STUDIO: 2K Sports
RELEASE DATE: October 7, 2008
CONSOLE: PS3, PS2
ALSO AVAILABLE ON: XBox 360
DEVELOPER: Visual Concepts
GENRE: Sports, Basketball
PLAYERS: 1-7 (more online)
ESRB RATING: E

My friends who came over to my house to virtually get on the court and test out the playability of 2K Sports' highly-lauded NBA 2K9 wanted me to make sure that I stressed something from the very beginning of my review - I totally suck at this game. And I mean that as a compliment. I suck at basketball in real life, so I guess I might as well suck virtually too. Playing NBA 2K9 actually reminds me of being on the court myself where even *I* wouldn't pass the ball to me. At least I don't get winded with a controller in my hand. (Well, not that easily.) And with the game's very cool feature where you can play 5-on-5 online with nine other real-time players, I was even able recreate that sensation of being the least valuable player on a team. Thanks a lot for reminding me of high-school gym class, 2K!

In all seriousness, one of my friends said something else that has really informed the way I've approached NBA 2K9 over the last week that I've been borderline obsessed with it (just because I suck doesn't mean I haven't been playing it repeatedly). He noted that NBA 2K9 is far from a "pick-up game." It's closer to a simulation. That's exactly why I'm so bad at it. I'm not as big a fan of b-ball as I am football and baseball. I casually pay attention to the sport (being from Detroit makes that a requirement), but I don't know the technical ins-and-outs of the players. The team at 2K Sports have put so much effort into the design of NBA 2K9's gameplay that it will take some of the less-athletically inclined (and people who aren't huge fans of the game) a while to get the hang of it. It actually plays up to each real player's strengths and each team's real-life playing styles, a detail that automatically gives the previously basketball literate a huge advantage. Of course, that's a good thing. Simulation sports games should play up to the adoration of real fans and reward their knowledge of the game accordingly. And NBA 2K9 does just that. There's nothing casual about EIGHT pages of controls in the instruction booklet for the PS3 version. It is as detailed and complex as any sports game we've ever seen and true fans of the sport and the franchise will adore it for being so.

The most remarkable and impressive thing about NBA 2K9 is the "Living Roster," a feature that I expect will be passe in just a year as every single sports gaming franchise adopts it. The technology is finally there for sports games to be constantly updated with player trades, injuries, hot streaks, and attributes. In other words, if Lebron James gets traded to the Pistons in December, he will become a Piston in the game too. If a player comes off the bench for the Nets and becomes a starter, his status as such will be updated in NBA 2K9. If a guy develops a new dunk, there's a team at 2K Sports working out how to get it into your game. It's ridiculously cool and the kind of thing that practically makes the game a must-buy on its own.

But how's the gameplay? Based on each player's actual movement, the basics of going up and down the court feel smooth and realistic. And the adaptive AI, which reads, reacts, and adjusts to your own strategies is remarkable. For example, if you keep using Kevin Garnett in the paint, the game will adapt and he'll try to get open under the basket more often than playing the perimeter. It's the most realistic basketball game that I've ever played on a gameplay level. There is a slightly frustrating rubber-band quality to the general AI that I noticed - which has been commented on at length on messageboards - that makes a blow-out seem unlikely to ever happen. If you (or the computer) get down by around ten points, then the game will adjust and you can expect a comeback pretty soon. When I got up ten on the Kings for the first time and they went on a 12-2 run against the Celtics (yes, I'm that bad that I was playing Celtics vs. Kings), I could tell something was a little funny. It is certainly preferable to have close games, but it can lead to some frustrating gameplay in that it sometimes feels like your opponent's comeback is beyond your control.

The most negative thing about the gameplay has to be the glitches that have haunted the game and already set messageboards on fire. There's a HUGE one that will happen if you go to the tutorial after you save user settings for the first time in a season or after a series of quick games. In other words, if, like me, you decide that you suck and need a little help after playing a few games (or even after starting a season), then prepare yourself for something insane. The players will stop having to in-bound the ball after a made basket. That means you can score over and over again. Everyone stands around after a basket staring at the ball on the court. You have to delete your settings to fix it until a patch is available. I'm assuming that a patch will be available soon, particularly since this is one of the most unacceptable glitches ever released on the public, but an email to 2K was not responded to as of press time. Visual confirmation of this head-scratcher can be found here at YouTube.

Once you get past that gigantic glitch - and, really, it probably will be fixed soon, maybe even by the time you read this - NBA 2K9 is so visually impressive that I honestly took it a little for granted until I remembered I had to write about it. The HD picture is nearly flawless and the presentation of the games looks nearly identical to a real televised broadcast. It's in the little things - the crowd that actually looks like individuals instead of a blur of the same icon, the highlight reels of your game's best plays at the end of a quarter, the chant of "Deee-Troit Basket-Ball" - where NBA 2K9's presentation really shines. And the broadcast team of Clark Kellogg, Kevin Harlan, and sideline reporter Cheryl Miller sound as realistic as any sports game on the market.

On the negative side of the visual ball, some of the facial modeling looks a little too realistic, sending the game into the "Uncanny Valley," that area of CGI where people look more creepy than believable. There are also some minor glitches to the visuals, like when a ball spun around on one of my player's heads after rebound like he was a Harlem Globetrotter perfecting a new trick. But, for the most part, don't expect giant visual miscues like people running through each other or blocking a shot from behind. You can play whole games and not see a visual flaw.

When it comes to playing ball beyond the quick game function, NBA 2K9 is remarkably deep. It's advertised as the most robust Franchise mode on the market and it's hard to argue with that statement. The game works with NBA.com, so players have access to all the latest rumors, trades, scores, news stories and more throughout the season. Plus, with new features like Player Personalities, Ambitions, and more customizable options, you really can feel like you're running a pro basketball franchise. The franchise management throughout the season - which involves an insane amount of detail to contract negotiations and trade offers - feels like it could have been a whole game in itself. Players can even use Reelmaker to direct their own digital video highlight reels and post them on 2KSports.com or their own personal web page.

In the end, NBA 2K9 is a brilliantly designed and incredibly deep sports simulation game that's hard to master but impossible not to admire. Ignoring the glitches (the in-bounding and some lag in online play that I didn't really experience but has been a major topic on 2K's messageboards as has the lack of lobbies in online play, making it difficult to find a friend in cyberspace...all problems that I expect will be fixed soon), the depth of the game is truly remarkable. NBA 2K9 is not a casual game for a casual player. It's an in-depth simulation for the player who eats, breathes, and lives the NBA. Judged as such, it's a slam-dunk.