100 VC later (double if you want to pick the colour) he had his man-bun. Once I got to know DJ, I decided he needed a more douchey haircut. Because it takes an inhuman amount of grinding to move from a 60-rated player to anything that might resemble a dominant force.
Been there, done that since 2010, right? The Neighbourhood set-up allows gamers to pit their creations against friends and strangers in a range of game modes (streetball, pro-am, and one-offs like the recent Ruffles™ 4-pointer challenge).īut the real reason to skimp on the preliminaries is to get people purchasing in-game Virtual Currency (VC) as quickly as possible. Sound like a grind? We’ve only just begun.Ī generous interpretation of this rush to get players to The Neighbourhood is that not everyone wants to guide their created player through another NBA season. “A little off the top and a shave down below thanks.”
#Game nba 2k18 series
After a series of scrappy scrimmages in the Kings’ practice facility, Chip/DJ was offered a roster spot, and soon enough he was getting minutes in the NBA. Yet, Chip/DJ somehow caught the attention of a scout from the Sacramento Kings, the team I’d selected as my favourite when creating Chip (I should have been less honest!). Forgetting Chip’s shitty DJ-ing career, perhaps? I was a little rusty and hardly the best player on court. When I finally got control of my player, I had to impress on the streetball court in the hopes of… well, I didn’t yet know. And the more I got to see of DJ, the more my first impressions of an entitled jerk were cemented. An odd set-up for a character in a BASKETBALL game, for sure. It takes what could be the ultimate immersive experience, a seamless blend of carefully crafted narrative and genuine on-court achievement, and turns it into a nightmare of microtransactions, product placement and inane set pieces.Īs I played through the career of my 6’1” sharpshooter, Chip Pnini (a homage to Tom Sainsbury’s Paula Bennett) my desire to inhabit another hero’s quest was continually undercut by the game’s mechanics.įrom the first stream of unskippable cut-scenes, all of my character- and world-building seemed for naught: I was not humble and undersized Chip Pnini, but “DJ”, a former college hoops star who pursued his music career instead of entering the NBA draft. Nonetheless, here’s my beef with the best basketball video game ever: M圜areer keeps stepping on its own dick.
#Game nba 2k18 tv
The modes on offer are almost limitless, the gameplay is unparalleled, and it gives many TV broadcasts a run for their money in the looks department. Now, it’s impossible to criticise NBA 2K18 without coming off like a spoiled brat, a fusty dinosaur or some impossible combination of the two. Two years ago, Spike fricken Lee directed the story elements that were interwoven into each player’s quest for stardom.īut I want to talk about this year’s edition, NBA 2K18, which dropped last month.
Virtual Concept’s NBA 2K franchise long ago unseated NBA Live as the best basketball gaming experience and its M圜areer mode has been a mainstay since 2010. It made me who I am today (which is to say: hit or miss in the company of others). Back in my day, I had to concoct all the backstories and subplots myself.
#Game nba 2k18 upgrade
This was before the advent of career modes, where you work to upgrade one player and impress a series of scouts, agents and coaches until you hit the big time. Instead, I got my narrative thrills pretending to be a rookie phenom while shooting hoops on my driveway and - with the arrival of EA Sports’ NBA Live in 1994 - in video game simulations. Y’know, things you might expect a novelist-in-training might wallow in while waiting for the Dalicin T to clear his zits.
I’ve never played Dungeons and Dragons or Zelda or anything normally associated with role-playing or fantasy. Craig Cliff finds the narrative elements within the latest installment of the popular 2K franchise don’t work, unless you resort to a radical reading of DJ’s story.