You can see and feel the improvements over current gen almost instantly when you get into a game. Movement – With the addition of foot planting and improvements in size and weight recognition, the next-gen version of 2K21 plays incredibly well. This also probably includes slowing down the speed of a player’s second jump. Basically, the AI players need to do a better job boxing out for long rebounds, or 2K still needs to get away from huge players like Capela being able to get from the top of the key to deep in the paint with explosive jumping and speed all while perfectly tracking the trajectory of a rebound. This is because things like 3-pointers still lead to bigs soaring from the top of the key deep into the paint for rebounds, and you’ll see those same legacy instances of certain centers getting 3-4 offensive rebounds on one possession here and there. Clint Capela and Andre Drummond still feel like elite-level players (like, you want these guys over almost any other centers in the game) because they just get so many offensive rebounds they have no right getting to. Now, that does not translate to the AI wholesale. One of the biggest areas that needed improvement finally got the love that it deserved. I’m no Dennis Rodman, but I understood each time a board was grabbed and the positioning needed to get it. If there’s a clean rebound to be had, your player goes up and grabs it without question. I almost always see players who are in position to have a chance at the ball tracking it and making the play to bring in the board, sometimes even getting into small self-tip battles. Not once playing did I feel that the ball was going to hit the rim and then fall to the hardwood for multiple bounces with no players in sight. But it sure does feel better than it used to. Rebounding – Dare I say that the 2K dev team has finally sorted out rebounding and the legacy issues this area of gameplay has had for years? Well, not quite. Lastly, the ball feels a little looser overall, so while I would still love even more if the ball felt like its own object, it’s better than it was. On top of that, we can finally draw some consistent charges again, which has been long overdue. This is definitely an improvement for me because steals should be rewarding, not something achieved by using a flawed mechanic (standing in the path of the dribbler so body contact knocks the ball out like on current gen). Spamming the steal button and mistiming these attempts leads to quick fouls, which I felt were getting called more than before. I actually feel that anticipating where a dribbler is trying to go and getting to the spot with the improved movement of NBA 2K21 next gen leads to much better results than we’ve become accustomed to (see below). As much as the ball handlers have to work to get by you, you also feel like you have just as good of a chance to stop them on defense. The battle between dribbler and defender feels more realistic, and I’ve never felt at any time that I was cheated out of a good defensive stop - at least when it just comes to the on-ball defense out on the perimeter. I don’t feel canned into animations as I did before. This has led to maybe more technical bugs than even a normal 2K release, but considering it’s new tech and a lot of new stuff was added, I’m willing to give them a little bit of a pass here in year one.ĭefense – Improvements here are so much more rewarding than they were on current gen. Beyond the gameplay, the 2K developers tried to get as much content into this version of NBA 2K21 as possible. Yes, the improvement overall is perhaps due to the increased capabilities that next-gen tech allows, but it more feels like 2K finally just stopped avoiding some legacy issues. This is arguably the best NBA 2K we’ve ever had out of the gates on the court, especially for head-to-head games in an NBA setting. NBA 2K21 Next-Gen Review – What I Like Gameplay Let’s take a look at what does or does not make 2K a trendsetter with my NBA 2K21 next-gen review. Claiming that the game was rebuilt from the ground up feels like a bit of a stretch after having some time with 2K21, but what’s been done is definitely a large amount of work to ensure we weren’t getting the same game all over again. They did it with NBA 2K14 and have once again done it here - albeit with some of the same technical flaws online as there was with NBA 2K14, but at least this time they did not strip away features in the process. About two weeks into its release, it’s evident that NBA 2K21 has once again shown why the 2K dev team takes such pride in showing out during next-gen console launches.
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