NBA 2K10 Review [360]

With NBA Live 10 delivering the finest game we've seen from the series in quite some time, it's now up to the NBA 2K series to show that it's still the king of the court. The past few instalments in the 2K franchise, while undoubtedly fantastic games, have suffered from a lack of innovation, each game playing almost identically to the last. It's an issue that, due to the yearly release schedules, plagues the majority of sports games, making it difficult to justify purchasing each ‘episode' every 12 months or so.

So has much changed from last year? Well, no is the short answer. NBA 2K10 plays much the same as 2K9; which is to say completely differently from Live 10. Whereas EA Sports has changed their focus in an attempt to provide a more realistic representation of the NBA, 2K is sticking to the usual blueprints of crafting something altogether faster and easier to get stuck into.

The on-court experience is much more about scoring, and looking good doing it. Tricks and fancy dribble moves, for example, are much more likely to produce positive results than in real-life, with even the most pedestrian ball handlers able to spin and juke their way past the league's finest defenders. As a result, the pace of the play is furious at times, the ball flying from basket to basket as attackers make it seem as though the defence has literally left the building.

Due to the success rate of skill moves, intelligent attempts at defence rarely yield any worthwhile results. Preventing someone from rushing to the net by setting up a good position and blocking the lane - in an attempt to force the attacker to either try a low-percentage shot or pass the ball - is a useless tactic to employ, opening yourself up to get getting beaten by a moment's razzmatazz and the ensuing slam dunk. To say that defence is second to offence in terms of tactical importance in 2K10 would be an understatement; it's closer to being obsolete altogether. You're only chance at stopping an attack is by blocking the shot upon release which, as anyone that watches the NBA on TV knows (or plays NBA games regularly), is not an especially easy thing to get right. In theory you need only hit the button to jump as your opponent is about to shoot the ball, but with the wealth of skill moves and fake shot options, the attacker always seems to have the edge in one-in-one encounters.

The emphasis on stylish, attacking play means that the NBA's most gifted talent are even more dominant on the virtual court than the real one. Players like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Dwayne Wade are so good at driving past players and finishing up with a big-time dunk that you never really want to see the ball in anyone else's hands. Despite the undeniable satisfaction of scoring 100 points in a game with a single player, the whole thing quickly devolves into something much too repetitive to satisfy those looking for an authentic mock-up of the NBA.

That's not to say that game isn't an enjoyable one. 2K10 is a much friendlier game than Live 10, not expecting you to know your screen plays from your pick and rolls or your Chris Paul from your Paul Pierce. Anyone with a basic knowledge of the control scheme and where you're supposed to be putting the ball will find themselves able to compete on an even playing field after only a couple of games. Despite the comparative lack of depth to the gameplay, the fact that players are so effective and easy to use makes you feel like a superstar yourself, able to pull your team out of trouble no matter how impossible the situation seems.