NBA 2K16

 PlayStation 4
User Score
6.7

Mixed or average reviews- based on 467 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 269 out of 467
  2. Mixed: 97 out of 467
  3. Negative: 101 out of 467
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  1. boobear
    Jul 3, 2023
    10
    Great Game LEBRON ofc so its very good so yeah its too great too good and i luv it
  2. DonTheGamer
    Jun 22, 2023
    7
    The best 2K game. It had everything: a great MY CAREER, great gameplay, and an amazing soundtrack.
  3. wildest21
    Apr 12, 2023
    7
    Sound Quality still stands as the best heard throughout the series, even after 8 years or so.
  4. WashedPotatoes
    Jul 21, 2022
    7
    at this point im only writing reviews so i can actually look back on my score... screw you metacritic for only allowing you to look back at games you reviewed rather than just scored
  5. RileyMilkman
    Jul 12, 2022
    9
    This Game Us The Best In History, Graphics, Defense Is Fantastic, Shot Timing Was Good! NBA 2K16 > NBA 2K22
  6. Ty1991
    Mar 25, 2022
    10
    Wanted to start playing basketball games again since I haven't really been into the sport since 2006. Tried 2k22 and realized whi I don't like basketball games then my friend told me to try this one and even tho it's older, best basketball game on the ps4
  7. andrew9
    Nov 16, 2021
    5
    nba 2k . .
  8. AnthonyDiMattia
    Sep 11, 2021
    9
    Best My Career ever with solid gameplay and a top tier MyTeam. This game is a classic for a reason.
  9. LillRaffy77
    Jul 3, 2021
    0
    Pior jogo da minha vida e da história. Nunca jogeui jogo pior, do menu que dxa qlqr um com epilepsia até a gameplay de merda.
  10. HahaNoobies
    Mar 31, 2021
    1
    This game is 2k18 but before 18 came out. Story was good. Gameplay just like 18's gameplay. Game is pay to win. I barely have fun playing it and most people call it the 2k ever when there is zero fun to have in it. 2k17 was a lot more funner than this dog ****
  11. ItzChristian25
    Sep 24, 2020
    10
    This is one of the best 2ks of all time it was so fun, 2k16 and 2k17 were just great games
  12. 2k16trash
    Apr 6, 2020
    4
    Computer defense is literally denis Rodman on meth it really takes away from the game literally no one can beat curry 1v1 not cause of his offense with would be correct but for curry to clamp so hard Kobe couldnt make a layup or even get close to the basket
  13. arnan34official
    Feb 21, 2018
    9
    the king of sports games!! 100% recommended! The closest I've seen of reality!
  14. TheCornflex
    Jan 31, 2018
    8
    The first NBA 2K I played. All Modes are pretty cool to be honest only thing I don't like is that the servers are shut down so fast, so you have to get a newer title more often. I did not know that the franchise did not evolve but devolve for the next titles therefore 2K16 gets a much higher score than the following 2Ks.
  15. wegie125
    Nov 14, 2017
    8
    I think everyone here knows by now that the story in this game is just so bad, and it is. I am not one to usually play the nba series games and this one was the only one I actually played (I have 2k15 but never play it). This game was free also, just thought I would mention that because it does sway my review a bit because I never actually payed for the game. I think this game though isI think everyone here knows by now that the story in this game is just so bad, and it is. I am not one to usually play the nba series games and this one was the only one I actually played (I have 2k15 but never play it). This game was free also, just thought I would mention that because it does sway my review a bit because I never actually payed for the game. I think this game though is simple enough for me to like because I didn't waste money on something and I had no expectations going in on what to expect. I honestly still play this version of NBA regardless that there are two new installments out right now. I know the story is bad, I know the gameplay isn't perfect, but honestly I have spent so much time playing this game that I really have no legit reason to complain or give it a bad score. Time flew when I played this game and it even still does now. I can't complain. I have enjoyed it thus far… Expand
  16. shokaiko
    Oct 4, 2017
    3
    **** trash simple as that playing on a harder difficulty doesn't make the AI smarter you can't hit wide open threes with kobe for example while the AI seems to make every shot even when heavily contested, shaq the most dominant player ever can't even score on curry in the post realistic my ass.My career is trash aswell you either grind to get vc or you can buy it wow wtf is this a f2p**** trash simple as that playing on a harder difficulty doesn't make the AI smarter you can't hit wide open threes with kobe for example while the AI seems to make every shot even when heavily contested, shaq the most dominant player ever can't even score on curry in the post realistic my ass.My career is trash aswell you either grind to get vc or you can buy it wow wtf is this a f2p game? Was having fun at the beginning but after playing this game for a long time i realized it's flaws if a player is hot or is just dominating will be double teamed (ok that happens in real life) until the end of the game... always leaving someone open guess what in higher dificultys even if you pass it to a open shooter you still gonna miss, if you play on all star for example you'll get double teamed even if you pass the ball to the shooter and hit shot's the AI will keep leaving him open because the other player has 30 points . Speed doesn't seem to matter either some times centers will run at the same speed if not faster than point gards
    . - Unrealistic / Higher difficulties are just cheese
    - My career mode is Garbage
    - A lot of bugs
    - Amazing graphics
    - Micro transactions break the game
    This will be my first and last 2k game greedy **** put the same game every year with updated rosters. Stay away from this game if you want a realistic and immersive basketball experience.    … Expand
  17. happythoughts
    Sep 8, 2017
    0
    The game-play is just not fun. It feels sluggish, and the margin for error on anything is really low. I suppose it is all in the name of realism.

    I got this with a friend and we would have sequences like: missed layup, offensive rebound, missed wide open jumper, defensive rebound, turn-over, turn-over, kickball. Leaning jumper scoring on 4 guys. Time-out. The entire rhythm of the    The game-play is just not fun. It feels sluggish, and the margin for error on anything is really low. I suppose it is all in the name of realism.

    I got this with a friend and we would have sequences like: missed layup, offensive rebound, missed wide open jumper, defensive rebound, turn-over, turn-over, kickball. Leaning jumper scoring on 4 guys. Time-out. The entire rhythm of the game is frustrating and slow for a casual gamer like me.

    Yea yea, I hear all you 2k-ragers saying "@#$%$#$% you NOOB @#$@#% play NBA LIVE." I played 2k15 and really enjoyed it, but I suppose I will check out NBA LIVE from now on. I don't feel like spending hours and hours just to learn how to dribble a basketball all over again. Or weeks of game play just to hit an open jumper. I suppose people with lots of time on their hands get their kicks out of this but I am a pass...    … Expand
  18. w_a_r_crime
    Mar 12, 2017
    0
    Games are only as good as two things. For PvE, they are only as good as their AI at the highest levels. For PvP, they are only as good as they are able to resolve what happens when two players DO something to each other at the same time (assuming the game doesn't suffer from fundamental network issues).

    This game is terrible at both.
  19. Nel
    Jan 21, 2017
    7
    Great NBA game, has a fun interactive be a pro mode. The game can be hard for beginners, but it is easily one of the best sport games out there. I recommend playing this with a friend or online.
  20. nbasucks
    Dec 4, 2016
    0
    There are so many glitches in this game its infuriating. Career is badly thought through, with preset characters allowing little room for freedom for the player. Even in regular game mode, players that are not controlled by the user him or herself will randomly walk around the floor at times, leaving their opposition wide open. Shots that are considered A grade will regularly miss, whilstThere are so many glitches in this game its infuriating. Career is badly thought through, with preset characters allowing little room for freedom for the player. Even in regular game mode, players that are not controlled by the user him or herself will randomly walk around the floor at times, leaving their opposition wide open. Shots that are considered A grade will regularly miss, whilst the opposing Cpu will consistently hit shots that are tightly contested. Overall this game makes me so angry regularly due to the way it glitches out. They probably wont fix it because they are 2k, so I would just wait for the new version to come out and pray its actually playable.… Expand
  21. sgthombre
    Sep 23, 2016
    9
    I'm just writing at least 150 characters because I wanted to save this review in a more convenient way to look back at scores that I had given stuff as a user.
  22. Adrian24proano
    Sep 11, 2016
    5
    NBA 2k has been easily exceeding over the past few years. But personally seems as if 2k is taking really slow small steps. While NBA 2k16 easily being the best NBA game out there, there are some things that I noticed. For one it is almost the same thing as last years game (2k15) An upgrade was the story mode. The story mode was entertaining but also has its little things.
    Myplayer is    NBA 2k has been easily exceeding over the past few years. But personally seems as if 2k is taking really slow small steps. While NBA 2k16 easily being the best NBA game out there, there are some things that I noticed. For one it is almost the same thing as last years game (2k15) An upgrade was the story mode. The story mode was entertaining but also has its little things.
    Myplayer is great, but during the story, the players name is Frequency Vibration. I would like to choose my name instead of being given one considering it is my player. Another thing is that the story mode makes you come from the projects and you are from an African American family. All is fine cause it is a story, but also is myplayer. The story was produced by Spike Lee, and it kind of did give a feeling of "not me" Some positives include the story line, you get to start from high school, and choose your college, limited choices.
    The online gameplay, Mypark, is and upgrade as well as you get to play with other people after joing a group. You get to battle opposing groups and have different competitions. The gameplay overall is good but could be better. Feels very one sided, (offense) as defence is much more harder. The controls can be confusing at times. The gameplay to me seemed a little slow, I like a faster more excitement type of gameplay.
    Overall it is the best game out there, but not much of difference other than the myplayer story mode and mypark. For 2k fanatics would be a great game. For those that love playing basketball games, it is a good product but can get boring at times or even frustrated. 2k servers have some work to do. I would recomment that if you absolutely want it, get it, but if you can hold off for a year, these problems will be solved. I rate it a 5 because it is almost the same thing as 2k14, the rest is because again the myplayer and mypark.    … Expand
  23. Bastien
    Sep 4, 2016
    0
    It appears to me that 2K Sports spent much efforts in making more money by in-game purchases, instead of perfecting the game-play. This is a CONSOLE GAME, not a cheap cell phone game.
  24. Fukknba2k16
    Jul 31, 2016
    0
    this is the worst my career ever. you cannot do a fast small forward like durant or lebron or carmelo. If you make a small forward inside, he's only gonna be 80 in layup, ***kin 80 man!!! that's the stupidest thing i ever heard man for real. Also, if you make a 6'1'' point guard, you can only be 86 in speed:who the *uck made this game was high as hell
  25. tingstrup
    Jul 28, 2016
    5
    THE WAIT TIMES
    For career mode and there is an incredible load time for every game
    This game drags you along and makes you sit through every cut scene. There is a skip feature but it still makes you sit through the first few seconds of everything, (pregame shows, postgame shows. timeouts, freethrows, inbound passes, etc) It gets so frustrating I want to throw my controller at the screen    THE WAIT TIMES
    For career mode and there is an incredible load time for every game
    This game drags you along and makes you sit through every cut scene. There is a skip feature but it still makes you sit through the first few seconds of everything, (pregame shows, postgame shows. timeouts, freethrows, inbound passes, etc) It gets so frustrating I want to throw my controller at the screen in hopes it hits a secret button that allows me to get back the part of my life that was wasted on this.
    Spike lee creates a story line that gives your character a preset personality, this was a big turn off for me. Your character is already set on an egotistical show-off personality which was a real turn off for me because it's not the sort of player I wish to be. The story line then goes on to try to convince you to feel sorry for your best friend who is an awful terrible human being that refuses to take responsibility for anything in life and would end up in the same spot in life no matter what.
    They don't have as many interviews in the game which is really disappointing because that was one of the few features that let you develop your characters personality.

    Overall the gameplay is really fun and I think does a good job of all the mechanics. If they did not have all the waiting time in gameplay and made some changes to the story making this more open I might rate this a 9.    … Expand
  26. zverko
    Jul 18, 2016
    7
    Great game BUT too much, too much, and again too much loading... Extremely slow interface. When you play a game, and internet goes down, you cant play a game. That would be the negative sides. The positive are: great graphics, great ingame physics, movement and best of all: great AI tactics. Its like I am really playing basketball with friend.
  27. riley794
    Jul 16, 2016
    2
    Loading times for junk! That pretty much sums up the game. If there was a way to just play the game without having to wait for all the junk you don't even care about to load it might be an average game. The game does allow you to skip through the junk but only after it make you wait to load it. I played "My career" mode for as long as I could stand (which was about an hour). Made theLoading times for junk! That pretty much sums up the game. If there was a way to just play the game without having to wait for all the junk you don't even care about to load it might be an average game. The game does allow you to skip through the junk but only after it make you wait to load it. I played "My career" mode for as long as I could stand (which was about an hour). Made the mistake of making a PW. Wanted to create a KD type of player, instead I ended up with a Kwame Brown. My guy was 6'10" but couldn't dunk the ball. His nickname was "The Freq", which I guess is fitting because if you are that tall and can't dunk you are a freak.

    It's the same game as last year with a new sound track and a more annoying My career mode.

    I understand progression is part of the game but seriously any "5 star" recruit should already be able to dominate the court in high school and college. This game apparently feels a great high school and college basketball player is simply taller than their opponent and progression begins in the pros. A terrible mode and any money they wasted on a "Spike Lee Joint" would have been better spent on developing a more dynamic engine or figuring out a way to eliminate the constant long loading times that plague this game. Very disappointed.    … Expand
  28. JackAttack12
    Jul 5, 2016
    8
    So I've had 2k16 since release and now since its PlayStation plus freebie I've decided to do a review.
    NBA 2k16 is a great sports game and is one of the best on the market. The gameplay now is better then before and now you actually have to know how to play basketball and call plays in order to win the game. Another thing is that there is no more scoring countless of contested shots    So I've had 2k16 since release and now since its PlayStation plus freebie I've decided to do a review.
    NBA 2k16 is a great sports game and is one of the best on the market. The gameplay now is better then before and now you actually have to know how to play basketball and call plays in order to win the game. Another thing is that there is no more scoring countless of contested shots either. The new game modes seem to be good. With the play now online now its encourages you to choose lower ranked teams as you'll get more rewards and you have to " play to win" with their new ranking system. Myteam looks the same with the nice new addition of the gauntlet mode and Myleague and MYGM have new customization that are fun to mess around with. Also another strong point is the new Myplayer customizations and improvements, I felt like the new improvements actually felt like you were getting better rather than buying everything.
    But now here are the downsides that keep this game away from perfect 10. First of all NBA 2K is an annual release so if you have an updated roster you can probably stick to NBA 2k15. and secondly is Mycareer. The new Spike Lee directed Mycareer mode felt like you were controlling someone else's career rather then yours hence ruining the name MYcareer.
    Overall 2k16 is a dominate sports and even if you don't get it free it deserves the $50-$40 purchase that it is.    … Expand
  29. GamecubeLover
    Jul 4, 2016
    3
    This series sucks and I decided to look at the most loved game out of the franchise well god it's BAD! Why? The graphics look like the other games as usual. The controls are terrible and I find the game has little variety. This game sucks and the whole series sucks. If you like sports THEN JUST PLAY IT!
  30. bismarckcea
    Jul 3, 2016
    9
    Nba2k16 (Ps4) is the best Nba game i ever played in years! the graphics is great the players look exactly the same you can see the shoes that their wearing it's awesome! i can not wait to play Nba2k17 : )
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Awards & Rankings

15
#15 Best PS4 Game of 2015
36
#36 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2015
21
#21 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2015

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
87

Generally favorable reviews - based on 51 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 47 out of 51
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 51
  3. Negative: 0 out of 51
  1. Sporting News
    Mar 3, 2016
    100
    NBA 2K16 has raised the bar not just for future iterations of the series but for every sports game developed beyond this point.
    Read full review
  2. CD-Action
    Dec 16, 2015
    80
    Let’s forget about terrible cutscenes directed by Spike Lee – the game itself is still a joy to play. [12/2015, p.54]
  3. DarkStation
    Dec 15, 2015
    80
    NBA 2K16 continues to be at the top of its game, even if the new career mode isn’t everything I wanted from a Spike Lee joint.
    Read full review
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