Best basketball simulation ever made. New gameplay physics, new game modes, and stepped up returning game modes vastly.
Upon starting the game, you will be faced with the best intro you will ever see. Showing off the current greats playing alongside the legends of the past while Kurtis Blow's classic 'Basketball' plays is not only glorifying but very fitting. The intro also shows off the new visuals and animations(more signature animations, too) of the game. It's gameplay animation and texturing you're watching in the intro, not some cgi show they made to set you up for a disappointment.
The new game mode where you go back in time and play as and against the greatest teams of all time ranging back from Bill Russel's 1965 Celtics, to Larry Bird's 1986 Celtics, to Karl Malone and John Stockton's 1998 Jazz. This game mode is stunning. If you play the 1965 Celtics vs Lakers, the screen will be a fuzzy black and white, the on screen stats and scoreboards are a very period bland white text, and even the court variations and rules are according to the year. Jump ball starting every quarter, no three point line, all appropriate court markings, and the scorer's tables are just your average flimsy folding tables. You move to Jerry West's 1970 Lakers vs Pistol Pete's Hawks and everything is still very primitive, but at least you're in a fuzzy color. Play in the 80's and the on screen scoreboard and stats have modernized a bit and you're in a hazy chromacolor. The 90's teams are in the modern camera age yet the players still have their short shorts and the stats are a very 90's looks. Once you win as one of these teams, you unlock that team and the team you beat to play as in quick match. The only fault I was able to find here is that the substitutions graphic is still the current one, which isn't a big deal but looks awkward in the old eras.
The gameplay feels like an overhaul. Brand new ball and player physics and animations make this game so much more realistic, but adds a higher level of difficulty. Not once did I see a player clip another player, or a ball get passed through a gentleman's face. There's no more 50 50 chance you'll make the basket once you shoot. The ball had no predetermined landing around the hoop. It will go anywhere. Not just in shooting, but in dribbling and passing, too. In previous games, the ball felt like it was in a forcefield once a player had control over it. The ball was only stolen when it was a high probability moment and you happened to press steal at a calculated time. Now the ball feels like it's own being. Steals can occur much more frequently and the ball can fumble around from player to player in a scramble. No more ball zipping right to a player's hand. This makes passing and dribbling much more difficult. The players move much more naturally and freely, too. The amount of control you have over a player is just great. That goes for movement and shooting. Your shots, especially in the paint, need to be much more precise in where you're aiming. Everything is smooth, as well. Not once did I see someone snap into an animation, making everything much more fluid.
Aesthetically, the game looks and sounds great. All new commentary, and many players have been remade and they look phenomenal. The player of the game is a cinema of it's own. The intros and loading screens before a game look fantastic, as well. The player animations are very natural and there are much more signature animations than before. Seeing Mutombo's finger wag again is a tremendous feeling. The only problem I have is that at the preset distances of the camera, the players look out of focus at times, due to the distance blur, and can be hard to differentiate players. Also the substitution photos look like they are comprised of about six pixels each. It's strange how everything can have such great detail, yet that looks so horrid.
My Player has undergone some changes, too. There are more options to making your player, physically and statistically. Also, there is no grueling summer program to get to the draft. There is one game you play, and depending on your performance, three NBA coaches will approach you and interview you. How you answer these questions will determine where you get drafted. This might have just been me, but I felt like I was playing 2K11's game engine in My Player. The free ball movement I explained earlier didn't feel like it was there. If it was, then I must be a better PG than I thought.
Association and online play are something I haven't tried yet. Online because I can't connect to the servers. I hear this a worldwide problem so it's being addressed. The soundtrack is appropriate. All the rap you'd expect and the very fitting Kurtis Blow is a nice touch.
The only blemishes I encountered were the awkward substitution graphics and the blurry players. During timeouts players sometimes glitch by teleporting back and forth from the huddle. And the roster is as current as the end of the last NBA season. I was disappointed to see there were no rookies. But overall, the game is superb. This game will make you forget about the lockout.