The Digest: NBA 2K11 has exceeded all expectations and has delivered arguably the finest sports video game to date. If you’ve been hesitant to jump on the NBA 2K bandwagon, then there is no better time to introduce yourself to the 2K series. If you grew up watching Michael Jordan, then you need to do yourself a favor and purchase this game. If you didn’t, relive some of his greatest moments in 2K11.

THE FACT SHEET

RELEASE DATE: October 5th, 2010
PUBLISHER: 2K Games
DEVELOPER: 2K Sports
ESRB RATING: “E” for Everyone
GENRE: Sports

PRODUCT OVERVIEW:
NBA 2K11 is the latest installment in the best selling, and highest rated NBA videogame series. NBA 2K11 is the best way to plug into NBA culture. It’s the most fun, authentic NBA videogame experience and is for any sports fan with that competitive fire who wants to play the best NBA simulation on the market.

PRODUCT FEATURES:

• Jordan Challenge – Relive 10 different legendary games from Michael Jordan’s career
• Historic Chicago Bulls Teams
• My Jordans – Collect the entire line of Air Jordan shoes that MJ wore
• MJ: Creating a Legend
• ALL-NEW IsoMotion™ Dribbling Controls
• ALL-NEW Dynamic Shot Control
• BEST NBA 2K Soundtrack EVER

Instead of resting on their laurels and waiting for the opposition to push them to continue to innovate, 2K Sports has truly outdone themselves with NBA 2K11. While they haven’t had much trouble securing the hardcourt crown the last couple of years, they just upped the ante in a year they don’t even have any competition. EA Sports has a long road ahead of them before they can even begin to threaten 2K Sports’ stranglehold as the hoops king.

Michael Jordan is arguably the most recognizable athlete on the face of the Earth, and it’sfitting that he finally makes his triumphant return to the virtual realm in NBA 2K11. This marks the first time that Jordan is officially licensed on the current generation of consoles, and 2K Sports has done a phenomenal job with this homage to him. The Jordan Challenge alone makes buying 2K11 worth it. With 10 of Jordan’s most memorable career moments, you’re tasked with recreating those amazing feats. Everything from his infamous “flu game” to “the shrug” are all part of the experience as you work your way toward reliving his greatest hits.

After successfully completing all the challenges, you unlock the Creating a Legend mode. Here,you can draft a rookie version of Michael Jordan into the modern world and onto the franchise of your choice. His career is in your hands as you build him up and mold him to your liking

The My Player mode is a relatively new feature to the NBA 2K series. You start out as a prospect weeks before the 2010 NBA Draft, participating in drills and games to improve your stock in hopes of being drafted onto a NBA franchise. Once you make it onto a team, you earn or lose minutes depending on your productivity. Your player gets graded according to the “Good Teammate Rating”. Here, you get a letter grade—A to F—depending on whether you made positive contributions or were a detriment to your team. The problem with the My Player mode is that you start off at an incredibly low rating. While this helps to stretch the longevity of this mode, you really have to grind your way to see a significant improvement. For those looking for instant success, work toward unlocking the Creating a Legend mode instead. At least with Michael Jordan, you start off with a strong base to build upon.

NBA 2K’s Association mode has long been the model of the full franchise experience. This year is no different as it has seen some improvements across the board. While there are no major changes, everything has been finely tuned for a smoother experience. A personal favorite new feature is the Trade Finder. After selecting players—whether they’re on your team or another—a compilation of offers from around the league comes up. You can then either accept a trade outright or use the offer as a base to build up a trade more suitable to your liking. The other teams’ GMs actually make intelligent decisions regarding trades and signings. They go after positions of need and make sure their young studs—like Derrick Rose and Kevin Durant—are hard, if not impossible, to go after.

If you’re a draft junkie, you’ll really enjoy draft day once it rolls around. While he looks awkward and everything is a bit robotic, you actually have a stage with David Stern standing at the podium instead of a bland screen. Teams will attempt to trade up and down, and it’s an actual interactive experience that you must pay attention to. If you scout correctly and pull off a good draft day trade or two, you may even find some diamonds in the rough.

The NBA 2K series has always been known for its phenomenal presentation, but they continue to push the boundaries with every release. Clark Kellog and Kevin Harlin reprise their roles in the broadcast booth with Doris Burke working the sidelines and each provide fantastic voicework. You’ll hear lines being recycled from time to time, but that’s inevitable in sports games.

Signature moves make a return, giving an already genuine experience even more of an authentic feel. And if you’re a hoops junkie like I am, you’ll appreciate the attention to detail they put into these animations.

Dynamic attendance really helps to add a layer of realism to the environment. As the game starts, you’ll see the arena slowly filling up if you play in places like Madison Square Garden and the Staples Center. However, if you’re playing on the Minnesota Timberwolves home court, you’ll see plenty of empty seats.

The graphics have seen some minor improvements, but there aren’t really any drastic changes aside from some player model upgrades. This is more of a testament to the strong visuals 2K Sports has been churning out over the years. As usual, the periphery characters, like the coaches, never really do their real-life counterparts any justice. Also, there are a few player models that come into serious question—Kobe Bryant, for example, looks like an emaciated alien reminiscent of Sam Cassell.

Of course all of these added elements mean nothing if the overall gameplay hasn’t improved, and the AI has seen a monumental leap. Defenses will collapse quicker against premier slashers, they’ll deflect or intercept wild outlet passes, clog passing lanes, and defensive switches will come faster. Also, expect the AI to regularly take advantage of defensive mismatches. If some scrawny guard accidentally gets switched onto a big bruiser in the low post, you can bet all your money on the computer throwing the ball to him. Put J.J. Reddick on Dwyane Wade and watch as he abuses him for four quarters and drops 40-plus points.

The NBA 2K series has had, for as long as I can remember, sliders for the user to alter different aspects of the game. The sliders are present to allow players to tweak them in order to have it play exactly as you would like it. In the past, I’ve always had to do some heavy editing on the sliders in order to create a true simulation experience. This is the first time that I’ve left them mostly untouched thus far. While I have some minor quips with certain parts of the game, it delivers a near sim basketball experience right out of the box.

2K decided to dump the old control scheme, streamlining it in the process. Everything feels more responsive and fluid, and when you pull off a slick move, you can feel confident knowing that it wasn’t by accident. It has never been easier to control your teammates and call for position specific plays. They’ve even added options to do off-the glass alley-oops and rolling inbound plays. These may seem like minor additions to the casual NBA fan, but the hardcore will notice and truly appreciate them.

Online play in NBA 2K has received mixed reviews over the years. While my experiences have been largely positive with 2K11, it’s still early in its shelf life, so problems may arise in the future as the servers get more traffic. Until then, it runs smooth and I’ve yet to run into any issues. There aren’t any big changes in terms of modes and features. Everything seems to more or less be the same. You can still do everything from creating crews to ranked matches and, as usual, you’ll run into your fair share of cheesers and sore losers disconnecting when they’re getting their butts kicked.

Conclusion: NBA 2K11 is hands down the greatest basketball game ever made, and everything else pales in comparison. I’ll even go a step further and say that in all my years playing sports games, I haven’t played a finer one to date. 2K11 is good enough to stand on its own for years to come and it begs the question: what does 2K Sports have in store for NBA 2K12, and how can they conceivably top NBA 2K11?

Single Player: 10/10 | Multi-Player: 8/10

Special thanks to 2K Sports for providing us with a copy of the game for review.