NBA 2K16 (PlayStation 4) Review

This year's entry brings with it a wide range of game modes and activities; there is something for every type of basketball fan here. One of the major focuses of this title is the career mode, which consists of an original story both written and directed by Spike Lee entitled "Livin' da dream". The story follows the created character "Frequency Vibrations", or "Freq" to his friends, as he progresses from a high school basketball prodigy, moving to college, and eventually the NBA. This was billed as a big draw for the series. It's terrible. While aspects of the career mode are great and the premise is superb, the final product turned out to be heavily flawed. The characters are almost all highly unlikeable; friends, family, even Freq's girlfriend. It's not just that their personalities are off-putting, it's the writing and performances behind them, with dated slang and stunted delivery worthy of Tommy Wiseau.

The career mode works better towards its end when focusing on NBA and involving other players, but whenever Freq's friends, family, or even agent and coach are involved, the quality takes a nosedive. Considering the amount of hype and focus placed around this aspect of the game, it's unbelievable just how trite and mediocre the story ends up being. Thankfully there are many other modes of play and things to do with 2K16 outside of career mode, though it is worth completing that first to unlock more game aspects like Brand Endorsements and Player Connections.

These time-management-style activities give very worthwhile rewards, including in-game currency, character cards for use in MyLeague, and custom animations. These rewards identify a problem with 2K16 which is a common complaint in many of today's online competitive games: micro-transactions. The game offers a number of these that are available via investing a lot of playtime, but those willing are very literally able to pay to win, with purchases that grant the ability to instantly max out the created character or purchase the best character cards to easily dominate in MyLeague.

The other game modes include the return of a number of favourites from the series. A good place to start is the home of the player, MyPark. Here the customised character will return often during story mode, can be levelled up, and watch some 2KTV. The entire court can be fully customised with a huge range of possible items: floors, walls, equipment, and even a trophy case to show off accomplishments earned in-game. MyPark is also a staging ground for online casual play, where friends can join and take part in 2-on-2, 3-on-3, and 5-on-5.

For those who want the more structured and competitive aspect of online play, there are two modes to choose from: MyLeague and the returning 2K Pro AM. MyLeague allows for a 30-team league including all the aspects of league play, and can also be played offline against AI opponents. Pro-Am allows instant 5-on-5 play in a highly competitive environment, or at least it's meant to.

In its current state this mode is bound to disappoint. There are major glitches of both graphics and gameplay. This, along with some very flaky infrastructure when it comes to the server hardware (again…) is already giving the online a bad name. Hopefully it's something that can be addressed soon. For those that want more of a behind-the-scenes experience, MyGM mode returns, allowing the player to take the role of the general manager. This single-player mode is surprisingly addictive, and includes managing every aspect of the team: the players, day-to-day running, even the stadium.

The fundamentals of the game are superb, and the best in any basketball game thus far. The graphics are spectacular, and thanks to the full body scans of all of the players, NBA 2K16 brings with it the most lifelike representations of real players ever produced in a game.

Gameplay is massively improved, thus far "Cheese" moves are a rarity and instead the focus has been put on actually calling plays, and there's no workable method of defence. While the gameplay is refreshing, 2K16 is very much a basketball simulator, made for fans of the game and those who have played other entries in the series. While it has its strengths by understanding what its audience wants, it's also alienating to new players. There are no tutorials, no real training modes, it throws the player way into the deep end and expects them to know what they're doing.