Plays like a real basketball game with actual NBA personalities

Since its first installment in 1999, the NBA 2K series of has enjoyed continuous success, critically and commercially. Unsurprisingly, it has had intense support from loyal basketball fans around the world. NBA 2K19 is the 20th installment in this beloved franchise, and it includes long-established traditions from preceding NBA titles as well as new features for players to enjoy and explore. Does it meet the high standards set by the earlier NBA 2K basketball games?

If It Ain’t Broke…

There are a lot of things about the NBA 2K games that were right on the money, and they are the reason this franchise continues to this day with no hint of slowing down. NBA 2K19 took the positives of the old NBA 2K games and built upon those strengths to make a better addition to the franchise. The graphics are absolutely phenomenal, for example. It’s become a tradition for NBA 2K games to feature actual basketball personalities, and NBA 2K19 continues that tradition. It features Giannis Antetokounmpo and Lebron James, and they are only two of the many players featured in the game. The graphics of the game are rendered realistically and the animation for the game is fluid and realistic. Playing the game, you’ll feel like you’re actually seeing real people playing basketball, rather than CGI players and characters.

This game also has amazing gameplay. It’s intuitive and easy to learn, but it has just enough challenge that it would engage players. Additionally, it complements the amazing graphics and animation really well. It responds to controls quickly, and the animation never feels choppy or disjointed despite the fast-paced nature of the game.

New Features

Not necessarily a new feature, but one of the best improvements of NBA 2K19 over earlier games in the franchise is its career mode. Also known as The Way Back, NBA 2K19’s career mode allows players to create their own character and follow a linear storyline involving that character heading to China in order to earn his way back to the NBA. The concept of this plot came from real-life situations where basketball players who fail to get drafted to the NBA find unconventional means to earn their place.

Aside from the better career mode, little tweaks in the gameplay of NBA 2K19 improves upon the experience from earlier games. NBA 2K19 has a better stealing system and shot meter makes the gameplay flow better. It also features a new Takeover system, where any character can take over the entire game.

A Solid Addition

NBA 2K19 is a solid addition to the long-running and well-loved NBA 2K franchise. It has a lot of new features that make it an improvement over earlier NBA 2K19 games. It does have some minor technical issues such as crashes and lags, but overall, the gaming experience is so much like real basketball that it’s easy to forgive it. It’s a bit of a resource hog, players are recommended to get the best machines possible to make the game run as smoothly as possible. All in all, it’s a basketball game totally worth playing.