I fired up NBA2K14 with high hopes. I had seen videos of gameplay online, and the game appeared to be incredible. At first, I wasn't disappointed as the actual basketball gameplay is great. Unfortunately, that is where my adoration stopped. NBA2K14 disguises a wonderful basketball game as a poor daytime soap opera with C list celebrity acting.
The last two iterations of the NBA2K series have had terrible presentation, and this one is particularly bad. Presentation usually doesn't matter much to me in video games, but because you cannot really skip any of it (ie. pressers/pre-game crap/random teammate interaction) I definitely find this reducing the game's value. I am so sick of hearing my neanderthal character recite tired sports cliches with each presser and talk to the GM of a team as if the GM is a nobody. If I could skip these scenes I wouldn't be so bothered, but I can't. I'm not entirely sure why game designers decided you shouldn't be able to skip cut-scenes in a game that IS NOT driven by the story line. It is a basketball game, not an RPG. I'm not trying to play Elder Scrolls 5: The Basketball Edition.
Further degrading NBA2K14's playability is the menu system. Navigating the menus is like trying to talk a deaf man through a maze with a map that is written in Arabic; you just can't effectively do it. Pressing the menu button does not bring up the menus, but only a side screen with a help option and little else. As most games use some form of the start/menu button bringing up a menu with "B" to cancel or return to a previous screen, and "A" to proceed or select something, this was a constant source of headache for me. It sounds trivial, but using "B" to bring up a menu screen in each mode was really abnormal and frustrating. That each game mode had an entirely different menu, and sometimes the option you want to look at doesn't exist in the mode you're currently playing seems ridiculous and poorly designed. It would often take me twice or three times the normal time I would expect to find whatever category I'd endeavored to find. Also, nearly every sports game I've ever played, including all the past NBA2K series games, defaults to a main menu for each mode. Ie, in association mode, you would have a menu that offered many options, such as play the next game, edit/manage rosters, etc. I find it strange that NBA2K14 defaults to a calendar in MyGM, and has practically no default in the MyCareer mode. In both, you must bring up the menu using the "B" button. Again, that seems trivial, but should you play the game, you will likely see why it is annoying. In fact, in MyCareer mode you are simply stuck progressing through a ridiculous series of cut-scenes surrounding the games. The only way to reach the menu is to wait until a specific cut-scene that allows you access to the menu (again, by pressing "B" and bringing up the menu.) You cannot bring it up at any other time, and if you're like me and get frustrated as Jason Richardson is telling you to carry his bags because you're a rookie, and all you want to do is use your newly earned VC to upgrade your player, you're going to end up pressing the start/menu button because you'd naturally expect that to skip the obnoxious cut scene and allow you access to the menu. It does not. As I said before, it just brings up a side screen with a help option. So, now, very frustrated, you have to wait until your character and Jason Richardson are done interacting so that you may reach the next cut-scene; either you and your agent riding in a plane to the next game or you driving your stereotypical SUV, before you can access the menu.
The menu system and obnoxious presentation aren't NBA2K14's biggest downfall, however. That distinction lies with with the 2KServer system. Now, the reason the 2KServer system is used in this game is VC. So, I'm going to talk about VC first.
When 2K13 introduced VC it seemed to be a novel concept. Whether or not it was instituted solely to earn more money aside, it appeared to be an interesting way to tackle the issue of developing your player's skill set. The idea of earning experience, or aptly, "virtual currency", and using it as you see fit to increase your player's skills is a good one. In fact, it works quite well in rival EA Sports' current Madden game. It would've worked well in NBA2K14 if the developers had limited that functionality solely to the development of your player, or even if they decided to use those points for purchasing clothing and accessories as well. However, virtual currency is so pervasive in this game that you actually lose functionality. You see, rather than give the players the association mode of past iterations, NBA2K14 only offers MyGM. In MyGM, your MyPlayer character assumes the role of GM of a team. Thus, he assumes all of the responsibilities associated with the position. Cool, right? Well, there is one problem for players. Because your MyPlayer running everything, you now have to deal with the VC system in MyGM. Oh, well maybe I can develop the players on my team with the points, right? Or maybe I can buy a nice suit with the VC, since I am a GM now, right? Or something, right? No. The VC is used to buy functionality as the GM. You can't actually carry out the responsibilities as the GM until you earn enough VC to unlock the ability to carry out the responsibilities of a GM. Ie, you cannot fire or hire a coaching staff, until you've spent the VC to do so. You cannot change your team's rotation until you've spent the VC to unlock that ability as well. In fact, it is so limited in the early stages that you may feel compelled just to buy VC in order to actually have the functions in the game that past versions offered right away. I could probably rant about VC all day long, but I won't, so let's move on. Finally to the 2KServer system.
So, now that 2KSports has decided that we need VC to do everything, it has decided that in order to play NBA2k14, you must constantly have a connection with the 2k servers. It makes perfect sense that, in order to have your VC updated, you need to connect to the server. However, their solution has created a massive problem. The servers have been unable to meet the demand, and thus players can't connect. Normally, in most other games, and even in NBA2k13, this wouldn't be a major problem. You just would have the potential of not receiving the VC that you had earned while playing. Now though, you actually cannot play the game. You cannot play MyCareer, you cannot play MyTeam and you cannot play MyGM. 2KSports has created a game that actually limits all functionality entirely if you cannot connect to their server. Bravo.
It really saddens me that the game has such a faulty system, because, as I said before, the actual gameplay is amazing. If the rest of the game was even halfway decent, this game would be one of the best I've ever played.