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

[bulliesyard]

Anyone on the celeb team is fair game. So may see Vinny fist pumping after a made basket...[/quote]

[Vni]

I've been playing the demo for 3 days now and even though I really didn't like it at first I didn't give up on it. I gotta say my opinion on the demo is much better now than it was after my first few games.

What I liked from the demo:

The AI. It is a big step in the right direction and one I didn't expect. The AI is a lot smarter now, they give their star players lots of touches and they seem to finally play like themselves. Durant is a killer in this game even if you're playing against the AI. More random things can happen aswell as I've seen the AI travel with Perkins, on the fastbreak the AI is able to do everything, bounce pass for a dunk, pass on the side for a 3 points or what I saw last night stop on a dime with Durant and fire a wide open 3 pointer. Thing I had never seen from 2K's AI.

Contacts on the perimeter is pretty well represented. I still have some issue playing on ball D but I feel it is more because of the camera angle than anything else.

Dribble pullups are even smoother than last year. Post game move's animation are smoother than last year aswell and it is more noob friendly now so it's a good thing I guess.
Driving the lanes. It's someting that was really lacking in 2K12. While I really don't master the right stick dribbling yet I'am already seeing the potential and the agressivness of smaller guards. It's gona be really good.

Passing & Bounce pass. Im still not using the bounce pass a lot but I see the potential. Passing in general is improved to me.

Jumpshots are smoother and seem very accurate.

Walking animations.

What I didn't like from the demo:

Turbo button is unresponsive. When I press it I feel like I never know when it's gona take effect. It might be a user error but it's my feeling at the moment.

On ball defense input lag. I don't know if it's just me but when I play On ball D I feel like if I'am not anticipating everything I'll get owned everytime. Reacting will always be too late in the demo and I feel there is a delay between the moment I react and I see it happening on the court.

Little FPS drop in transition or mini freezes I woudn't know what to call them.

Lack of contacts in the paint and morphing. Morphing still happens in the paint and the lack of contact seems to me like it hasn't improved a lot compared to last year. Lots of the time I feel like there should be a foul, a block or a contact animation but nothing happens. Not a good feeling to see that.

Graphics. While the game in motion looks phenomenal from closer it seems like it took a step backward. Some player faces look terrible. What is going on with Durant's face? Collison's? Lebron's? Even his handband seems glitched and aliased (And it's not placed correctly I know). Maynor's skin texture looks like he's in standard defination. I'am hoping it's just because of the demo and all that will get cleaned for the retail version.

I leave the dribble stick as a neutral opinion for now because I don't master it, and the fact that the demo is only Broadcast camera to the people that doesn't own Kinect isn't helping me. I definately like it more than I used to at first.

So I'am still unsure about the game and I'll wait for the retail version to get a strong opinion on it.

Btw I've played 2K12 yesterday and the game didn't feel THAT much different. 2K12 actually felt more responsive in Offense aswell as in Defense.

[Steve Nashhole]

dont feel like searching page after page so why does pared think the full game is that much better than the demo? whts the difference besides commentary and lb working? just curious

[Optik]

Quote: Originally Posted by blues rocker

i posted this in the controls thread, but i figured i'd copy it here, because it might help those who are struggling with the controls. this is what made the control click for me - the right stick dribbling is really best when used only for "stand-still sizeups". the right stick should mostly be thought of as the "sizeup stick". once you are moving, it is best to stay away from the right stick, because the left stick dribble moves and right stick dribble moves will be fighting each other. what i had to understand was that the player automatically does crossovers, stepbacks, spins with just the left stick...i was accustomed to using a modifier for those moves in previous 2k's...so seeing my player do them automatically without a modifier was really throwing me off. i was trying to do these moves with the right stick, but i really only needed to left stick to do them. what was confusing me is that there is a bit of a redundancy going on - a lot of similar dribble moves can be performed with both the right stick or the left stick (spins, crossovers, stepbacks). what was messing me up is that i'd be driving and i'd want to do a crossover, so i'd use the right stick to do crossover, but my player would automatically do a crossover with the left stick, then he'd do another dribble move from my right stick input...so my player would do two animations when i only wanted one - the left stick crossover and right stick move were fighting each other. once i stopped using the right stick while moving, it all started to work. the only move i use the right stick for while moving is the behind-the-back, because there is no way to pull that off with just the left stick.

Great post. This is exactly how I felt about the controls after my second day of playing the demo. Your bold comments really sum up what I feel about it. I also agree with you on the fact that it feels redundant. Time will only tell, whether they designed it that way so you could make even more precise and quicker movements.

The left stick just seems to be the "DYNAMIC motion stick", i.e. you are actually moving your whole body whether laterally, longitudinal or rotationally. The right stick seems to be the "STATIC motion stick", i.e. you are staying in the same position but your arms and the ball are moving.

[caml17]

LT+RT triggers on defense is much more important this year. Last year you could get away without them, this year you will get blown by if you don't use the triggers

[Pared]

Quote: Originally Posted by caml17

LT+RT triggers on defense is much more important this year. Last year you could get away without them, this year you will get blown by if you don't use the triggers

There are plenty more contact animations that allow you to beat your man to the spot defensively in the full game.

Enough that I foresee people complaining about the "bumping" being back. I hope they don't change it though - it feels great knowing you aren't at the mercy of the offense on the perimeter at times.

I still would like there to be a way to contest some shots very close to the rim. There are still too many times where a player can pumpfake and make a shot on three people defending. It's almost as if the offensive player doesn't know they are there. This has been in the game for a while - the lack of "presence" on the inside by the defense. There is little to no reason to bring the ball back out aside from the game forcing the missed shots.

I like that it keeps the paint bombers honest but it just feels artificial.

[iLLosophy]

Pared how is rebounding? There aren't any really good rebounders in the demo so it is hard to gauge but it looked like it was all over the place. Do the good rebounders dominate like you expect them to?

[Pared]

They get their boards but I would say it's just a slight improvement - nothing groundbreaking.

The ball can become dislodged at times and you'll see it "ping-pong" around a bit in the frenzy in the paint. Problem is some of the AI players don't realize this and it's tough to come up with it.

I just think that "forcefield" is still there enough when rebounding to be noticeable.

I really don't like it during other times, such as alley-oops, self alleys and put-backs. Those animations still don't seem able to be fully interrupted or enough to "bother" the offensive player.