K
Kevin Bruce Faircloth
Guest
Anybody got NBA 2k18 for the switch? Thoughts?
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Switch Anybody got NBA 2k18 for the switch? Thoughts?
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Washington Nationals at Los Angeles Dodgers
|
While I wait for Breath of the Wild DLC 2, I decided to pick up and play Wind Waker...
>
J
Joshua Anspach
Guest
Awesome! Also, go Panthers!
G
Gordie Drummond
Guest
Its ok.. Really pissed off tho that you can't play online with friends
S
Seth Johnston
Guest
still pissed I have to wait a month for my physical copy
C
Craig Mcnair
Guest
I click connect and enter my information and it says can't connect to server. Am I doing something wrong?
D
Darren Buckley
Guest
It's fantastic AAA games on the go this exactly what the Nintendo Switch needs
J
Joaquin Mojica
Guest
legendary. I can't believe the 2k people compressed their file size for switch. That's the coolest thing they could have done.
K
Kevin Bruce Faircloth
Guest
From the comparison videos I seen online it looks up to par with the other versions. I was considering getting it for switch to play myleague/mygm on the go. Already own it for PS4 lol
J
Jonathan Figueroa
Guest
Bro i had 2k16 on PS4 and i dont see any difference i could say it looks better now on the switch cause of the better graphics i Love it
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Rob Emanuel
Guest
What's the frame rate for Switch docked and portable?
P
Paul Boreham
Guest
Might have to do this in a few parts....
P
Paul Boreham
Guest
So first off as I said, initial impressions - based on around 5 hours - is that this is a technically brilliant game for the Switch. Its absolutely jam packed with stuff, looks nice and has an addictive gameplay loop that makes it perfect as a pick up and play game for the Switch.
I'll try to break it down into some pros and cons...
Get the cons out the way first as dont want the last impression to be negative as (spoiler) its a great game!
CONS:
* Install size. I'm putting this as a 'con' as such a ho-har has been made of it, but its not much different to if you bought BoTW digitally. Its just something we are going to have to put up with as Switch owners and I'd rather have a fully-fledged game that needs extra storage, than some cut down half attempt version to keep it in the size limits. If you already have a memory card, then its not even a big deal. I actually bought a 128gb one so I could get this game, but I was already at the point on my Switch of having 5+ games archived due to lack of space.
* Slow down. In game, there is no noticeable slow down, which is important, but in the cut scenes (of the MyCareer etc) the lag is ridiculous. To the point where the audio of the scene finishes 10-30 seconds before the motion capture finishes. Its pretty poor but I'm sure it will be patched up.
* Load times. Can be a little on the long side at times. Going from the main menu to MyCareer is probably the worst offender at around 30-60 seconds, but after that its pretty average to most other games. Some of the bits inside the open world part need loading, but again its average - if you suffer the same in Splatoon 2's hub world, then you'll be fine here.
* Response times. At 30fps, you can definitely feel a little lag in the controls. The good news is its nothing that you dont adjust and get used to, but its not super snappy.
* MyCareer Story. I've not done too much yet as I said, but what there is, is pretty awful. Poorly 'acted' cut scenes which are NOT skippable. In the early going, one went on for 5-10 minutes with no interaction from me. Its all very cringe-worthy stuff too. Maybe it will improve, but I doubt it given the tone they have set. Just be prepared to ignore it for the sake of your character!
* Low online player count. At times, the playgrounds can be empty. I'm sure this is a time thing - I think from what I read on Reddit, the servers are location based, so in the mornings here, there is virtually nobody about - but in the evenings (last night for example), there were 20-30 people milling around. It doesnt sound a lot, but when the playground matches are 3v3 and there are 10 courts, its perfect and I had a good few back to back games. But yea, sometimes it feels a bit barren.
* VC Grind. I havent played 2K games for a while, but I hear about the grind and it seems to be true here. A pro I will get to, is that there is a WEALTH of stuff to buy, the downside is its all relatively pricey to the VC you win, so getting up to a good level with nice gear will take a long while. No wonder there is a $150 version of the game on the eShop (that includes a bundle of VC to get you going)
* Always online. This is a bit of a bummer, but to be expected. Again, people are crazy up in arms about this, but not sure what people expect/want. The MyCareer (and other bits) require a constant connection. If you lose connection, you are booted back to the menu. If you are mid earning VC in an activity, that VC is gaaaaawn brother. So if your Switch goes into sleep mode, you are gonna get booted. Now as I say, lots of people moaning about this, but you put your PS4 into sleep mode mid mission in Destiny. You will get booted to the menu and lose any progress. Thats what these games are like - so have that in your expectations. If you want to play travelling/commuting and relying on tethering or public wi-fi just be careful.
* Corrupted saves. This seems to be an issue, where the online save gets corrupted (possibly linked to the above where you lose connection to servers mid save) and you lose ALL your character progress. I cant imagine how annoying that would be if it was just progress, but if you've paid for extra VC for your character with real £/$... thats gone too (I believe). Needs to be addressed absolutely ASAP by 2K.
Ok... that sounds like a lot of negatives. A lot of them will get patched (I'd hope) and others are ignorable. To me, theres nothing there that puts me off the game at all. We'll see if that holds true when I get a corrupted save!!!
Now onto the good stuff...
I'll try to break it down into some pros and cons...
Get the cons out the way first as dont want the last impression to be negative as (spoiler) its a great game!
CONS:
* Install size. I'm putting this as a 'con' as such a ho-har has been made of it, but its not much different to if you bought BoTW digitally. Its just something we are going to have to put up with as Switch owners and I'd rather have a fully-fledged game that needs extra storage, than some cut down half attempt version to keep it in the size limits. If you already have a memory card, then its not even a big deal. I actually bought a 128gb one so I could get this game, but I was already at the point on my Switch of having 5+ games archived due to lack of space.
* Slow down. In game, there is no noticeable slow down, which is important, but in the cut scenes (of the MyCareer etc) the lag is ridiculous. To the point where the audio of the scene finishes 10-30 seconds before the motion capture finishes. Its pretty poor but I'm sure it will be patched up.
* Load times. Can be a little on the long side at times. Going from the main menu to MyCareer is probably the worst offender at around 30-60 seconds, but after that its pretty average to most other games. Some of the bits inside the open world part need loading, but again its average - if you suffer the same in Splatoon 2's hub world, then you'll be fine here.
* Response times. At 30fps, you can definitely feel a little lag in the controls. The good news is its nothing that you dont adjust and get used to, but its not super snappy.
* MyCareer Story. I've not done too much yet as I said, but what there is, is pretty awful. Poorly 'acted' cut scenes which are NOT skippable. In the early going, one went on for 5-10 minutes with no interaction from me. Its all very cringe-worthy stuff too. Maybe it will improve, but I doubt it given the tone they have set. Just be prepared to ignore it for the sake of your character!
* Low online player count. At times, the playgrounds can be empty. I'm sure this is a time thing - I think from what I read on Reddit, the servers are location based, so in the mornings here, there is virtually nobody about - but in the evenings (last night for example), there were 20-30 people milling around. It doesnt sound a lot, but when the playground matches are 3v3 and there are 10 courts, its perfect and I had a good few back to back games. But yea, sometimes it feels a bit barren.
* VC Grind. I havent played 2K games for a while, but I hear about the grind and it seems to be true here. A pro I will get to, is that there is a WEALTH of stuff to buy, the downside is its all relatively pricey to the VC you win, so getting up to a good level with nice gear will take a long while. No wonder there is a $150 version of the game on the eShop (that includes a bundle of VC to get you going)
* Always online. This is a bit of a bummer, but to be expected. Again, people are crazy up in arms about this, but not sure what people expect/want. The MyCareer (and other bits) require a constant connection. If you lose connection, you are booted back to the menu. If you are mid earning VC in an activity, that VC is gaaaaawn brother. So if your Switch goes into sleep mode, you are gonna get booted. Now as I say, lots of people moaning about this, but you put your PS4 into sleep mode mid mission in Destiny. You will get booted to the menu and lose any progress. Thats what these games are like - so have that in your expectations. If you want to play travelling/commuting and relying on tethering or public wi-fi just be careful.
* Corrupted saves. This seems to be an issue, where the online save gets corrupted (possibly linked to the above where you lose connection to servers mid save) and you lose ALL your character progress. I cant imagine how annoying that would be if it was just progress, but if you've paid for extra VC for your character with real £/$... thats gone too (I believe). Needs to be addressed absolutely ASAP by 2K.
Ok... that sounds like a lot of negatives. A lot of them will get patched (I'd hope) and others are ignorable. To me, theres nothing there that puts me off the game at all. We'll see if that holds true when I get a corrupted save!!!
Now onto the good stuff...
P
Paul Boreham
Guest
PROS:
* Features. I cannot stress this enough, this game is PACKED with stuff to do. One off NBA games, blacktop games (2v2,3v3,4v4,5v5), online games, training mode (2KU), trivia games, GM Mode (which really looks amazingly deep) and of course the MyCareer. I've played mostly in the MyCareer so my thoughts below are on that.
* ...More features! The MyCareer mode this year introduces and open world hub to navigate and its brilliant. A bit like the Splatoon hub, its a town square (but much bigger - to save time you can even take a subway from one side to the other), where all your career activities are managed. Some of the things include;
- Your apartment: Where you manage your character, clothing, shoes, view trophies etc. You can even sit on the couch and 'play' NBA 2K18. Very meta! (doing this lets you play a one off NBA style game - good idea)
- Shops: All branded (Footlocker, NBA etc) where you can try on and buy no end of stuff. The amount of gear available is mind blowing and a lot of it can be further customised. The NBA store has branded stuff for every team (so you think 20 teams all having a variety of vests, tees, hoodies, caps etc etc - thousands of items). It can get pricey though and a lot of stuff is level locked, so gives you good incentive.
- Playgrounds: This is an area with 10 outdoor courts that you can play small 3v3 games on. Its mindblowing (to me!) how this works. You stand in a queue on the side of the court and can actually watch in real time the game going on (all online players). You can then get an overview of the courts and see the players (again in realtime) moving around represented as dots. The games are first to 21 and winners have the chance to stay on and losers have to leave and go queue up again. The games are great fun and I had absolutely no lag (all handheld btw).
- Mini Games: Dotted around the town, often tucked away down alleys, are mini courts that have specific mini games on. Like dunk contests, 3 point throw contests etc. Top scores get displayed on giant screens near the court. Again, if the court is being used, you have a queueing system at the side and can watch the other player finish their game.
- Training: Couple of training facilities in town. A gym that has about 10 mini games in it for all the equipment to build up specific stats. This is great fun and one of the reasons it fits the Switch so well. If you have a spare 10 mins you can jump in, do some gym work and still have fun time. The other area is your NBA Teams HQ where you can go and do practice drills... I'll come to that later.
There are a few other things in the hub too that are very cool. Pop up shops, arcade, etc and I have a feeling more will be added.
* Practice Drills. In your teams HQ in the town hub, you can go and practice alongside your team mates. There are loads of options here from just having small sided games, to actually focussing down on specifics. I found this SO helpful. Basically your character is always working towards badges. These are little areas of progress to work on to give you a boost (shooting, passing, blocking etc), so when you complete a badge, you get a boost in that area. So in the practice drill, you can choose a badge (seems to be loads... 20+?) to focus on for that session and then you can choose how you want to practice. Either choose from a range of small sided games, or run an actual practice drill.
That is the thing I found really useful. Basically the coach gives you a set play to do and gives you the controls. So it could be "post up, pump fake, shoot" or "pick and roll" etc. It gives you the controls what to do for that gameplay element, then you try to score best you can in 30 seconds/10 tries etc.
Its really helped me develop some skill into how I play the game and should definitely be checked out.
* Graphics. Lots of talk about this online. I read something before I bought it that I totally agree with. Screenshots dont do it justice. You really have to see it yourself, and in motion, to appreciate how good it looks. Some of the textures are a bit flat at times and sometimes the models of fringe characters can look a bit moody and PS3esque, but overall, its very nice and definitely better than PS3/360. In motion, with the nice animation, animated backgrounds, reflections, lighting etc - all add up to a very nice and believable experience.
There are no dynamic cloth textures though, which for me personally, isnt a big issue as I think they can look a bit naff anyways as they hang awkwardly as an additional object in the game world, or animate on the body with canned repeated animations. But just so you know!
* Sounds. The music will be taste dependant (though nicely, there are some other non-hip hop tracks in and a few rock/alt songs which was nice). The in games sounds are good though, especially the commentary which does an excellent job of conveying the info in a varied way.
* Presentation. Typcial 2K shine here that I really liked. As I say above, the commentary is brilliant but the whole build up to the game is lovely, from the 2K Dev videos that play during loading, to the 'studio pre-show' bit and the interviews from the floor during the game etc. One of the things that I REALLY liked though are little cut aways duing the game. Whether its a short interview with the player (using in game engine) to a little music video for the current song playing again using in game engine highlights, its very nicely done.
Game includes all the cut-away replays of good plays and just everything is laid out really well and looks great. Cant fault it.
* Gameplay. All the above wouldnt really matter if the game was a dog. Thankfully it plays very nicely. I've not got the PS4 version to compare, but comparing it to previous 2K games on the big consoles (or even NBA Live 18 on PS4), then its very similar. In fact thats probably not fair as it sounds like its not comporable - it IS the same. Its the same controls, the same moves etc. Everything is there that you would expect.
I mentioned in the 'cons' about a bit of input lag, its really not that bad. I think its more to do with the fact the 2K games kind of lock you into an animation a bit too much, but you get used to it. Its very fluid and you just feel like a total king when you pull off a nice move or assist with a great pass.
If I had a nit-pick - and its more a 2K thing than a Switch thing - I'm not keen on the right stick being used for shooting AND skills. Sometimes you want to do a skill and you end up either at best doing a pump fake, or at worse starting a full shoot animation. You can shoot using Y, but it doesnt give you quite the differing levels of control the right stick does. I'm still not 100% settled on using the stick or Y for shooting though, but its something to bear in mind.
Other than that, its really solid to play. I've never seen a frame rate issue, so you can assume its locked solid at 30fps, which whilst not ideal for a sports game, is it least consistant. I'm on the lowest difficulty and still having great close games (so I'm no expert as you can tell!) and there are 4-5 higher difficulties, so I think you are gonna get a good game out of the AI.
Online is solid from what I have experienced, especially in the playground. No lag, no issues at all.
* Features. I cannot stress this enough, this game is PACKED with stuff to do. One off NBA games, blacktop games (2v2,3v3,4v4,5v5), online games, training mode (2KU), trivia games, GM Mode (which really looks amazingly deep) and of course the MyCareer. I've played mostly in the MyCareer so my thoughts below are on that.
* ...More features! The MyCareer mode this year introduces and open world hub to navigate and its brilliant. A bit like the Splatoon hub, its a town square (but much bigger - to save time you can even take a subway from one side to the other), where all your career activities are managed. Some of the things include;
- Your apartment: Where you manage your character, clothing, shoes, view trophies etc. You can even sit on the couch and 'play' NBA 2K18. Very meta! (doing this lets you play a one off NBA style game - good idea)
- Shops: All branded (Footlocker, NBA etc) where you can try on and buy no end of stuff. The amount of gear available is mind blowing and a lot of it can be further customised. The NBA store has branded stuff for every team (so you think 20 teams all having a variety of vests, tees, hoodies, caps etc etc - thousands of items). It can get pricey though and a lot of stuff is level locked, so gives you good incentive.
- Playgrounds: This is an area with 10 outdoor courts that you can play small 3v3 games on. Its mindblowing (to me!) how this works. You stand in a queue on the side of the court and can actually watch in real time the game going on (all online players). You can then get an overview of the courts and see the players (again in realtime) moving around represented as dots. The games are first to 21 and winners have the chance to stay on and losers have to leave and go queue up again. The games are great fun and I had absolutely no lag (all handheld btw).
- Mini Games: Dotted around the town, often tucked away down alleys, are mini courts that have specific mini games on. Like dunk contests, 3 point throw contests etc. Top scores get displayed on giant screens near the court. Again, if the court is being used, you have a queueing system at the side and can watch the other player finish their game.
- Training: Couple of training facilities in town. A gym that has about 10 mini games in it for all the equipment to build up specific stats. This is great fun and one of the reasons it fits the Switch so well. If you have a spare 10 mins you can jump in, do some gym work and still have fun time. The other area is your NBA Teams HQ where you can go and do practice drills... I'll come to that later.
There are a few other things in the hub too that are very cool. Pop up shops, arcade, etc and I have a feeling more will be added.
* Practice Drills. In your teams HQ in the town hub, you can go and practice alongside your team mates. There are loads of options here from just having small sided games, to actually focussing down on specifics. I found this SO helpful. Basically your character is always working towards badges. These are little areas of progress to work on to give you a boost (shooting, passing, blocking etc), so when you complete a badge, you get a boost in that area. So in the practice drill, you can choose a badge (seems to be loads... 20+?) to focus on for that session and then you can choose how you want to practice. Either choose from a range of small sided games, or run an actual practice drill.
That is the thing I found really useful. Basically the coach gives you a set play to do and gives you the controls. So it could be "post up, pump fake, shoot" or "pick and roll" etc. It gives you the controls what to do for that gameplay element, then you try to score best you can in 30 seconds/10 tries etc.
Its really helped me develop some skill into how I play the game and should definitely be checked out.
* Graphics. Lots of talk about this online. I read something before I bought it that I totally agree with. Screenshots dont do it justice. You really have to see it yourself, and in motion, to appreciate how good it looks. Some of the textures are a bit flat at times and sometimes the models of fringe characters can look a bit moody and PS3esque, but overall, its very nice and definitely better than PS3/360. In motion, with the nice animation, animated backgrounds, reflections, lighting etc - all add up to a very nice and believable experience.
There are no dynamic cloth textures though, which for me personally, isnt a big issue as I think they can look a bit naff anyways as they hang awkwardly as an additional object in the game world, or animate on the body with canned repeated animations. But just so you know!
* Sounds. The music will be taste dependant (though nicely, there are some other non-hip hop tracks in and a few rock/alt songs which was nice). The in games sounds are good though, especially the commentary which does an excellent job of conveying the info in a varied way.
* Presentation. Typcial 2K shine here that I really liked. As I say above, the commentary is brilliant but the whole build up to the game is lovely, from the 2K Dev videos that play during loading, to the 'studio pre-show' bit and the interviews from the floor during the game etc. One of the things that I REALLY liked though are little cut aways duing the game. Whether its a short interview with the player (using in game engine) to a little music video for the current song playing again using in game engine highlights, its very nicely done.
Game includes all the cut-away replays of good plays and just everything is laid out really well and looks great. Cant fault it.
* Gameplay. All the above wouldnt really matter if the game was a dog. Thankfully it plays very nicely. I've not got the PS4 version to compare, but comparing it to previous 2K games on the big consoles (or even NBA Live 18 on PS4), then its very similar. In fact thats probably not fair as it sounds like its not comporable - it IS the same. Its the same controls, the same moves etc. Everything is there that you would expect.
I mentioned in the 'cons' about a bit of input lag, its really not that bad. I think its more to do with the fact the 2K games kind of lock you into an animation a bit too much, but you get used to it. Its very fluid and you just feel like a total king when you pull off a nice move or assist with a great pass.
If I had a nit-pick - and its more a 2K thing than a Switch thing - I'm not keen on the right stick being used for shooting AND skills. Sometimes you want to do a skill and you end up either at best doing a pump fake, or at worse starting a full shoot animation. You can shoot using Y, but it doesnt give you quite the differing levels of control the right stick does. I'm still not 100% settled on using the stick or Y for shooting though, but its something to bear in mind.
Other than that, its really solid to play. I've never seen a frame rate issue, so you can assume its locked solid at 30fps, which whilst not ideal for a sports game, is it least consistant. I'm on the lowest difficulty and still having great close games (so I'm no expert as you can tell!) and there are 4-5 higher difficulties, so I think you are gonna get a good game out of the AI.
Online is solid from what I have experienced, especially in the playground. No lag, no issues at all.
P
Paul Boreham
Guest
Overall, this game should be embraced on the Switch. Its a massive 3rd party game and they have put absolutely every bit of effort into it, you can just feel that as you play it. There hasnt really been any corners cut that were not realistically necessary to get it onto the Switch.
Some of the issues I highlighted are really legacy 2K issues I thought I should mention, rather than anything specifically wrong with this version.
If you like 2K games generally in the past, then I would strongly say the Switch is a viable choice over the bigger consoles for that pick up and play and portability factor.
And for those asking, I think it looks and runs great on both docked and handheld. I see no major differences. Games always seem to look better handheld just due to the smaller screen size, but yea - looks great on both!
I just cant imagine how cool a fully fledge mobile FIFA game is going to be in a couple of weeks now (and to that end, WWE 2K in a month or so)
EDIT: Forgot to say that you can get this for ~£44 from the USA store by getting $60 of credit from PCGameSupply.
Some of the issues I highlighted are really legacy 2K issues I thought I should mention, rather than anything specifically wrong with this version.
If you like 2K games generally in the past, then I would strongly say the Switch is a viable choice over the bigger consoles for that pick up and play and portability factor.
And for those asking, I think it looks and runs great on both docked and handheld. I see no major differences. Games always seem to look better handheld just due to the smaller screen size, but yea - looks great on both!
I just cant imagine how cool a fully fledge mobile FIFA game is going to be in a couple of weeks now (and to that end, WWE 2K in a month or so)
EDIT: Forgot to say that you can get this for ~£44 from the USA store by getting $60 of credit from PCGameSupply.
B
Benjamin Sullivan
Guest
Following
D
Doug Edwards
Guest
Despite the glitches and issues, solid title and perfect on the go.
L
LeoVutton Ballard
Guest
game is great.. they will initially patch all the small issues
L
LeoVutton Ballard
Guest
they slightly fixed it but my only issue is the same issue with ALL nintendo basketball games,THEY NEVER INCLUDE ALL THE PHYSICS! like the jerseys and shorts dont really move at all like other versions. Nintendo has had this issue forever... somebody fix it lol
A
Alonzo Vines
Guest
I do. I love it
D
Dean Moore
Guest
Meeee and I love it
<
Washington Nationals at Los Angeles Dodgers
|
While I wait for Breath of the Wild DLC 2, I decided to pick up and play Wind Waker...
>
Contact advertising [email protected]