When a basketball player gets into “the zone,” people say it can feel like time slows to crawl. They can see things before they happen, every little detail about their opponent stands out, and the rim seems to get bigger and more inviting. NBA 2K22 hasn’t quite managed to get me into the zone during my early time playing it so far, but the improved gameplay and breadth of content of this iteration get it closer than it’s been for the past few years. From important changes to how stamina impacts shooting to a City filled with diverse ways to improve your MyPlayer character, 2K22 feels like a breath of fresh air.
With only a day with the PlayStation 5 version under my belt, both I and the community are still in the early stages of learning this latest iteration of NBA 2K. I haven’t put in the hours to learn all its ins-and-outs yet, making it hard to say how it will hold up over time at the moment. However, certain things already stand out about developer Visual Concepts’ latest installment that are exciting for me as a long-time player.
NBA 2K22 has made some important tweaks to the on-court action that help make it play like a more realistic game, most noticeably how it handles stamina loss while dribbling. In 2K21, it was easy to run at a defender on the perimeter, hit a Curry slide, and drain a three without breaking a sweat. Against the CPU, that tactic was almost undefendable, especially in MyTeam where player cards were quickly made ridiculously overpowered. With 2K22, you can still employ tactics like that, but the stamina loss you suffer from sprinting and doing dribble moves is made much more significant to balance out its effectiveness.
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As your player gets more tired their shot meter will shrink, making it tougher to hit shots. That leads to a game that initially seems slow compared to 2K21 – but if you play under more control and don’t just hold that sprint button, you’ll actually have an easier time putting the ball into the bucket because of your larger shot meter. It may not seem like an important change at first, but it leads to a playstyle that feels closer to real life than 2K21 ever did.
On top of that, I’ve noticed some of the more problematic legacy issues not popping up as much. Things like bump steals aren’t gone completely, but I certainly haven’t seen them happening as much as last year. That could, of course, all change as players get more familiar with 2K22, but for now, I’m happy to see Visual Concepts taking steps to iron out some of those more annoying tactics. There are still quite a few instances of weird animations that took me out of the experience, but those too are lessened from previous years.
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Improved gameplay doesn’t mean much if you don’t have good places to take advantage of it, but fortunately, so far Visual Concepts seems to have provided plenty of things to do throughout its selection of modes. I’ve spent most of my early time playing in MyTeam and MyCareer, and they’re both full of options like the new multiplayer options in MyTeam and the increased variety of off-the-court activities in MyCareer. MyTeam, in particular, has so many options if you’re looking to grind toward your dream team, be that playing with the world’s best current NBA superstars or legends of the past. Unfortunately, its lackluster multiplayer options don’t follow suit.
Unlimited and Limited modes are back with basically no changes. That means most players will probably never sniff the top tiers of Unlimited rewards and Limited continues to be a luck fest in terms of rewards. Visual Concepts has also changed Triple Threat Online to something it’s calling “The 100.” You start the mode with 100 points, and after each game your opponent’s score will be subtracted from that total as you work your way up the prize board until you hit zero points. That could’ve been a great casual option since you’re guaranteed to at least make it to the second tier on the prize board. But, in practice, it’s unrewarding compared to the single-player modes for casual players and more annoying for dedicated players who will now have to struggle to get to the top tier of the board much more than in previous years.
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The new Draft mode looks interesting and will hopefully make up for those multiplayer shortcomings, but I haven’t had time to play much of it yet. If you’re looking to get into MyTeam, I would definitely focus on the single-player content during your early days and then go online afterward if you want to.
On the MyPlayer front, Visual Concepts gives players tons of interesting things to do in NBA 2K22. From the jump, you can run around The City, completing quests and meeting NPCs… like Jake from State Farm. It’s a very silly world where your soon-to-be pro baller can just skateboard around to his heart’s content (complete with ludicrous skating physics), go to the gym for some weightlifting mini-games, and then get in a 3-on-3 game against other elite players. The story mode seems a bit scaled back compared to last year so far, but I’m still early and it’s impossible to say how some of the off-the-court action will impact the mode.
After spending a little over a day with it, NBA 2K22 is at least shaping up to be a firm step in the right direction following a disappointing 2K21 release. I am still early in my time playing, so my thoughts could easily change as I learn more about what has or hasn’t changed, but I’m hopeful that the gameplay tweaks I’ve already come to love and all of the different options Visual Concepts has given me to take advantage of them will stand up over time. Check back next week for the full review and score.