NBA 2K13 Demo Available Now For 360 and PS3, Post Impressions Here

[blues rocker]

heh...well, i said i was going to stay away from here for a few months, but i couldn't resist sharing a few quick impressions.

Good:
-Layups and dunks feel a lot quicker and more appropriate (quicker, moving gathers, rather than all of those stopping gathers from 2k12)

-Players feel more responsive and directional changes are tighter and more explosive.

-Defensive control is tighter and the contact with the ball handler feels right most of the time.

-Passing overall feels quicker and more responsive


Issues I'm seeing:
-Players are always stopping to catch passes. It's especially annoying when you have a teammate cutting to the hoop, but then he stops moving forward as he catches the ball, rather than catching it in stride. This issue started to pop up in 2k12 and seems even worse now. Seems like almost every time I pass to a cutter, he stops cutting (note: I use only icon passing, so it may be an issue with the icon passing).

-Too many automatic animations. Just one example: as you start to come near a defender, your player will automatically switch the ball to the other hand as if to protect the ball. I'd rather have control of this myself. These auto-animations kind of ruin the feeling of control for me. There are other examples of these auto-amations, but I have to play some more to remember them.

-The uses for the lead pass have been greatly reduced. You can no longer use it to direct your teammates to cut to open areas. You can only use it to barely lead a receiver who is already moving. This started last year in 2k12, and i was waiting to see if it was a fluke or if 2k was going to continue with it. Apparently it's the latter. This really takes away the enjoyment of the passing game for me. Yes, Pre-2k12 the lead pass was too effective, because it made players accelerate too quickly...but i'd still like the ability to direct a stationary receiver to another area.

-The sprint trigger is still unresponsive in the half court. It was an issue in 2k12 and it's still there. If i'm dribbling in the half court and want to explode forward, I hit turbo, but my player just doesn't feel like he explodes forward. This inability to speed up when you want to can get annoying. Much like in 2k12, speed bursts in the half court almost seem automatic, where your player will speed up on his own but not when you pressed the trigger.

-A lot of the crossovers still feel too canned...again a leftover issue from 2k12 - the crossover animation often takes control of your player and forces him to keep running forward for a few steps after the crossover animation.

-Many animations (like dunks and euro steps) are still not affected by contact physics. Once the gather starts, the player is just going to push defenders aside.


Some improvements, some remaining issues. It's definitely better than 2k12, but the lingering issues are leaving me a bit disappointed. Perhaps I got my hopes up too high.

[Steve Nashhole]

Game feels pretty sloppy tbh ( don't know if this is because I haven't mastered the controls yet ), there's a lot of sliding and the dribbling feels really floaty, like the ball sometimes doesn't touch the floor on the dribble moves.. defense is annoying because I can't defend whoever I want, it tells me who to guard and I can't break that point towards whoever thing if that makes sense. Does setting defensive assist to 0 in the real game neturalize this effect?? Dunks look really fast, almost too fast. Other than that this game is pretty awesome. But there's lots of wtf moments in the demo.

[Pared]

Quote: Originally Posted by SPRINGS03

You think a look at his top ten dunks(meaning some of the best dunks he's ever done in his career), means he dunks like that anytime he gets space? And none of those dunks looked like the crazy tomahawk he pulled off in the game, his arm was cocked back so far it was ridiculous lol(it was like his #7 dunk but crazier). The point is, while he's definitely not a bad dunker, he's not a dunk artist either. There needs to be tendency for how often people try to do crazy dunks.

So you saw him do it once and now there needs to be a tendency? You would need to view at least tens of games to be able to say this, not point to one instance in a 5 minute, one quarter demo and say he doesn't do that. I just gave you proof that is wrong. That's all.

Quote: Originally Posted by vannwolfhawk

I agree 100%. I had an open mind as well, and went in trying to give it an honest go, but its not natural and makes more sense to hold LT and right stick for dribble moves than the current setup. Maybe thats just because of my style of play (not a iso motion guy/more set plays guy). I know I sound like a broken record. Im just glad 2k's motto this year was giving us the options to play the way we want. Not having the option to go to an alternative would have really soured me towards this game. I am sure I would have adapted and learned to deal with it, but i would not have liked it! LOL!

Quote: Originally Posted by Mintsa

Hey Pared, I agree 100 % with your post. I said the exact same thing when they first announced the control scheme. The shot stick should be default & the dribble stick should be secondary (only activated with the trigger button). Thats what seems to be the more logical lay out of the controls to me anyway. This kinda tucks away the shot stick and not make it the main feature on offense. Edit: And hopefully the alternate control schemes can be saved and not have to be changed before every game......I'm referring to online play here.

I know the way these guys work and there must be something I'm missing. I think there may have been issues with people doing a dribble move then accidentally shooting or something of the sort. I just think they should have found a way to reverse the default, even though we have options. The developers agree that this game is also a great learning tool... and right now you're teaching "students" that it's all about crazy dribbling right off the bat.

Just my take....

Quote: Originally Posted by iLLosophy

I agree as well, but at the same time I don't want to be the guy who's left out to dry if 2k ever decides to remove the shot button. That's the main reason I learned the shot stick because way more emphasis was being placed on it, implying the shot button was being deprecated (In hindsight I see that's not the case). Honestly if we could control all our buttons mappings instead of having to select predefined configurations, none of this would be a problem.

Honestly - remapping of all buttons would be a nightmare. You would lose a TON of functionality if they gave you free reign to move anything to any button.

[Thunder Storm]

Quote: Originally Posted by vannwolfhawk

I thought the post and thread about using 3 buttons to dunk (using the shot stick) was funny. Kind of crazy for the casual gamers who all they want to do is dunk and now they have to try and use 3 buttons to do it! There will be complaints to follow I guarantee!

lol I never even knew people used the stick while driving. Why don't people just use X or [] to do layups/dunks ? Especially casuals.

[piccolomair]

Im late to post, but my thoughts

postives:
Physics
--Animation (especially on shots, the intuitive shot selection by the A.I. is damn near perfect, unlike 2k12)
--Physicality (the whistle doesnt blow for every stupid thing this time around, which i like)
--Dribble 'tricks' use stamina (its a nice little nuance that i absolutely love)
--Check and balance system (everything you do in the game CAN be countered it seems, so knowing basketball does actually play into success)
--Player physique (lebron feels like a super fast tank on the break, if westbrook gets a step on you hes getting past you and whatever contact you put in his path, dwayne wade is slippery and deceptive going through traffic)

Negatives:
--Not sure i like some of the Jay Z 'touches' (some of the background stuff seems like it should be for knockout kings or Fight Night, I like the 2k12 presentation overall, it had a NBA Presenation vibe to it, this presentation looks confused, like it wants to be an NBA game but is being bogged down by a video game design.
--The Soundtrack (its not even the fact that most of the tracks are seemingly Rap tracks, im not a huge fan of Rap music but its not like i hate terribly, though i know there will be people who do. What i dislike is that most of the songs are stuff played on the radio, and i sorta enjoy hearing songs and bands ive never heard of. I havent heard the whole ost, but the only non rap songs i heard was Colplay viva lavida, around the world, and one other rock track which was refreshing since i didnt know the artist...though song was mediocre at best

--Player models (some players are done really well, like wade. Some are done weird. Bosh looks alright at times, and then at other times he looks deformed. Kevin Durant almost looks generic, westbrook looks fine. Its really more noticeable in replays though. The bulky characters might bother some people, but i like the added muscle definition to players, and i think it helps the physics engine out.)

--Defensive Reaction (sometimes turning around to face the ball is a chore. Applying a double team takes a second longer than it should. If the ball is in the post and i become a guard to help try to secure a rebound, and the ball is kicked out to my assignment, i have to wait till my guard turns around before i can contest, and in that amount of time the cpu is already knocking down the shot. Id like it more that if you hold LT(aggressive defense) then your player should automatically pay attention to the ball.

Overall though i really really like the demo....i cant wait to screw around with the sliders

[vannwolfhawk]

Quote: Originally Posted by blues rocker

-The sprint trigger is still unresponsive in the half court. It was an issue in 2k12 and it's still there. If i'm dribbling in the half court and want to explode forward, I hit turbo, but my player just doesn't feel like he explodes forward. This inability to speed up when you want to can get annoying. Much like in 2k12, speed bursts in the half court almost seem automatic, where your player will speed up on his own but not when you pressed the trigger.

Yes yes and yes! I spoke about this to devs too! I teach my kids every day about exploding out of triple threat and creating space. It drives me crazy when Im jab stepping in triple threat, create a bit of space and then I want to attack it, but when I hit turbo to now attack a area the defensive player has already recovered to and is now not open all because the turbo is so unresponsive.

[vannwolfhawk]

Quote: Originally Posted by Thunder Storm

lol I never even knew people used the stick while driving. Why don't people just use X or [] to do layups/dunks ? Especially casuals.

I have always used the shot button for jumpers and the shot stick for all drives, dunks, and post moves. I continuously in the demo and at team up would have a lane to dunk, to then just run straight out of bounds... LOL

[Drewski]

Quote: Originally Posted by vannwolfhawk

I have always used the shot button for jumpers and the shot stick for all drives, dunks, and post moves. I continuously in the demo and at team up would have a lane to dunk, to then just run straight out of bounds... LOL

This is exactly how I use shot button and shot stick, and this demo has me all sorts of mixed up. Keeping an open mind still, but I really don't feel like I need the dribble stick for all 15 players on my team, for example, and would rather have the functionality of the shot stick back.

Going to keep plugging away at it though. Got a week to decide.

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