I am up to about ten games now in my online career and I am on the verge of selling my copy due to the fact that every time I play a game I walk away in frustration (even in victory).
Some of the bullshit from my most recent games (I always play as the Grizzlies):
This dude was playing as the Hornets. I was up about by about 10 - 20 points most of the first half. The second half starts, and this guy just starts chucking long range set shots with Chris Paul and Peja Stojakovic. Despite the fact that I am contesting virtually all of their shots with a hand in the face, Chris Paul finishes the game 8 - 11 on threes, while Peja finishes 9 - 14.
My most recent game, like a lot of the one's I've played, was against the Celtics. Again, I get out to about a 20 point lead by halftime, and the guy starts to jack catch-and-shoot threes with Ray Allen. Again, even with quality pressure in his face, he makes about 60% of them. As time starts winding down, he starts fast breaking and taking pull-up threes with Allen, which for some reason, makes the AI back off (?!) the shooter. I am not exaggerating when I report that the dude did not miss a single pull-up three that he took with Allen. Of course, if I try to jump and defend the shot manually, my idiot defender commits a foul like 75% of the time.
This third instance of BS is from a game with the Bulls, but it also applies to another game I had against the Celtics and Kevin Garnett. This dude was playing as the Bulls and gave the ball to Joakim Noah on about 75% of his possessions. Every time Noah got the ball, he'd back my defender down, then face up, and shoot a shot within two to three feet of the basket (or dunk it, if he got close enough). Of course, common sense spurred me to bring in a quick guard to steal it from Noah while he's taking his 4 -5 seconds doing the methodical "backdown" animation, and yet, when I bring my quick, nimble guard (Damon Stoudamire) in for the steal, my hand either swipes at air or goes through some part of the ball or the player’s body about 90% of the time! Oh yeah, and the refs apparently like to swallow their whistle whenever this happens, so don't expect to get a three-second violation called, even when the dude is in the paint for upwards of 5 seconds. Again, I am not exaggerating when I say that Noah DID NOT MISS A SINGLE SHOT THE ENTIRE GAME and ended up with 40+ points. Garnett would have done the same to me had my opponent not abandoned his inside game and started chucking threes with Pierce and Allen.
Then there are the free throws. Offline, I am good free throw shooter (about 80%-90%), yet, in the abovementioned Celtics/Bulls games, I went a combined 24 - 59. Why? Because the timing of the free throw system is not adjusted for lag, which means that the point (indicated on-screen by your player's various shooting animations) at which you normally would release the shot stick is often not even close to the point at which you have to release it to get the game to recognize a "perfect" shot. This means that the free throw timing turns into a complete guessing game of trial and error, which gives people who foul a lot (often intentionally) a ton more opportunities than they should really have.
There’s a lot more BS to talk about, but I think you get the point: this series, superior as it is to NBA Live, is still nowhere close to being an enjoyable emulation of basketball.
Last edited by jyoung; 18 Oct 2007 at 10:00 PM.
Ha ha
Originally Posted by wEEman33
Geezus Christ that gave me a hard on. Tell me more about how Noah just dominated in the post, but tell me slowly, don't rush it. Did he go to a hook shot? Did he let out a fierce scream after he posterized your defender? How was his footwork? Passing out of double-teams? He did draw double-teams, right? Fap fap fap.
If you try to let the game do the double-teaming for you (either via the matchup screen or by holding down one of the bumpers--I forget which one), then you are screwed, as 2K toned down the double-teaming so much that the on-ball defenders hardly ever force turnovers and are ridiculously slow getting out of the double team and back to their normal defensive positions. Also, your other AI defenders are retarded when it comes to whom they chose to cover while the double team is going on, so if you're playing someone with decent three point shooters (he had Heinrich and Gordon), you are pretty much giving up an automatic three--because if there's one thing the offensive AI is good at, it's standing still on the perimeter--and as I already mentioned, a set-shot with a good three point shooter is money like 80% of the time.
Again, the only viable option for double-teaming the post is to do it yourself, but that strategy is also completely gimped because the 2K steal system remains a farcical game of chance, wherein your chances of getting a steal are slim to none.
As for Noah, he basically did the same animation every time after getting in-range via the backdown: he turns towards the basket, rises up, and banks an easy two off the glass. Because Noah is so tall, lanky, and athletic, no one on my team (not even Pau Gasol) could rise up and block his shot.
The same strategy that the dude used with Noah was used by two other people who used Garnett, only they would dunk it most of the time by simply going right over the top of my defender.
Ha ha
It would be really nice to have effective weak-side help AI for those post situations, like having a Rasheed Wallace come swooping by for a swat if McDyess is getting back down.
I need a cigarette.As for Noah, he basically did the same animation every time after getting in-range via the backdown: he turns towards the basket, rises up, and banks an easy two off the glass. Because Noah is so tall, lanky, and athletic, no one on my team (not even Pau Gasol) could rise up and block his shot.
The only time the defensive AI will ever come out of its default mode of standing next to its man is when a ball carrier is running completely free. Otherwise, they take their cue from the offensive AI and stand still.
I mean shit, I could sort of of understand someone like Hakim Warrick (my starting PF) getting worked over by a superstar like Garnett, but when some scrub like Joakim Noah drops 40 on you (without missing a single FG), and you know that the other dude is trying to feed him the ball every play, it's just time to go play something besides this broken excuse for a basketball game.
Last edited by jyoung; 18 Oct 2007 at 11:25 PM.
Ha ha
Hater in the house!
It is too bad, I like 2K7 alot but this sounds like a step backwards.
pooping bbl
Only because wEEman didn't make the 2K7 thread.
They are two different types of brokenness, really. 2K8 just looks prettier and has more animations, though most of the animations they added actually seem to hinder the flow of the game more than they help it.
Lock-on defense is really the only practical improvement they made to the gameplay model this year, but because they are too lazy to put serious effort into retooling their game engine, it looks totally ridiculous from a visual standpoint. The decrease in dunks would be a positive too, were it not for the fact that open layups still get converted at such an absurdly low rate, and also, the fact that the AI likes to make all kinds of crazy hooks and scoop shots instead of simply squaring its shoulders to the basket and taking the ball up strong like every basketball coach teaches his players from middle school on.
That said, if you just want to play against the computer in franchise mode (which you seem to do much more than I; frankly, I cannot stand playing with the AI in sports games, much less against them), you may get some fun out of it after doing some serious tweaking to the slider settings.
Even if that's you're plan, I would wait until this hits the inevitable $20 mark.
Last edited by jyoung; 19 Oct 2007 at 12:30 AM.
I enjoy franchise mode in games, but I actually like playing against friends in NBA/NHL games. Cap and I had a few fun games (well fun for me, not so much for him) in 2K7, but I think you sold yours already and very few ppl on TNL plays sports games.
Did you ever get NHL 08? I really enjoy that game, we should play if you have it (or trade NBA 2K8 for it or something).
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