As
the battle between NBA Live 2009 and NBA 2K9 heats up, it’s time
to road test NBA 2K9 that has been developed by Visual Concepts
and has always been one of the better basketball games available
on the market.
Although 2BA 2K9 has received a slight facelift
since its previous version in terms of gameplay and graphics,
what sets this game apart from EA’s NBA Live 2009 is the
“Association” concept which a very in-depth management system
and uses the official guidelines of the NBA.
This feature is
quite detailed on the PlayStation 3 and fans of sporting manager
systems will be thoroughly pleased with the amount of options
available to them. The other new addition to the franchise is
the ability to play a real basketball match online with
five-on-five action that means you can have five in your team
and play against another five players. Match that with the
ability to play team-ups or my personal favourite street ball or
even joining a league, the online options are truly immersive
and enjoyable.
Although in its essence, NBA 2K9 is a simulation arcade
basketball game with a healthy dose of management options, for
those wanting to play traditional basketball, this is also
available in the game and as per last year, the game does it
quite well.
The control system is very well mapped on the PS3
controller, although it will take the novice gamer some time to
master due to some of the complex maneuvers available. All the
defense and offence maneuvers are also available which makes
for a thorough basketball experience on the PlayStation 3. I was
quite pleased at how realistic the control system felt for NBA
2K9.
The only downside to the control system were generally when
we played it Live as the camera angles were at times awkward,
fortunately this did not happen too often.
The artificial
intelligence of the title ranges from good to quite difficult,
depending on which level you are playing the game, however there
were only a few mediocre issues that we experienced with the AI
but generally the players do perform quite well and it’s not
always up to the human player to score.
Graphically, NBA 2K9 is visually quite impressive with extremely
detailed courts and players who move like their real-world
counterparts. The texture details of the players is quite
detailed, especially their faces who have basic animations which
assist in the realism of the title. This is probably one of the
most realistic features of hair that I have also seen in a
sports game.
I must admit that the crowd
animation of the title has been thoroughly improved in this
version which interact well with how well the match is
proceeding. Although not on the same level as EA’s NBA Live 09,
NBA 2K9 is still quite impressive.
All in all the presentation
of title is very slick and match that with some great basketball
sounds and also the addition of Kellog and Miller for the
commentary and at times it’s almost as if you are watching
basketball on TV.
At
the end of the day, NBA 2K9 is quite a solid game which features
good gameplay, a great management system and some very decent
graphics. The Association mode of NBA 2K9 definitely adds to the
realism of the title and the series can only get better.
Definitely one for the basketball lover.
