NBA 2K18 is the annual basketball simulation by 2K Sports. Kyrie Irving on cover, last NBA 2K PS3, reduced content vs PS4. The reference basketball franchise on console, fluid gameplay and generous content.
Your verdict
Category
Sports4 players3+
Description
Visual Concepts official NBA basketball simulation recreating the NBA 18 season with licensed players and teams. Published by 2K Sports, released in the USA in September 2017. All licensed NBA teams, narrative MyCareer mode, MyGM franchise mode, precise analog stick controls, and online multiplayer. Console basketball reference.
NBA 2K18 review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
4/5
Music
★★★★★
"Excellent"
1/5
Story
★★★★★
"Anecdotal"
The gaze moves to the edges of the court. The bench and the sideline come alive: coaches gesturing, standing substitutes, waving towels, trainers at work, an official bent over his sheet. This living periphery, long frozen, gives the match an unprecedented depth of field. The art direction populates the margins as much as the floor, making the game's surroundings a spectacle of their own.
The soundtrack folds in the spoken layer of a TV studio. Between possessions, a sideline reporter slips in a halftime interview, a bulletin reads an injured player's status on air, a quick statistic comments on a run in progress. These presentation inserts, distinct from the commentary pair, fill the game's lulls with the talk of a real broadcast rather than with music.
A basketball simulation from Visual Concepts, NBA 2K18 marks the series' final appearance on the console with refined play, a wide roster of historical teams and a scripted career mode. The fidelity of the moves, the depth of the simulation and the top tier television presentation appeal to fans. The omnipresence of microtransactions and the closure of online servers weigh heavily. An excellent period basketball for fans of demanding simulation and nostalgics of the 2K series at end of life.
