I've been really digging into NBA 2K11 as of late. It seems to be the only game I play these days and I have a lot of games. Out of the 23 games that I have for my PlayStation 3, not even including the dozen or so that I have on the hard drive, I play 2K11 the most. I've been playing the game a lot mostly because of the My Player mode. I created my player and have more or less become a stat whore. I'm all about the numbers and I've learned to manipulate the game of sorts.
In the beginning when I first created my player it was really tough. I had to figure out how add the original 10,000 skill points to my player to get the most efficiency out of him. That was the tricky part because when you play the game they don't give you no breaks. You have to scrap for every play and every point. They don't give it to you at all. You really have to earn it. Once you get to around level 58 you'll be able to maneuver through the games pretty good. You shots will become a little easier to make and you'll find that your defense has picked up notch as well. It still all relies on how you divvy up your skill points though.
If you manipulate the attributes then you manipulate the game. I've found that depending on the particular skill you may not need to max it all the way up to 99. For instance, my created player had a free throw rating of 46 which isn't really good but I managed to make most of my free throws with it. You really have to have a steady thumb for that. Rebounds are the same way. I was grabbing 12 to 17 rebounds per game with my created player on a 60 rating. Doing this allowed me to split my skill points to other attributes increasing my player's talent. I was forcing my player into those actions even though he wasn't very skilled in them.
If I had to put it into percentages I would say that to have true success in My Player it would be 55 percent building your character and 45 percent of truly knowing how to play the game of basketball and playing the game itself. The game is not perfect by any means. If you know how to play the game then you know how to manipulate it. There's a lot of familiarity with gauging the AI's moves and when to strike and react.
One of the problems that I've noticed is shot control. In 2K10 I just loved having the ability of just knowing when to shoot. I didn't have a meter to guide me or anything. I know it sounds weird but I like the shooting the ball without shot stick timing. You get a more fluid shot that way. It feels better to me too. With shot stick timing on it feels kind of blocky and choppy especially when you play online. Thats where I really have to gauge my shot. Unfortunately when you play the My Player and Online modes you can't turn shot stick timing off. You get used to it in the My Player mode but when you play online it sucks especially when you play someone online who doesn't have a solid connection and their lagging. Be prepared to miss a lot of shots.
Another thing I have a problem with is how the computer decides whether or not my shot will go in or not. This is where I get so frustrated. If you ever get a chance to watch me play you would probably see me cursing all kinds expletives at the TV screen because what I thought was a good shot apparently was not a good shot at all. I could take a 10 ft shot with a really good shooter like Kobe Bryant, or say for instance my created player who is at a rating of 99 in mostly everything, and the ball will either roll in or roll out, hit the back iron, or this is my worst, fall short. Its so annoying when it happens. I'm not expecting to hit every shot in the game but I do expect to hit a majority of my shots. The majority that I do shoot better fall in.
Now I'm not talking about just shooting any kind of crazy shot but if I'm open and I take a good percentage shot it should fall most of the time. A player with a rating of 99 shouldn't be missing a majority of his mid range shots but NBA 2K11 has a way of making sure that he does. These are open shots that I'm talking about not defensively guarded shots. That's been my pet peeve. Don't even get me started on lay-ups. There have been number times when I've attempted to make a lay-up and the ball would roll in and roll out or roll across the back iron and fall on the other side. Its so irritating when you get a decent drive to the lane lay it up and that happens, with no defense on guard mind you.
A lot of the time it feels like you being challenged more by the computer than the actual opponent when you see things like that happen in the game. I'm not trying to be the bearer of bad news I'm just telling you my experiences when I play this game. I'm sure a bunch of you can relate. I've played this game so much that I pretty much have it down to a science. None of this information is gonna make me be the best player in this game but I have honed my skills considerably playing this game numerous times.
I have a theory of how the online game is played. Hear me out. I've learned from all the years of playing this game that when you play an opponent of a higher rank it does not work in your favor. Certain shots that you would normally get against another player might not fall for you when you play a specific player of a higher ranking. To add insult to injury you may find that the particular high ranking opponent may have his way with you shooting the lights out. Nothing can be missed when they play. Even the shots that shouldn't have been made fall in somehow. Part of you might say its because they're good and another part of you would say that they had some lucky shots. I've found that the game works in their favor greatly depending how far down the totem pole you are in rank.
So you if you happen to get lucky and have you're opponents back against the wall on a 20 point run in the third don't expect the game to be over so soon. 2K11 has a way of working against you. You could hit a dry spell missing your shots and allowing your opponent to come back. I don't know if its just the nature of basketball that the game emulates or the favor factor that I speak about but either way its really royally annoying when it happens. Idealistically you would like to carry on the onslaught against your opponent and not give them a chance to come back. I could be wrong about everything and it could be the fact that fatigue comes into play with your team or key players possibly affecting the way they shoot the ball. Who knows really?
My worst problem with this game would be playing someone online and they realize that I'm going to win the game they either offer to tap out or they just disconnect themselves from the game session altogether. I really hate that. Some people truly feel that they're supposed to win every single game. Name a basketball star that has won every single basket ball game in their career? Just name one. No one can because that basketball god doesn't exist. So why do these players feel that I'm supposed to lose all the time? I guess they don't realize that I know how to play this game and I am pretty good. Just because my stats are not as high or I haven't won as many games as them doesn't mean that I don't know how to play the game.
Today I played someone online. I had the Chicago Bulls and my opponent had the Miami Heat. When I play people online I let them pick first. Most times they pick their favorite team. I like to pick good match ups or rivals to play against them. I do have a favorite team by the way, Lakers, but I've learned that you don't always win the game with your favorite. You have to choose your battles wisely. So we got into the match and it was a pretty good battle.
Entering the 3rd quarter I had got on a pretty good run and had bested my opponent with my stingy defense. I was using multiple sessions of double teams every time he would try to force himself in the lane. I would not let him drive through the lane with D. Wade or LeBron at all. So I basically took away his offense. My opponent then resorted to shooting 3 pointers. He was missing more than he was hitting and I was gobbling up all the rebounds.
By the end of the third I had him on a 15 point run and he couldn't stop me. So he waved the white flag and wanted to quit early and I declined. Then he finally just disconnected. Don't you hate when they do that? I get upset when they do that because the 2K network doesn't always do a good job of recording that scenario. Some times it does sometimes it doesn't. Theres no real way that you can report it either. Oh well.
I know it might sound like I'm literally knocking NBA 2K11 but I'm not. It's a great game. I'm just pointing out some flaws and annoyances in the game. I'm also just expressing my frustrations with 2K11 As with any game, or anything for that matter, nothing is perfect. They strive to make the best game that they can. I have seen that. It's the best NBA basketball game to date. It's the only NBA Basketball game today. Sorry EA Sports. I still love basketball, even though my Lakers are not in the finals, and I still love playing NBA 2K11 and will continue to play it until 2K12 comes out. Hopefully all those problems that I mentioned will be gone by then. If you would like to challenge me online through the PlayStation Network just add me and give me a holler @
MEKKACHYLD. I look forward to playing you guys.
