CPU AI: I swear every time I read one of these previews for a new NBA 2K game, the author is talking about how the CPU is so realistic and how each team plays like it does in real life. For the first time, I honestly feel like this year that statement is completely true. There are several examples I noticed:
Rockets v. Lakers - The AI consistently looks for Howard in the post, Lin in the pick and roll and Harden on Isos and pick and rolls. Shooters like Parsons hang out on the perimeter waiting for kick outs by Harden and Lin off picks. Houston also shoots a ton of threes like in real life. Cavs v. Wizards – Irving absolutely destroyed me with the pick and roll(40 points and a game winning layup) but he didn’t ball hog. CPU ran several post plays for Bennett and Bynum. Waiters also got a few touches but he struggled in the game. Grizzlies v. Thunder – CPU looks for Randolph and Gasol consistently in the post. Randolph plays like he does in real life. For example, he went to work in the post on two straight possessions. One ended with a baby hook in the lane. The second was him pivoting to face up Ibaka and sinking a 17ft jumper in his face.
Don't know if asked but are there still insane closeouts on shooters by guys like Lebron--flying out of nowhere to block what should have been an open shot?
I had a big problem with forcing organic turnovers last year against the computer (i.e. not just relying on stealing the inbounds passes). Does 2K14 seem to produce more realistic turnover opportunities via the reading of passing lanes, on-ball strips, helpside tips, and player error (computer/human dribbling into a crowd, losing control)?
Thanks for the concise and relevant write-up aholbert32. I think you have reassured me more then any other reviewer that this year's purchase is still worth the time and effort.
My questions focus on the defensive side of the ball; thank you for your answers in advance:
1: With regard to players with signature skills - is there a difference in actual game-play within their specialty or do these players still fill very generic and interchangeable?
2: Do the lower level defenders show their defensive limits out-of-the-box or do you feel we are going to need to tweek the rosters to reflect their issues?
3: I am still a bit concerned with ai perimeter closing and shading; almost all the gameplay vids I've seen still show the ai lagging off of deadly perimeter players (ie Ray Allen in the corner) in key situations. During your gameplay, was the ai shadowing their assignments decently, forcing the play elsewhere or were they still allowing for too many kick-out opportunities as in years past?
Well....I have some bad news. I cant find the Coach Mode option and I think its been removed. I spent about 5 min this morning looking through every setting and I cant find it. Its no longer in the Coach Settings menu either.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! That sucks. Thanks for checking and I appreciate your impressions.
Does the steal button=automatic foul in 2k14? Or is it still a wild pimp smack like last year? And if you miss a steal what happens? How is the recovery from a missed steal?
I would still like to know if there's any improvement in shoe creator/if it's still there. Also any other shoes added/removed. Thanks for taking time for looking at our comments, aholbert.
EDIT: Steve took care of what shoes were in the game, now I gotta see the shoe creator.
You can still pick the player you want for the help on the double team but it forces you to play off ball and bring him manually. I was really hoping they brought back the old way this year but it is what it is.
As a gameplay mechanic the double has to be connected to a rotation. When you do a manual double that isn't always the case. Which is why you don't always see rotations on manual double teams if you don't press double team button. And again I was just speculating on a concrete gameplay reason this may have been taking out. It could just as easily have been something else.
Thanks for the answer CZAR. I guess my bigger question is how much of the playbook/gameplay improvements/fixes did translated over to the classic teams/players as far as spacing improvement oncourt AI improvement, playcalling etc...
All of the spacing and movement that happens outside of a play aka the freelance enhancements are all there for classics as well. It's just their set plays will not have all the new bell's and whistles including any refinements to make them run better like handoff's etc.
The general system upgrades may have their set plays running better but they weren't edited to take advantage of the new improvements.