It is way to fake i thought they would fix it after 2k11 but they havent its fun but they better start being more like basketball than a 3 point contest every game u play in My Team and online or i will stop buying the nba games.
NBA 2K13 Review
Enhanced realism and a great new control setup make NBA 2K13 a fantastic recreation of pro hoops.
These skills add an additional layer of realism to the action, since you see stars play like they really do. It's great to see the likes of Derrick Rose and Steve Nash running offenses as the floor generals they are in real life. This is really noticeable with the superstars, who all come loaded with half-dozen or so skills that give them an added edge to their games that separate them from everybody else. You always want to have your top players on the court for the situations that best fit their skills.
A more considerable upgrade to NBA 2K13 comes with the revamped control setup. The right stick is now the designated control stick. At first glance, this doesn't seem to be much different than the old arcade-happy right-stick controls that let you pull off all manner of tricks and shots. Now, however, the stick handles just dribbling and more intricate hand movements, or shooting with the help of a trigger press. So you can stutter, crossover, spin, drop back, and so forth with relative ease just by rotating the right stick.
This accessible control scheme is a more natural way to handle the ball--although you still need to use combos for special moves like alley-oops, spin layups, certain jump shots, and so forth. The stick also can't be abused to turn games into NBA Jam-style displays of acrobatics, as every use of it dramatically affects your energy level. Do too much and players get exhausted, which causes them to make dumb mistakes. You can also overhandle the ball and watch it fly out of your hands.
A lot of experimentation is required to figure out how the right stick functions, though. There is no tutorial to walk you through how it works. You just get a brief text screen intro telling you how cool the right stick is now, and then are left to fend for yourself. Just like basketballs themselves don't come with user manuals telling you how to dribble, the right stick feels so organic and natural that it might be hard to instruct players on how to use it in an interactive walkthrough. Still, a brief review of the changes here would have been appreciated. Expect to lose a few games while you get used to the right stick, especially when it comes to shooting. Over-use of it early on is also a pitfall, as you can play with the stick so much that you'll see your whole squad run to the bench out of gas.
Overall presentation enhances the you-are-there factor even more. Much of the visuals and sound seem to have been carried forward from last year, but that doesn't make it any less impressive. Graphical detail is incredible. Players are almost photo-realistic, and they come with animations that almost perfectly mimic what their counterparts do in real life. Watching Kobe drop one through the hoop while falling down and then fist-pumping over the shot and the foul looks exactly like something you see at Staples a bunch of times every winter.
Play-by-play and commentary from Kevin Harlan, Steve Kerr, and Clark Kellogg is voluminous and almost always accurate, to such an extreme that it seems like the lines have been recorded specially for each game that you play. This is far and away the best booth banter in sports gaming, with so much going on that you can get lost in the moment and forget you're playing a game. It's miles above the canned one-liners and recycled observations in other sports games.
One drawback of the presentation, though, is the confusing interface. 2K Sports always seems to have trouble with menu systems, and that has continued here with incomprehensible screens, dead ends, and a weird reliance on the right stick to pull up menus. It all looks snazzy at least, with overblown Nero-does-Vegas backdrops, apparently courtesy of executive producer Jay-Z. The hip-hop mogul and part-owner of the Brooklyn Nets gets his name on the box cover and all through the game itself, which kicks off with a video of him styling his way through action clips. It's all very over the top, with Jay-Z's presence taking precedence over the players in spots. His influence is felt in the soundtrack, as well, which is marginally better than the interface. It's pretty much all hip-hop and very repetitive, with virtually nothing aside from a few Coldplay, Phoenix, and U2 tunes to mix up the mood.
It's impossible to play NBA 2K13 without coming away for a renewed appreciation for pro hoops. Even if you might not be a big basketball fan, you need to check this one out. For starters, you need to see what you're missing. And second, you need to see just how much other sports games are lagging behind this absolutely brilliant piece of work, that absolutely nails the pace and feel of big-time b-ball. You couldn't get closer to the real game if you had Spike Lee's seats at MSG. The labyrinthine interface, lack of tutorials, and obnoxious Jay-Z production form a barrier when first warming up to the game, but the enhanced right-stick controls, depth, and sheer realism of everything will hook you after logging a couple of hours on the hardwood.
78 comments
Amateur Fantasy League
ID: 837400
Password: qwerty
Difficulty: Superstar
Draft Date: April 2nd, 2013 9:00 p.m ET
Host: LizzleNizzle (Excuse the name)
Additional Info: Post-season is Best of 3; this league is for active members looking for good competition; If you have a headset LET'S USE IT, add me on xbox live and I'll set up a party for members to chat; Once Again this league is for ACTIVE MEMBERS don't join unless you plan on being there after the draft.
I love these games but they are so hard!!! i watch basketball but i dont play it and i wish i knew how to manage a team better and call plays but i guess i just have to keep playing to get the hang of it
Stop hating Jay Z he is the one who produced the game so he can do whatever he wants.I agree this game deserves a 9.
@PCanton i agree i honestly dont mind jay-z as a rapper but as an icon i wouldnt look up to him and i think his music goes good with the game. And besides this game is about BASKETBALL not whether or not jay-z is a good executive producer or not...
1 Like Just because he threw a little money and time into the game doesn't mean he can do whatever he wants. He has an overblown image of himself, and the review points out that it shows in this game. There were other people who actually created the game and the series from day one who have no mention on the cover, so why should Jay-Z get the recognition there and not them? Strange
finally a patch almost 2months in....now at least the game is playable and has a feel of realism. The adjusted three point accuracy and shot blocking are glaring improvements. Before this patch a rating of 9 was highly suspect!
2 Like great game but couldn't agree more, way too much Jay Z stuff in it, horrible music, one of the worst ever in any game. but still a great game
1 Like I agree, some very strange song choices in there. Never played 2k12, but I liked the 2k11 soundtrack much more. I do like the work he did putting together the interface and intro movies; those were very well done and looked great
2 Like I liked your review, it's really detailed. But I have to call you on this.. The guy posting up isn't lebron, it's patrick ewing..
Here's a good VID review from IGN for all looking for onehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFwLZ8jVkd0
It's okay if gamespot does not want to do a video review. I'll just go find another review site to rely on for producing vid's for good games.
@killdot1335 They'll make one eventually. As it says, this isn't that different from last year's, just go and watch last years.
2 Like @AudioKill I'm glad they pointed it out as well, I ended putting my own music on my xbox cause I got sick of hearing Jay-z and kanye over and over again...I was screaming mercy when they kept playing mercy!
Please guys, Do a Video review. I think NBA 2k 13 deserves it more than Fable: the journey.
2 Like Ok, I had to login to get this to say.
Ok first off, This guy is MOSTLY mad, NOT because there is a lot of Jay-Z (that's just a small front), but because it is basically all rap. Saying he wanted more stuff like Coldplay and U2 on the game. Listen here hypocrites, From the Gamespot posters to the Gamespot Executives EVERY DAMN GAME has Overblown Rock and Alternative on it. Yet, I don't see you saying ANYTHING about that crap! Here's a game that puts more emphasis on hip-hop and what do you do? criticize it! Brett Todd and all the others, keep your ignorant mouth's shut!
1 Like @lorider25 It is overblown with Jay-Z...ridiculously overblown and if it's not Jay it's Kanye.
1 Like Just play the game and enjoy it. If you really know basketball and not just a video game nerd than you know this is a great game. Stop bitching about the small stuff (Jay-Z, soundtrack, menus) like women. Appreciate a great game of basketball and ignore the petty stuff.
@Kinglas2466 thats whats sup
I\ like the soundtrack and think you saved me some time telling them fulls
I was a fan of NBA2K12 so whatever NBA Live was trying to be it certainly cannot match up to what this game offers for controls, graphics, sounds, presentation and so on.
IMO this game series is the best basketball series to ever come out. Can anyone confirm if the new controls are an improvement?
Also, I like how lifelike the players are and I feel NHL13 needs to take some notes on how to make players look real haha. :)
you are right lol but 2k sports had no choice. Jay-Z was needed to bring scottie pippen and charles barkley aboard. I'm not a jay-z fan but I'm glad he was able to get some of my favorite players into this game.
2 Like I thought the soundtrack was great. Old school Nas, Mobb Deep, Rakim, etc and some decent Jay-Z tracks.
I'm liking this game ALOT! My Nba 2K11 & 12 games have both been retired until further notice.
1 Like one thing i've always liked about the nba 2k series is the soundtrack, they have great soundtrack year in and year out. but that's not the case this year, i just turned off all the music in the game...
1 Like lol weird that everyone likes this review..it's a freelancer that wrote it as opposed to a regular gamespot employee right? i am happy that the GS guys are harsh on scoring games, otherwise i'd probably pick up a bunch of mediocore games that got decent scores and that's a waste of money especially when these games are 60 fuckin dollars now!
5 Like I'm a Jay-Z fan and even I have to say that 2K dropped the ball with the interface, presentation, and soundtrack this year. The soundtrack isn't varied enough. And the whole Jay-Z aspect is just taken WAY too far. Gold over every damn thing. It's like 2K was so interested in having Jay's name on the box, that they just let dude run wild. Hopefully they will never do anything like this again.
At least the gameplay aspect is still good though...after a patch gets done. >_>
@SavoyPrime good to see I'm not the only one thinking on these lines, not overrating the game and calling out it's flaws.
I didn't like the gold splashed everywhere either, but over time I suppose that can be overlooked. But the soundtrack is repetitive, and gameplay aspect is good but I've found a couple faults here and there that need to be fixed in my short time renting it.
Sorry it's just hard for me to accept, especially in a close game with friends, him catching the ball then taking 5 steps from the top of the key to dunk it without the ball even once. And then when I dunk it at the other end it is called out of bounds, even tho when I watch the replay it clearly shows the ball going thru the hoop, then bouncing twice below in front of players ignoring the ball before it goes across the line.
@PayneKiller It's gotten to the point that I don't even play NBA 2K games until a patch hits. In fact, I've made my mind up that I'm just gonna start buying the NBA 2K games when the playoffs hit. That way all patches and roster updates will have made the game worth me buying by then. Cause as of now, I feel the game isn't worth the $60 price of admission and that the game being on the shelf until November or December (usually when the first patch hits) is just a waste of money right now.
@mwalk77 @PayneKiller Yeah, Ronnie2K said that they were shooting for a late November release for the patch. So I guess we will see. Frankly, I'm not holding my breath.
I agree with you..I'm the most disappointed I've been in a while because the game has alot of potential. But until they patch up the gameplay I'm done.
1 Like wish they would of had Dr J in the game.maybe there will be a roster patch later.
Thanks for getting around to the review Gamespot. You're only like 3 weeks late. Better late than never I guess.
And I thought I was the only one thinking this...how the hell does this game deserve a 9 with the gameplay bugs???
thank you gamespot for a fair and honest review of 2k13. gave it the exact same score i gave it
2 Like I don't own it, only rented it since redbox had a couple free days this week. But really I'm already bored of the soundtrack. there's only like 20 songs in the game, if that many. I'm used to sports games having 40+, or at least thats what FIFA gives me. Ya a lot of the songs I may not like, but at least there's some variety.
I'm really disappointed that Jay-Z's name is plastered all over this and all we get is 19 tracks most of which I'm already hearing on the damn radio every day, and the rest I've heard on the radio every damn day in the past. When I actually do get the game I hope there's a way to put my own music into the menus cause it's actually gotten annoying hearing the same songs over and over.
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Game Emblems
The Good
NBA 2K13 is the new shining jewel of NBA 2K series, and has left the future of the series as bright as ever.
NBA 2K13
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- Publisher(s): 2K Sports
- Developer(s): Visual Concepts
- Genre: Sports
- Release:
- ESRB: E
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