NBA 2K19 Review – Ball is Life

I am a pretty big fan of the NBA. I get on r/NBA and talk shit about Durant with the other blog boys pretty regularly.

I’m also a Bulls fan and think that Lauri Markkanen validates Christianity as the second coming of Jesus. I used to play a lot of 2K11 and 2K12 back in high school.

Back then the game was a simple as giving DRose the ball and locking down a 2-handed monster jam on whoever was game to step to The Windy City Assassin.

I also had another look in when I got to Uni and started my first ever MyCarreer on 2K14 but I cracked the shits when I got drafted to Minnesota and that dog Rubio wouldn’t pass me the ball.

I know it’s meant to be a game but I still get incensed when I seen Rubio.

NBA 2K19 Review

All the good 2K content is still here and the game updates really quickly. Jimmy Butler is already a 76er in MyCareer.

You can select whichever team you want from quickplay and throw down on the hardwood with friends. Not only are the current NBA rosters available but you can now select from older, famous rosters and All-Time teams.

Some of the older teams are obvious like the ’95-’96 Bulls or the ’96 –’97 Jazz but they have some really nice fan favourites in there like Melo’s Nuggets and Drose’s Bulls. The All-Time teams make a roster out of the best players the team has ever had.

This means that the Laker’s all-time team has Shaq, Kareem, LBJ, Kobe, Magic and nearly every other top 10 of all time that saved a few years for The City of Angels.

The Monster Jam

The game runs smoother than ever in this edition.

Setting screens isn’t a big pain in the ass and taking the ball through traffic isn’t a big buggy mess.

I’m not saying there have been issues in a long time but there certainly aren’t any glaring annoyances now. I remember back in 2K14, passing the ball to the outlet on a fastbreak could often cause the AI to run out of the court, drop the ball or just stand still and bug out.

Now your teammates are much more likely to behave like professional basketball players when presented with an opportunity to jam some slams.

From Downtown

Playing NBA 2K19, I made sure to get stuck into the MyCareer mode. It has always been my favourite component of the game. I love that big smug feeling I get when I unleash the beast and put superstar athletes on a poster.

Levelling up your character and watching your mid-range percentage go up, finally muscling out other players for clutch offensive rebounds, rejecting the fuck out of anyone from Golden State. This is the best part of 2K.

The new MyCareer mode follows a story of rejection, maturation and finally acceptance.

In this iteration, your character doesn’t just rock up to the NBA or even succeed through college. You enrol for the draft too soon and miss your opportunity to make the league.

It takes a long time but through the CBA and the G-League, you earn an opportunity to show off and hopefully get drafted to the NBA.

Michael Rappaport is there, so are some other actors but Rappaport dogged me pretty hard and I’m still a bit salty.

Doing it for the Subs

Your character progression is very slow.

I started off with an overall of 60 and played the game for around 8-hours and had only reached a 62 overall. I was abusing lesser men in the post and levelling that stat accordingly so maybe the progression could have been sped up by more wisely spending the in-game VC currency.

So much of the game centres around increasing fan base and developing your character with VC. There’s a hub world called the neighbourhood where you can play against other people and participate in different games and events to increase your skill and your VC balance.

This game seems like a basketball MMO with all the farming and the dailies and weeklies. I’m not saying that’s bad but with the MMO genre it’s the long grind or fork out the moolah and this is no different.

It’s a bit egregious really, especially given that the in-game store is literally lifted from a freemium mobile title. Sure you can ignore making purchases, but the grind has been made so insanely long that it almost forces you to pay.

Pay to Play

I think 2K19 is totally fine. The game is huge and if you like a grind the game will be long too.

Everyone wants to be huge and long and able to demand cash so I reckon 2K is all over the male fantasy. There are other aspects of the game like taking the role of a GM and managing a roster that shows 2K19 is further looking to simulate every role in a basketball.

From the streets to the boardrooms.

One final note, turn off injuries while you play.

I tried to simulate a classic Bulls’ Vs. Jazz showdown and MJ broke his fucking foot. Ron Harper really let me down too. He shot 0% on something like 12 looks while Karl Malone took it upon himself to drain 30 points every which way available.

Injuries suck in real life and they suck in 2K19 too. 

NBA 2K19 was reviewed on PS4 using a digital code provided by the publisher.

PowerUp! Reviews

Game Title: NBA 2K19

• 10/10
  Huge and customisable slam jams - 10/10
• 9.5/10
  Bring the post - 9.5/10
• 10/10
  Bulls in 2021 - 10/10
• 3/10
  Huge opportunity to spend real life money for in-game powers - 3/10
• 6/10
  Huge opportunity to grind to the top of a pool of elite athletes - 6/10
• 10/10
  Michael Jordan said he was proud of me in 2K14 and I’ll always love the franchise for that moment - 10/10
• 1/10
  Rubio doesn't respect rookies - 1/10

7.1/10

Sending

User Review

0 (0 votes)