NBA 2K21 PS4 Pro Review - Is it any good? Or is the greed of microtransactions taking over? - AIR Entertainment
  • Review Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
AIR Entertainment
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
    Pumpkin Jack PS4 Review – The definitive Halloween experience

    Pumpkin Jack PS4 Review – The definitive Halloween experience

    Monster Sanctuary PS4 Review – Gotta hatch ’em all

    Monster Sanctuary PS4 Review – Gotta hatch ’em all

    Review: Monster Energy Supercross 4 (PS4) – The bike strikes back

    Review: Monster Energy Supercross 4 (PS4) – The bike strikes back

    Tales of the Neon Sea (Review) – 2D Cyberpunk Detective Glory

    Tales of the Neon Sea (Review) – 2D Cyberpunk Detective Glory

    Review: Redout: Space Assault (PS4) – To boldly go where we’ve all been before.

    Review: Redout: Space Assault (PS4) – To boldly go where we’ve all been before.

    Vermintide 2 (PC) – 3 Years Old and Still Awesome

    Vermintide 2 (PC) – 3 Years Old and Still Awesome

    Ys IX - Monstrum Nox

    Review: Ys IX – Monstrum Nox – Prison break groundhog day

  • Forums
  • Game Trailers
    • Indie Game Trailers
  • Login
  • Register
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
    Pumpkin Jack PS4 Review – The definitive Halloween experience

    Pumpkin Jack PS4 Review – The definitive Halloween experience

    Monster Sanctuary PS4 Review – Gotta hatch ’em all

    Monster Sanctuary PS4 Review – Gotta hatch ’em all

    Review: Monster Energy Supercross 4 (PS4) – The bike strikes back

    Review: Monster Energy Supercross 4 (PS4) – The bike strikes back

    Tales of the Neon Sea (Review) – 2D Cyberpunk Detective Glory

    Tales of the Neon Sea (Review) – 2D Cyberpunk Detective Glory

    Review: Redout: Space Assault (PS4) – To boldly go where we’ve all been before.

    Review: Redout: Space Assault (PS4) – To boldly go where we’ve all been before.

    Vermintide 2 (PC) – 3 Years Old and Still Awesome

    Vermintide 2 (PC) – 3 Years Old and Still Awesome

    Ys IX - Monstrum Nox

    Review: Ys IX – Monstrum Nox – Prison break groundhog day

  • Forums
  • Game Trailers
    • Indie Game Trailers
No Result
View All Result
AIR Entertainment
No Result
View All Result
Home reviews

NBA 2K21 PS4 Pro Review – Is it any good? Or is the greed of microtransactions taking over?

Andi by Andi
September 24, 2020
in reviews
0 0
3
Everything is Dame: NBA 2K21 to feature Damian Lillard as the Cover Athlete for the current generation
0
SHARES
22
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

NBA 2K21 PS4 Pro review: NBA 2K21 has been released in its yearly fashion from 2K Games, but is it that much of an improvement over last years title for it to jump above and slam the ball through the hoop for the fans?

The problem with annual releases is that it is hard to make a vast amount of improvements over your last title for the game to stand out. Unfortunately this does feel like the case with NBA 2K21; its not a vast improvement over last year. Now, we are at a point in gaming where the PS5 and Xbox Series X are about to release and a lot of developers are focussing on those machines.

We know that NBA 2K21 will be available for next gen consoles. When Sony aired the first PlayStation 5 reveal, NBA 2K21 was part of the game line-up with some stunning looking graphics, but that leads me to question if developers have been looking to put more work into the next gen graphics and performance over a games actual quality.

I’m not saying the above is all bad. AIR Entertainment have a PS5 on pre-order ready to review this game again when we can get hands on with next gen, but currently on the PS4 Pro it does feel like it was just a direct continuation of last year.

Contents

  • 1 NBA 2K21 PS4 Pro Review – Tip Off
  • 2 NBA 2K21 PS4 Pro Review – MyTeam
  • 3 NBA 2K21 PS4 Pro Review – The Neighbourhood
  • 4 NBA 2K21 PS4 Pro Review – Ball Control
  • 5 NBA 2K21 PS4 Pro Review – Overtime

NBA 2K21 PS4 Pro Review – Tip Off

The first thing I always like to do with games like this is to design my own player and through the player creation I managed to design the exact same looking player that I had last year. I had wanted to use 2K‘s joint mobile app for the game to scan my own face into the game, but it didn’t work. I had tried with last years title as well and had the same issue. I had started to scan my face in the way I was told, moving the camera on my phone around my head and it started to scan but there were 3 or 4 frames of my head that it refused to take. No matter how much I tried to capture them, nothing. I then closed the app down and tried again, but every time after that it refused to work at all so just gave in. As I said, last year I had the same issue of it not scanning my face.

Once my player was built I started off in the Career mode. Your player takes to the college courts to start his career. I dont want to give story specifics for risk of spoilers here but the entire story of getting into the NBA felt too much like the Career from last year and there were numerous times where I was very tempted to just skip past it all straight to the NBA Career. The courts that have been designed for the College game do look really good however. Not as clean and polished in looks as the NBA for obvious reasons, confusing painted lines all over from other sports that may take part in the gyms which all adds a great touch.

Once all of that is out of the way and you get your draft pick within the NBA for a major team then its business as usual for as long as you want to continue going with it. Training to level up your stats and playing games which is about it other than a few cut scenes to work out sponsor deals to bring in more money, work on your fan levels and team chemistry. All of which have featured in previous titles.

I understand that the world has and is still going through a pandemic and therefore developers have really had a hard time in creating games due to lockdown restrictions. It is difficult to give a true scale on how much that has impacted on games that were in development and how many shortcuts had to be taken to reach release obligations. With all of that in mind, I don’t really want to be overly critical however I do feel that as next gen is 2 months away, the release price for this years current gen game could have been lower especially when you do look at the next gen trailers, it promises to blow this game out of the water in every way.

NBA 2K21 PS4 Pro Review – MyTeam

One of the better parts of the game for me at least is the MyTeam game. I’m sure that everyone is familiar with the general idea of building a team of all star players, playing games to rack up the money and buying better players that. The problem here lies with microtransactions. The only way you can really level up fast is by buying VC (Virtual Currency) or you are left to grind out mundane tasks to bring in the money. Luckily however, over last year, they have tweaked the evolution cards.

You will start your MyTeam career with one of these cards, to level up you have to complete certain tasks on court. Last year once you had completed the said tasks the card would level up and on to the next set of tasks. This year you can choose different paths for evolving the player focussing on the likes of athleticism or playmaking for instance allowing you to focus on the teams play a little better depending on your play style. Unfortunately though, there just isn’t enough different ways to enjoyably grind out upgrades for your team. Microtransactions are always a point of contempt, but in a game like this they are painfully obvious, especially when you take the game online.

NBA 2K21 PS4 Pro Review – The Neighbourhood

The Neighbourhood is still the central part of the game for your player. This year it is set around beachside courts surrounded by all of the shops that have featured before. You can spends your game winnings in these shops for aesthetic purposes; buying tattoos, clothes, shoes etc for your player but they all do feel grossly overpriced for the amount of money that you win through games within the game. The only sure way to be a force to be reckoned with here, especially against other players is to plough money into player upgrades. You can level up everything yourself and avoid piling real money into the game, but it will take a very long time. The balance of reward is small compared to that of what you win.

The online also feels unstable. I had instances of the game crashing when I tried to access certain areas, especially if they require a loading screen. I often wonder what happens with the numerous crash reports that I sent through to Sony, if anyone can shed some light on that please let me know! Whilst playing online games the game connection would kick me out (and trust me, I have a strong enough connection rate for that not to happen). Trying to get into a game online would sometimes be impossible; standing myself on the mark to say I’ve got next on court and it would just leave me standing there when all the other players take to the court and I would have to shut the game down and reload.

I am hoping that all of these issues are removed when it comes to the next gen, but as it is it is seriously frustrating at the best of times and does spoil what is still a good game. Patches have been implemented already, but none have addressed the issues.

NBA 2K21 PS4 Pro Review – Ball Control

When the game flows it is a joy to behold. Fancy ball handling moves are lovely to watch when you use them to wrong foot an opposing player. Replays of seeing your player dunking the ball clean over the top of a standing defender clearing his head in the process. Signature fancy dunks and the sound of the net swooshing from the ball going clean through without hitting the rim in the process are all great but its not as easy as that.

The shooting system from last year has been tweaked and unfortunately for the worse. You can opt to use the right stick to control your shots with precision direction which will allow you to pull off some spectacular moves, or you can use the good ol’ shot timing mode by holding the shoot button and releasing at the right time. The problem with the shot timing method is that it is all out. The majority of shots that I took were right on the mark for a perfect shot but missed by miles. Last year I was shooting in exactly the same way and shots were flying in when I needed them to.

Difficulty levels do seem to be upped this year as well; the game feels harder to play and presents more of a challenge to win games which is a good thing on the whole, but again there are issues with the AI. Numerous times I encountered them attacking and then just standing with the ball on the edge of the 3-point line until the shot clock ran out and the ball was passed to my team.

Defence seems to be more based on running into attacking players rather than being able to stop them. It is too easy for the AI to simply run past your defence and not really be able to challenge for the ball. If you do get the chance to challenge for the ball then 9 times out of 10 you will commit a foul. Moments of swatting the ball away from the basket were few and far between as was stealing the ball from the attackers. OK, I’m probably not the best basketball player in the world, but I’m not quite that bad. They have made the game harder to master which is always a good thing, but not sure it has been pulled off quite right here.

NBA 2K21 PS4 Pro Review – Overtime

Overall the game does look great. There are improvements over last year in some areas, but not really enough to make it worth running out and getting, especially if you own 2K20. The overall graphics feel the same as well as a lot of the play. Movement does feel smoother and when dribbling it feels like the handcuffs have been removed from last year allowing more freedom in your moves if your skill of the game allows it.

Shooting is a sore point and it seems that it is not just me that has been having issues with it when looking through online forums. That being said, I do feel that my skill within the game has been tested and is slowly improving the more time I sink in to it. As I refuse to spend money on microtransactions, that is a lot of time playing trying to gain money to improve my player within the game. It feels as if 2K ave lost focus on the fun that you can have on court focussing more on how much money can be extracted from peoples wallets

As I have said, I hope all of the issues I have raised in this review are addressed for next gen, but at the moment I am feeling more pessimistic about the future of the game rather than optimistic. I will however review the PS5 version of the game as soon as I have my hands on the console and report back if the issues are still around or next gen blows this gen away.

Tags: 2K GamesNba 2k21online gaming
Previous Post

Borderlands 3 Review (PC) – Is it still worth playing?

Next Post

WRC 9 PS4 Pro Review – Is the off-road rallying frenzy any good?

Andi

Andi

Related Posts

Pumpkin Jack PS4 Review – The definitive Halloween experience
reviews

Pumpkin Jack PS4 Review – The definitive Halloween experience

March 22, 2021
Monster Sanctuary PS4 Review – Gotta hatch ’em all
reviews

Monster Sanctuary PS4 Review – Gotta hatch ’em all

March 15, 2021
Review: Monster Energy Supercross 4 (PS4) – The bike strikes back
reviews

Review: Monster Energy Supercross 4 (PS4) – The bike strikes back

March 20, 2021
Tales of the Neon Sea (Review) – 2D Cyberpunk Detective Glory
Indie Gaming

Tales of the Neon Sea (Review) – 2D Cyberpunk Detective Glory

February 28, 2021
Review: Redout: Space Assault (PS4) – To boldly go where we’ve all been before.
reviews

Review: Redout: Space Assault (PS4) – To boldly go where we’ve all been before.

February 25, 2021
Vermintide 2 (PC) – 3 Years Old and Still Awesome
reviews

Vermintide 2 (PC) – 3 Years Old and Still Awesome

February 24, 2021
Next Post
WRC 9 PS4 Pro Review

WRC 9 PS4 Pro Review - Is the off-road rallying frenzy any good?

Comments 3

  1. Pingback: Crusader Kings 3 Review - An Amazing New Standard for Strategy
  2. Pingback: AIR's Favourite Top 5 PitchYaGame Pitches From Round 5 - AIR Entertainment
  3. Pingback: FIFA 21 - The Best FIFA 21 Ultimate Team Coin Making Guide!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

affiliate


Pre-Purchase HITMAN 3 for PC at Green Man Gaming

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Genshin Impact Verifying Issues/Stuck on Verifying – How to Fix!

Genshin Impact Verifying Issues/Stuck on Verifying – How to Fix!

December 24, 2020
Top 10 Richest Video Game Companies

Top 10 Richest Video Game Companies

January 31, 2021
Best Among Us Match Settings For All Numbers of Players

Best Among Us Match Settings For All Numbers of Players

October 25, 2020
How to Stop Enemies From Spawning In Your Valheim Base

How to Stop Enemies From Spawning In Your Valheim Base

March 1, 2021
Genshin Impact Verifying Issues/Stuck on Verifying – How to Fix!

Genshin Impact Verifying Issues/Stuck on Verifying – How to Fix!

14
The Sims 4 Nifty Knitting Stuff Pack Review | AIR Entertainment

The Sims 4 Nifty Knitting Stuff Pack Review

10
Doom Eternal Review Cover Image

Doom Eternal Review PS4: Is It Worth Buying?

10
Demolish & Build Switch Review | AIR Entertainment

Demolish & Build 2018 Review | Nintendo Switch

8
Resident Evil Series – Why The Periodic Gameplay Overhauls are Good for the Series

Resident Evil Series – Why The Periodic Gameplay Overhauls are Good for the Series

March 22, 2021
Pumpkin Jack PS4 Review – The definitive Halloween experience

Pumpkin Jack PS4 Review – The definitive Halloween experience

March 22, 2021
Red Dead Redemption 2 The Outlaw Pass 5 – Out Now!

Red Dead Redemption 2 The Outlaw Pass 5 – Out Now!

March 16, 2021
Monster Sanctuary PS4 Review – Gotta hatch ’em all

Monster Sanctuary PS4 Review – Gotta hatch ’em all

March 15, 2021

Advert

Advert

AIR Entertainment

We are a small independent gaming website, we love all thing's gaming, from huge triple A titles to small indie hidden gems.

Our Friends

Pea Head Games

Recently Active Members

Profile picture of Japes
Profile picture of alicedeacon9755
Profile picture of Fracter
Profile picture of Maggie Linders
Profile picture of tabathafrick406
Profile picture of shaunaboelke66
Profile picture of constanceroehl5
Profile picture of jackt3667645173
Profile picture of Неистовый [ Неистовый ]
Profile picture of infocaptain
Profile picture of Luke Pillar
Profile picture of Islajack
Profile picture of dylanroot21
Profile picture of rodricklomax594
Profile picture of janihalloran949
  • Review Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us

© 2021 Air Entertainment.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Forums
  • Game Trailers
    • Indie Game Trailers
  • Login
  • Sign Up

© 2021 Air Entertainment.

Welcome Back!

Sign In with Facebook
OR

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Sign Up with Facebook
OR

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In