NBA 2K16 helps out the defense by cleaning up a lot of the animation and AI problems that plagued last year’s game. Last year, players would go to make minute adjustments in their positioning, and these small adjustments would result in exaggerated animations that pulled them out of position even more than they already were, leaving guys wide open just by accident and with no effort on the part of the offense. Even better, the AI which decides where help comes from was also addressed, and helpers coming from the closest shooter (“one pass away”) now have rotations happening behind them, giving the defense a fighting chance when helping on a dominant player. The offense has to work to find the open man, and sometimes the shot it results in might come from a middling shooter left alone by the defense.

 

The defense can actually entice long 2s from weaker jump shooters by using the game’s robust defensive settings (which, unfortunately, aren’t really explained for less-informed players by the game’s weak tutorials, which we’ll cover in a future piece). As far as graphics are concerned, the game is still impressive. Player models look fantastic and true-to-life, and as always the presentation of their product is top-notch. The much-beloved Player of the Game montage is back and as beautiful as ever, and Ernie Johnson and Shaq are even included as integral parts of the pre-game team breakdown loading screen. And although there are areas where things could be tightened (faces when speaking still look a bit carton and there are some jaggies around player models during introductions), overall things look too good to have any genuine gripes.

 

Graphics wise, NBA 2K16 is phenomenal. This is easily THE best looking sports game, and the in-game visuals are exactly the same with those you witnessed in the pre-release screenshots. 2K Games has not ‘photoshopped’ anything. NBA 2K16 packs great cloths physics, a good collision detection system, incredibly detailed players, nice reflections, and an amazing 3D crowd. Hell, even the cheerleaders themselves are more detailed than the main models of other titles. On the hardwood, NBA 2K16’s outlook brightens. The gameplay is largely improved thanks to a refined A.I. system. Players move with purpose across the court, setting up off-ball screens, spacing to open up isolation plays, and effectively defending pick and rolls. To help newcomers better understand the shooting styles of the various NBA players, Visual Concepts added a new shot meter that visualizes the right time to release the ball.

 

While some may find this helpful, I found it distracting and eventually turned it off because my eyes were locking on the meter instead of watching the court. Meanwhile, defense has seen a pseudo-overhaul as well, though it’s difficult to say outright whether or not the changes are 100% welcome in this case. Right off the bat, it’s clear that defense is far more realistic than it’s ever been, and you can no longer just zone out or half-ass it until you regain possession of the ball. If you slack on D, the opposing team will light you up, regardless of who is or isn’t on the roster. A big improvement to the game mode is how upgrading your attributes is handled. Instead of going through and upgrading each item individually, you select from a pool of attribute groups such as Athleticism, Rebounding, and Playmaker.

 

Each group is made up of a varying number of attributes that are increased when you purchase the upgrade. This will definitely help alleviate some of the pressure to grind from previous games to improve your player. This is the point where I'd talk about MyPark, and how glorious it is to pit your efforts against those of another human, but unfortunately connectivity issues have meant that this mode has been barely playable. Each year 2K say they'll address their server issues, and each year the NBA 2K iteration launches with a plague of online troubles. I've not too many to deal with myself in MyCareer, but the online modes flit between utterly broken and nervously tense, like you're just waiting for something to go bust. You choose between three city-based affiliations and engage in street ball in the same manner that you did last year. It's still pretty clunky, the Got Next waiting rings are like the worst bits of PS Home, although game score targets have been lowered.