling feels so clean and free now.

5. Excess unnecessary animations seem to be gone. I felt like I was in complete control.

6. Defense feels great, but I won't be able to tell until I get true 5 on 5 gameplay upon release.

7. Players feel light, not stuck in the mud.

8. Passing feels so much better, no unrealistic slow passes.

9. Seems like they fine tuned or got rid of protected shots... yesss.

The only problem I have so far has nothing to do with the gameplay, it's the body types. So many of the players look the same size, like Jr Smith, Kevin Love, and IT. They all look the same. I think that the game maybe only has 3 body types this time around.

The gameplay is the most important though, and this game feels amazing.

Sounds good
Can you explain the new pump fake ? IA fall in now at midrange and at 3pt ?

It's just a more realistic animation, where your player moves his arms differently and even gets up on his toes. In regards to effectiveness, it feels about the same. Mid range I got the defender up in the air once or twice.

[diamenz]

would you guys say the controls/movement is similar to 2k11/12 when players felt light and responsive? also, i'm guessing you guys didn't see much in terms of the transition defense legacy issues, along with the 2k17 half court defensive fiaso? if those are much improved, i may just preorder even though i know i shouldn't.

[Dee4Three]

would you guys say the controls/movement is similar to 2k11/12 when players felt light and responsive? also, i'm guessing you guys didn't see much in terms of the transition defense legacy issues, along with the 2k17 half court defensive fiaso? if those are much improved, i may just preorder even though i know i shouldn't.

I'm making a video about the offense and the defense, and will post it either today or tomorrow. It will have commentary.

The players feel very light, and the defense still needs work.

[big-shot-ROB]

I do not own a PS4 or Xbox 1 but I have a friend who owns both and is not into basketball, so I asked him to let me test the Prelude, which is free. After the scrimmage with the team, I made my mind that I will eventually upgrade my PC (which probably will cost 600-700$) just to play this game. When I saw Ojeleye, Theis, Horford, Smart, Yabusele, Rozier, all scanned, most with good body types and the excellent gameplay, to go along with the every-year improved MyLeague and MyGM, I knew what I had to do.

[StyxTx]

I do not own a PS4 or Xbox 1 but I have a friend who owns both and is not into basketball, so I asked him to let me test the Prelude, which is free. After the scrimmage with the team, I made my mind that I will eventually upgrade my PC (which probably will cost 600-700$) just to play this game. When I saw Ojeleye, Theis, Horford, Smart, Yabusele, Rozier, all scanned, most with good body types and the excellent gameplay, to go along with the every-year improved MyLeague and MyGM, I knew what I had to do.

Keep in mind the price of the game is the least of it. All the VC you'll need to actually do what you want or get what you need (such as something as basic as a hair style) to enjoy the game gets pretty costly since the VC they reward you after games is a bit on the cheap side. You'll end off spending real money to buy VC.

[Dee4Three]

I do not own a PS4 or Xbox 1 but I have a friend who owns both and is not into basketball, so I asked him to let me test the Prelude, which is free. After the scrimmage with the team, I made my mind that I will eventually upgrade my PC (which probably will cost 600-700$) just to play this game. When I saw Ojeleye, Theis, Horford, Smart, Yabusele, Rozier, all scanned, most with good body types and the excellent gameplay, to go along with the every-year improved MyLeague and MyGM, I knew what I had to do.

Keep in mind the price of the game is the least of it. All the VC you'll need to actually do what you want or get what you need (such as something as basic as a hair style) to enjoy the game gets pretty costly since the VC they reward you after games is a bit on the cheap side. You'll end off spending real money to buy VC.

I think Big Shot Rob is into the modding aspect, as well as MyLeague (correct me if I'm wrong). Because he would be coming from NBA 2K14 modding (which he was stellar at).

[diamenz]

would you guys say the controls/movement is similar to 2k11/12 when players felt light and responsive? also, i'm guessing you guys didn't see much in terms of the transition defense legacy issues, along with the 2k17 half court defensive fiaso? if those are much improved, i may just preorder even though i know i shouldn't.

I'm making a video about the offense and the defense, and will post it either today or tomorrow. It will have commentary.

The players feel very light, and the defense still needs work.

great, looking forward to it.

[I Hate Mondays]

If anyone of you guys can check in the 2KU Scrimmage mode, is it me or the ball is different from what we've got in the official screenshots? I am watching a dribbling tutorial right now and the shade looks actually realistic from that angle. Can anyone confirm this?

[bluejaybrandon]

Honestly amazed at how well they did player updates so far. Did the Prelude with the Wolves then the Grizzlies and was thoroughly impressed with the player models.

Andrew Wiggins has an accurate face, including the cornrows

Deyonta Davis no longer has the ridiculously skinny player model.

Wayne Selden Jr. has a great face scan.

Andrew Harrison has an updated, accurate face scan.

Both Jarrel Martin and James Ennis have their updated tattoos.

The only thing that is unfortunate is the missing tattoo's for newly scanned players like Selden, most Rookies, etc. Although I do have about 5 player tattoo updates done for when 2k18 is released on pc and hopefully modded in a similar fashion.

[Dee4Three]

Never played MyCareer, and never did a face scan before. But I decided to give it a try for the hell of it. I played through the whole thing, and started taking highlights the second game. I never finished under a B, so not bad. I used my real height and weight.

The face scan is not the worst, but it's not the best. I just decided to go with it after a few attempts.

Archetype Primary: Passing and Ballhandling
Secondary: 3PT Shooting

Height; 6'2"
Weight: 178

I strive to play smart. A lot of off ball screens to get people open, and I rebound very well for my size (7 or 8 boards in the second game). I take smart shots, and push on the break. In real life, I am a PG but a scorer (Like Lillard). For my first venture into this, I decided to go the distributor route.

Let me know what you think. I'll be posting my thoughts on the 2KU gameplay tomorrow.

phpBB [video]

[DANet]

Never played MyCareer, and never did a face scan before. But I decided to give it a try for the hell of it. I played through the whole thing, and started taking highlights the second game. I never finished under a B, so not bad. I used my real height and weight.

The face scan is not the worst, but it's not the best. I just decided to go with it after a few attempts.

Archetype Primary: Passing and Ballhandling
Secondary: 3PT Shooting

Height; 6'2"
Weight: 178

I strive to play smart. A lot of off ball screens to get people open, and I rebound very well for my size (7 or 8 boards in the second game). I take smart shots, and push on the break. In real life, I am a PG but a scorer (Like Lillard). For my first venture into this, I decided to go the distributor route.

Let me know what you think. I'll be posting my thoughts on the 2KU gameplay tomorrow.

After watching most of the other preview videos on youtube it's refreshing to see someone playing his position and not spamming the call for pass button . My favourite play was at 3:10...nice cut and good patience waiting for the play to develop.

[Nick]

The gameplay feels really nice to me. Much smoother and responsive. The way the animations branch off each other is really nice and aesthetic. It makes you think in terms of basketball (rather than videogame) which is cool.
It's hard to pin-point why it feels better to play exactly.

Hopefully it doesn't get the shit patched out of it like last year.

Can't wait to play 5v5 NBA game and check out the play sets and all that.

Really disappointed with the player creation layout. It definitely needed an upgrade but i hate that there's 30 or so preset faces that are subtly adjustable. You can't adjust their skin colour or give them facial hair. So dumb. Still can't give tattoos or edit body types.
I'm hoping like hell that the roster editor CAP is different to the MyPlayer editor, otherwise that is a huge hit for roster and draft class makers. After a few years of playing MyLeague there will be heaps of dopplegangers.

And the ref's whistle is ear-piercingly loud in 2KU

[cavs4872]

I went into the game thinking I was gonna make a playmaking stretch four Boris Diaw type player, but opted for a defensive/rebounding small forward... Mr. Fundamental I guess.

I actually had a pretty crazy ending to my first tryout:

phpBB [video]

Prelude was the perfect length; just wanted something I could finish in one sitting and be done with.

[CasE]

Kings (probable) starter and one of the best Euros Bogdan Bogdanovic has generic cyberface.

[Andrew]

Another stray observation: it seems that sound is disabled in the video capture, at least on PS4. I imagine it'll be the same deal in the full version. It's not an issue if you have a capture card, or capture software with the PC version of course, but a bit of a pain all the same.

[Dee4Three]

Never played MyCareer, and never did a face scan before. But I decided to give it a try for the hell of it. I played through the whole thing, and started taking highlights the second game. I never finished under a B, so not bad. I used my real height and weight.

The face scan is not the worst, but it's not the best. I just decided to go with it after a few attempts.

Archetype Primary: Passing and Ballhandling
Secondary: 3PT Shooting

Height; 6'2"
Weight: 178

I strive to play smart. A lot of off ball screens to get people open, and I rebound very well for my size (7 or 8 boards in the second game). I take smart shots, and push on the break. In real life, I am a PG but a scorer (Like Lillard). For my first venture into this, I decided to go the distributor route.

Let me know what you think. I'll be posting my thoughts on the 2KU gameplay tomorrow.

After watching most of the other preview videos on youtube it's refreshing to see someone playing his position and not spamming the call for pass button . My favourite play was at 3:10...nice cut and good patience waiting for the play to develop.

Thanks. I have to admit, I had more fun with the mode than I thought I would...