A little meter at your player’s feet shows the required timing for jump shots, making scoring hoops a game of precision timing. Using the twin sticks, and just about every other button on the controller, you’re able to pull off all manner of flashy dribbles, lay ups and passes – with a fantastic pick-and-roll system in play for offensive tactics. NBA 2K is a rather technical game, with a hard-to-master control scheme that, while allowing you to execute all sorts of really cool moves, isn’t exactly the sort of thing you’d call a “pick up and play” game. I’d surely be able to just pick it up, learn how to play and take my created baller all the way to the championships, right? Nope. I may not know NBA 2K, but I do know basketball – so I felt confident enough to tackle its legendary M圜areer mode without really knowing how the game worked. I’ve always enjoyed the sport, though I’ve had little to no interest in the NBA or any of the modern games that have attempted to digitally replicate it. I cut my teeth playing its video game version with Konami’s Double Dribble, and progressed on to 16 and 32 bit basketballs games. Way before Yao Ming and Jeremy Lin become internationally known NBA superstars, Basketball has been a part of Chinese culture, and I spent quite a bit of my time as a young Chinese boy trying very hard (and mostly failing) to be any good at the sport. I’m new to the NBA2K franchise – though not new to basketball. That’s until you spot the odd – though admittedly infrequent – animation aberrations that straddle the uncanny valley. In a brief, sidewards glance, it’s easy to believe you’re watching the real deal on a TV screen – thanks to its in-your-face, TV broadcast aesthetic – instead of playing some sort of digital sports entertainment.

It’s got great controls, a wealth of features and modes and some of the most jarringly realistic visuals you’ll see in a sports game. NBA2K has always stood at the upper echelons of sports gaming, and this year’s is no different. Charles Dickens’ infamous opening line to A Tale of Two Cities is not the sort of thing that’s usually applied to videogames – sports ones in particular – but it’s the perfect descriptor for 2K Sports’ NBA1k15.

Yao ming nba 2k15