September 21, 2009 - Trends in sports games permeate every franchise out there. Whether it's NHL changing the multiplayer paradigm or NBA Live and its Dynamic DNA, every popular innovation is sure to be emulated elsewhere. Such is the case with NBA 2K10's My Player, a mode that we've seen from other sports franchises but is making its way to basketball for the first time. It follows a similar model as the Be A Pro mode from NHL and Virtual Pro from FIFA where gamers design their own player and build him up into a hopeful superstar, and it's all infused with the excitement of the NBA.
It's a bit puzzling why the NBA has been left out of the now typical career mode that we see from today's flock of sports games. Basketball is well-suited to delivering a team-based experience that one player can influence and NBA 2K10 does an admirable job of emulating what it's like to really be on a court with nine other guys.
Click above to watch Nate Dog dominate in the summer circuit.
Your player begins at the creation stage. If you played NBA 2K10: Draft Combine then sculpting your player should be routine by now. You design everything from their shoe color to the animation styles for just about every move on the court. The mechanic is wonderfully deep and allows for plenty of different looks for your wannabe baller. The list of animation options is great to see and will allow you to meld a unique player that will hopefully stand out from the throngs of others.
You'll also need to make the pivotal decision of which position you'll want to play and what style you'll bring to your game. You can be a defensive player, an all-around player, a scorer along with other types. This is essentially a launching point for your attributes which will be geared to suit your chosen style. It also changes the cost of upgrading different attributes. If I'm a big man who bangs down low, my three-point ability is going to cost quite a bit more to upgrade than my dunking ability.
Click above to watch Shaq and company visit Los Angeles.
Once you're done making the crucial decisions that shape the way you'll play My Player mode it's time to start the summer circuit. It's actually very similar to what was in NBA 2K10: Draft Combine. There are six games and six drills that need to be completed before having the opportunity to advance to a team's training camp. But there's no guarantee that once you finish these six practice games you'll be picked up by a pro squad. I began things as a shooting guard playing for the New York Knicks organization, but apparently my 17 points, three assists and one rebound per game weren't enough to keep me in the family. Instead I was let go and picked up by the Orlando Magic. From there I was on a squad of 20 players that needed to be pruned to 15. I was told by the occasionally trusty 2K Insider – who reappears for an encore performance from Draft Combine – that I was to fight for a spot and that one player would be cut for each of the next five games. My blonde bombshell was let go after the third.
One thing that struck me about My Player when going through these introductory games was how much the mode makes you play like a real basketball player to achieve success. Constantly mashing on the A button (or X on PS
to call for the ball and then driving to the basket every time you get the ball will get you nowhere fast. Just as in Draft Combine your play is constantly being judged by a letter grade in the upper-left portion of the screen. If you go for steals with no restraint, that grade is going down. On the other hand if you play realistically and set off-ball screens for your men, fill lanes properly on the break and challenge shots then that grade will go up which nets you more skill points.
Click above to watch Nate Dog try his luck at a shooting drill.
Your teammates on the court do a relatively good job of behaving like pro ballers. One of my main concerns when I first saw NBA 2K10 was defensive rotations and that seems to have been corrected in the preview build I played for the most part. My single remaining complaint is that your men are a little too aggressive when rotating to cover your man. Sometimes I'd be standing next to my match up and there'd still be a looming AI defender who could've been used better elsewhere.
Once I was cut by the Magic I made my way down to the lowly NBA D League, playing for the Erie Bayhawks. I ran into two problems when playing in the D League. The first and most troubling was the framerate. When in the summer leagues there are no crowds watching your games, but as soon as thousands of fans piled in for my first D League competition the framerate took a swan dive. I was playing a preview build, after all, but it's disconcerting to see the fluidity of the action take such a serious hit. The next issue I had when playing in the D League is that there's really no indication as to when you'll be called up to the NBA. There's no progress bar and no goals to hit other than the three that are laid out for you before every game. Hopefully 2K Sports can fix these few grips before 2K10 drops onto store shelves on October 6.
Click above to watch more summer circuit action.
NBA 2K10's My Player mode feels like it's made to last. With a full NBA schedule to go along with the summer trials and tribulations that you'll need to complete to make it to the show as well as a healthy list of drills, there's no question that there's plenty to do. I do wish that contract negotiations and perhaps some off-the-court activities made it into the structure for My Player, but keeping it focused to on-court shenanigans is a good starting point. With a little refinement to smooth out the framerate once things get more hectic and some slight AI tuning, My Player could beat out franchise mode for the hottest attraction in the NBA 2K10 package.
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