NBA 2K18

 PlayStation 4
User Score
1.8

Overwhelming dislike- based on 742 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 83 out of 742
  2. Mixed: 48 out of 742
  3. Negative: 611 out of 742
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  1. kartana
    Sep 16, 2017
    4
    The last few years NBA 2K's were one thing but this year crossed the line with the barber shop. Cosmetic stuff was was free before costs a ridiculous amount of VC now. They should be ashamed. Not to mention the MyNBA app giving almost no VC this year. It's blatantly obvious that this is just to force people to buy VC. You get less for free, earn less and everything costs more. How moreThe last few years NBA 2K's were one thing but this year crossed the line with the barber shop. Cosmetic stuff was was free before costs a ridiculous amount of VC now. They should be ashamed. Not to mention the MyNBA app giving almost no VC this year. It's blatantly obvious that this is just to force people to buy VC. You get less for free, earn less and everything costs more. How more obvious could it be?… Expand
  2. FrankyBones
    Sep 15, 2017
    4
    I cancelled my preorder luckily before release after playing the prelude. I was shocked at how bad the game mechanics were. I could see they were going the micro transaction route. I agree with those that call this game poor. What was most telling was the release trailer just showed a kid walking through a neighborhood for 10 mins. With maybe 10-20 secs of actual game footage.I cancelled my preorder luckily before release after playing the prelude. I was shocked at how bad the game mechanics were. I could see they were going the micro transaction route. I agree with those that call this game poor. What was most telling was the release trailer just showed a kid walking through a neighborhood for 10 mins. With maybe 10-20 secs of actual game footage. Mostly of a kid running thru a neighborhood GTA style. When a game hides their gameplay in a trailer, that should be a red flag for everyone. I'll pass this year and so should you. When the "pro" reviews come out you will all see. And any game under a 6 is trash. I predict this game will come in at mid 6 maybe.… Expand
  3. Nick419
    Sep 19, 2017
    4
    They completely ruined MyCareer. It takes forever to play. Between all the unskipable, meaningless, stupid cut-scenes and the whole "neighborhood" theme, it's absurd. I can't believe 2k got this bad. I was hoping for more from 2K than this piece of garbage. Unfortunately I got the digital copy so I can't sell it or return it.
  4. lukustra
    Sep 18, 2017
    4
    Let me start off by saying that I own every 2k title since the first 2k with A.I. on the cover for Dreamcast. I'm a huge fanboy of the franchise and it's literally one of the only games I play aside from whenever a new GTA comes out. Overall, the gameplay of this game is good. Very comparable to 2k17 with a few more animations and slightly better and more frequent contact detection. ItLet me start off by saying that I own every 2k title since the first 2k with A.I. on the cover for Dreamcast. I'm a huge fanboy of the franchise and it's literally one of the only games I play aside from whenever a new GTA comes out. Overall, the gameplay of this game is good. Very comparable to 2k17 with a few more animations and slightly better and more frequent contact detection. It does seem like running with the ball on a fast break is slower and overall the players move a bit slower. I don't particularly like this however this can be adjusted with the gameplay slider if you are playing offline. Overall, slight improvement in graphics / face scans, very similar gameplay, and updated rosters.

    Now to the bad part, and if you have looked at any of the other reviews, you will have probably already heard. Myplayer is a disaster. They've basically removed create a player. You can change about 5 things on how your player looks and this is very apparent when you walk around the world and EVERYONE looks almost identical. I believe there were like 5 different hairstyles you can choose from when starting the game. Bad start. Then the first cut scenes come along. Your player can be a 7'1 center but will be the same height as a teenage girl with the voice of a 15 year old. Aside from that, the cutscenes are RIDICULOUSLY cheesy. I mean, like almost shockingly bad. Your best friend is a little ghetto Asian girl and somehow you live in a beautiful loft with a basketball court built into your house and doorman before you play your first game. Okay, whatever just skip the cutscenes.. oh, you can't do that.

    One of the new features is the open world. This seems like it would be pretty cool if everything didn't cost an outrageous amount of VC that the game makes very hard to earn. I am very good at this game, I scored 10 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals in my first game with about 4 minutes of playing time as a 60 overall. I can play this game with a completely trash player, but for them to make everything and anything you want to do cost VC plus have caps on everything (really, I need to be a 70 to get a tattoo? wtf?) is crazy. Basically, this whole game is designed as a money grab. You'd really need to spend a couple hundred dollars to enjoy this game to it's full potential on day 1 which is completely ludicrous. This is not to mention that the whole walking around to do anything in the game basically just makes everything you want to do (like play the game) take significantly longer to do and adds additional load screens to everything. I play this game on a VERY high end computer and the load screens still drive me insane, if I was playing this on an Xbox I would have literally turned the game off an hour in and returned it.

    I cannot express how disappointed I am in this game. Each year I spend a few months playing this game any chance I possibly get when it first comes out. This year I've played for about 5 hours and don't really look forward to playing more. I will most likely stick to just regular offline gameplay which is pretty disappointing. Ultimately, this was $60 for updated rosters, jerseys, and a few new animations. It's not unthinkable to expect more but I guess 2k is getting into Madden territory with their annual releases.    … Expand
  5. kingofgames
    Sep 15, 2017
    4
    I expecting a better sequel installment to NBA 2k16 and 17. Sure the shooting system is good, the overall graphic is bit better, the face scan feature is a huge imporvement and myGM mode is pretty good. However, the developer did not learn their mistake and not to improve the gameplay experience, yet somehow they make it even worse than previous games. The weighty character movement isI expecting a better sequel installment to NBA 2k16 and 17. Sure the shooting system is good, the overall graphic is bit better, the face scan feature is a huge imporvement and myGM mode is pretty good. However, the developer did not learn their mistake and not to improve the gameplay experience, yet somehow they make it even worse than previous games. The weighty character movement is completely slow the pace of the game down too much, the character customization are bad and the progression are just an another exhausting grinding task becasue 2K think it is good idea to ditch out the difficulty bonus. There are also many issues never addressed. For example,the screens is still broken, the AI is laughably bad, and the players animation are far worse than NBA 2k16/17 in comparision (how is this even possible!?) In the end, I cannot recommand this game for any long time fan of the series and I'll stay away from the is franchise for a while . But then again, If you are an newcomer or just a causal NBA fan. I recommend you to try it up. You probably might end up liking it… Expand
  6. AeRoTR
    Sep 17, 2017
    4
    Great F2P and P2W with micro-transactions game, AFTER ONLY YOU PAY 60 bucks :) A good F2P game, you can be the best by buying lots of VC. I recommend this game for any real basketball fan who likes computer games, and who likes to give money to 2K regular basis.
  7. Jacobray92
    Sep 15, 2017
    4
    Beware of fake reviews. The two 10 rated reviews seem like paid advertisement. This game is far from a 10/10 especially if you are a mycareer player. The greed this year by 2k is the most I've seen by a company in a while.

    - Players May Not Preview A Haircut, And Must Repurchase Previously Purchased Haircuts - NBA 2k18 Removes The Bonus VC For Higher Difficulty Modifier - NBA 2k18    Beware of fake reviews. The two 10 rated reviews seem like paid advertisement. This game is far from a 10/10 especially if you are a mycareer player. The greed this year by 2k is the most I've seen by a company in a while.

    - Players May Not Preview A Haircut, And Must Repurchase Previously Purchased Haircuts

    - NBA 2k18 Removes The Bonus VC For Higher Difficulty Modifier

    - NBA 2k18 App Gives Less VC Than It Used To

    - Can no longer preview attribute boosts before purchasing upgrades in MyCareer.

    This is only what's been discovered within the first 14 hours. They've turned this into a **** mobile game with microtransactions at every time, except you paid $60 for the privilege.

    Campaign story is awful and all cutscenes are unskippable. Look up lil tasty your new sidekick if you want to preview the cringe.

    Still facing shot clock cheese, unstoppable animations, as well as broken ones like the failed dunk. Game needs major work, especially in terms of microtransactions.    … Expand
  8. jay_caspian
    Nov 3, 2017
    4
    The game is flawed inside and out. The game hinders itself by making every little choice a micro transaction. They reduced how much virtual currency you earn in games significantly, and raised the cost of every attribute. Trying to play the game without spending $20 on virtual currency is impossible since they built it into the fundamentals of the game.

    Apart from this, they took away    The game is flawed inside and out. The game hinders itself by making every little choice a micro transaction. They reduced how much virtual currency you earn in games significantly, and raised the cost of every attribute. Trying to play the game without spending $20 on virtual currency is impossible since they built it into the fundamentals of the game.

    Apart from this, they took away features from las year. You can't play MyCareer without having Xbox Live Gold, MyGM does not have the league expansion feature we had last year, And MyCareer's story is not only embarrassingly pathetic, but you cannot exit out of cut scenes, most of which are 3-10 minutes long (note: there are cut scenes before/after almost every game your rookie year). I couldn't possibly be more disappointed.

    Also, beware of the other reviews on here marking it a 10/10. Some are obviously paid reviews from people who don't speak English and don't actually play the game.    … Expand
  9. Dare_Relaqz
    Sep 18, 2017
    4
    Very disappointing release this year. There are a lot of things to be worried about for the future of this franchise, but that doesn't mean the game deserves 2's and 0's from angry fanboys. The gameplay is solid this year, improved over previous. You see that there was time put into aspects of the game that people are forgetting to touch on. We finally got a draft mode for MyTeam, andVery disappointing release this year. There are a lot of things to be worried about for the future of this franchise, but that doesn't mean the game deserves 2's and 0's from angry fanboys. The gameplay is solid this year, improved over previous. You see that there was time put into aspects of the game that people are forgetting to touch on. We finally got a draft mode for MyTeam, and while not the same exact carbon copy of Draft Champs from the Madden and FIFA series, it's still good. We also get Super Max, which adds a more competitive and strategic aspect to the online play in the mode, forcing you to pick your lineups carefully rather than just having a superteam every game. The MyLeague has had features added to it while not having anything stripped away, further improving a mode I enjoyed last year.

    But everything else seems to fall apart. People talk about the VC cash grab enough already so I won't touch on it, because to be honest, that's not what makes this game a disappointment.

    I've already had several crashes trying to load simple menus, like the edit player menu. The fact that Xbox users are basically unable to even play MyCareer up until now because save files are getting corrupted and all of the work you do is gone has to be mentioned. The player creation is incredibly barebones this year, with the facial sculpting completely taken out for no apparent reason. It could be somewhat 'compensated' for if the app was working and we were able to actually scan our faces properly, but they don't bother to ever fix their terrible mobile app and just release the same thing every year with a few different pictures. It's still the same buggy, terribly designed app as it always was. The loading times are incredibly long during games, meaning it takes even more time to get into our career games. And the biggest issue I have this year is how everything, and I mean everything, is done through the open world hub. Recently did an endorsement? Want to get paid? Well you have to run all the way to your agent's office for a cutscene to get paid. Why can't I just accept it through text? Doing this would probably help cut some of the load times for the game, because they are horrendous.

    The biggest problem with this game is how they try and make everything story driven, even MyGM mode. The characters in the MyCareer portion of the game are so hollow and poorly written. It hurts to play through because the story can't keep you engaged. I don't even like my own player's personality. I find myself wanting to skip all of the cutscenes but we aren't given an option to. I spend more time loading, watching cutscenes, and running around in the terribly designed neighborhood overworld then I do actually playing the game. And that's a shame because the gameplay this year is at least enjoyable. The teammate grade system however, is so brutally punishing. Missing two free throws takes away a whole bar, which is nonsense, while doing good things are barely as rewarding.

    Back to MyGM mode, because I referenced it earlier, it's a shame. Because ever since NBA 2K15 they've had this useless mode in the game. One of the biggest problems with it is the fact that there were way too many stoppages and that you couldn't delegate certain things to your assistants and coaches, and just focused on more GM like things, like trade offers and signing players. This year, everything takes even longer. It doesn't help the fact that the story isn't good either, and with the lack of voice acting, and in some scenes music and sound effects, everything is so quiet that it isn't enjoyable and every cutscene feels awkward, and there are so many of them. Not to mention that this mode has nowhere near the same customizable options that MyLeague does, so what's the point of this mode? Make one good manager mode without the useless story and cutscenes. Just take MyGM out of the game next year.

    Gameplay wise, it feels fundamentally like a continuation of last year. The only problems are how the developers try and sell us stuff in all of their blog posts but half of them are actually happening in the game. For example, penalties for passing out of shots and layups has no effect. One blog post claimed that there are no more 'canned animations' even though I've managed to run into a bunch of infuriating ones already, and players are missing wide open layups for no reason. Another design problem is the shot meter. When you go to the free throw line there's no indication that there's supposed to be a shot meter there, so you end up missing half of your free throws. A simple change like making the meter slightly visible and getting brighter when you shoot will fix that, giving us a sense that it's there.

    Just in review, this game isn't a total disaster. Again, it's a fundamental continuation of last year's release. The launch is terrible so far, and that can't be ignored with a half broken game being released as a beta test.    … Expand
  10. WhyNot2018
    Sep 21, 2017
    4
    This is the first 2K i'm skipping since 2K9. It's just not worth 60$ anymore, I'm sorry. If you got extra bucks to throw on VC, this is the game for you.
  11. mike21
    Sep 20, 2017
    3
    when you are on the court the game is great, with solid gameplay and good presentation, but the cons are too many:

    VC - they have made the game almost unplayable in order to force people to pay for VC. It's not even done in a subtle way. Just a straight robbery. Loading Screens - prepare to spend a lot of time looking at one. Cut scenes that can not be skipped. Can't play MyCareer    when you are on the court the game is great, with solid gameplay and good presentation, but the cons are too many:

    VC - they have made the game almost unplayable in order to force people to pay for VC. It's not even done in a subtle way. Just a straight robbery.
    Loading Screens - prepare to spend a lot of time looking at one.
    Cut scenes that can not be skipped.
    Can't play MyCareer offline - yesterday I wanted to play, but I had to wait for an update to download before I could. Not cool.
    Story - possibly written by children, in which case, it's only somewhat terrible.
    Paying ridiculous amounts of VC for customization of player (said customization can not be previewed either).    … Expand
  12. DrLuigi
    Sep 15, 2017
    3
    Clear money grab this year, it had been slowly getting worse but this year is outrageous. It feels like the product has gotten worse at the same time. The story is sooo bad it's laughable, it honestly feels like the devs are trying to troll you. Servers are of course not improved either. Many of the old school players now look nothing like themselves. Those 10 ratings from guys whoClear money grab this year, it had been slowly getting worse but this year is outrageous. It feels like the product has gotten worse at the same time. The story is sooo bad it's laughable, it honestly feels like the devs are trying to troll you. Servers are of course not improved either. Many of the old school players now look nothing like themselves. Those 10 ratings from guys who can barely speak english are obvious shills.

    I loved 2k15, 2k16 was solid as well, started disliking 2k last year and now I'm wondering how/why people continue to play this franchise    … Expand
  13. SaintJames012
    Oct 16, 2017
    3
    This is the moment a company who has for the longest time been the pinnacle of their market become too comfortable at the top and immediately topple of the weight of their own arrogance. 2k18, while having a pretty good foundation to build upon, dilutes its own legitimacy with the stomach wrenching, head shaking, bombardment of greed we have seen in a sports game.

    Gameplay: In 2k's    This is the moment a company who has for the longest time been the pinnacle of their market become too comfortable at the top and immediately topple of the weight of their own arrogance. 2k18, while having a pretty good foundation to build upon, dilutes its own legitimacy with the stomach wrenching, head shaking, bombardment of greed we have seen in a sports game.

    Gameplay:
    In 2k's fairness, the gameplay for the most part is intact. The game is playable, and much to its reputation, still is the most immersive sports game on the market. The time and detail added to the environments and atmosphere has always been a strong point for the series, and it is no different this year either. Controls are for the most part the same as the last installment, a healthy break from 2K's annoying habit of rebinding controls every year for the player to figure out. there are still problems to be had. AI is still pretty easy to exploit, and there is a head scratching inconsistency in the difficulty of the game. On one possession, the CPU will be pinned to you to the point where any movement will result in the fumbling of the ball (annoying because of its numerous occurrences), and other times, it will not react to a single move you do, allowing an easy bucket. Scratch that, you will probably miss the layup because of a confusion that occurred with the game. The "Layup problem" is probably already known to those who have delved into this game, but for those who still havent bought the game, you may have heard of this "layup problem." It actually isnt really a problem, but rather a miscommunication that occurred. Many players believed that the layup/floater system was returned to the automatic setting that we have seen in 2K16, this was not the case however, as the layup/floater system retained the model used in last year's iteration. Basically one must play the layup like a jump shot, successfully filling the shot meter in order to get that perfect release. The stupid part of all this is the game has no shot meter for the layup, so unless you know you are supposed to try and time it like last year on an invisible shot meter, the game pretty much bricked every attempt you did.

    MyCareer:
    A dumpster fire from start to finish. While many people often complain that 2K's storylines and cutscenes are bad, they did have a certain level of charm to them. A story that revolves around your journey to become the GOAT. This year, the narrative has been replaced with advertisements. There are still cutscenes, but the story pretty much ends once you get signed to a team. The rest of the cutscenes, and there are alot of them, are simply excuses to advertise some product to you (and not a subtle way). Whether it be a cutscene about how much your roommate love Reese's Puffs, which there are 3 separate cutscenes for, a cutscene completely dedicated to JBL headphones or the Iphone, A cutscene that ends with the infamous line "come on, let's go get a pepsi," or the constant reference to trash music such as Yatchy, Uzi Vert, Wayne, etc. This isn't even the end either, the game will also harass you with constant non-choices such as asking whether you want to bring your gatorade with you to an interview (which will continue to ask regardless of yes or no), whether or not you like Reese's Puffs (both answers are yes), or if you enjoy Mtn Dew (in which the answer is either yes or it's my favorite). To make matters worse, the cutscenes are not skippable, so you must sit through every single one of these glorified advertisements before being allowed to play the actual game, which will also have ads for "authenticity." To continue to make matters worse, everyone in the game is unlikable. Your player is a conceited airhead, your roommate is an annoying leech, the staff are all just different levels of annoying, mean, or just plain stupid, and other than 1 or 2 people, everyone is trash.

    MyGM:
    MyGM has taken the road of MyCareer with a new story mode that is included with the mode. The story itself suffers from similar issues the MC story does in that everyone is unlikable. In addition to all this, the characters themselves are all passive-aggressive, so these "cutscenes" are cringy as all hell. Other than that, MyGM i would say is an actual improvement to its predecessor last year, so this would be something to definitely check out.

    Online:
    The truly disappointing part of the game. The servers are still slow and utterly garbage as we have come to expect. There are no more cities to rep, rather being replaced with the single neighborhood which I actually quite enjoy, but all the events are sponsored (another advertisement for you to watch), and they don't even work. There plenty of videos on YouTube about how disastrous these events. VC earnings have been cut down so it takes even longer to win what you need to upgrade your abilities, and increasing difficulty no longer gives you a multiplier so playing on Hall of Fame holds no reward.    … Expand
  14. Trax6267
    Sep 18, 2017
    3
    Unbelievable how this game was allowed to launch. A bug filled mess that is a tragedy of a game considering that the on court GP this year feels much more organic then years past ( though still has its legacy and new issues popping up pretty frequently ). How can you release an ambitious mode like the Hood when you couldn't get your servers right for the park this entire generation? I lostUnbelievable how this game was allowed to launch. A bug filled mess that is a tragedy of a game considering that the on court GP this year feels much more organic then years past ( though still has its legacy and new issues popping up pretty frequently ). How can you release an ambitious mode like the Hood when you couldn't get your servers right for the park this entire generation? I lost my got damn My Career player on both my PS4 and my Nintendo Switch! I bought this game twice and got dicked over double time! I decided to give it another try yesterday, and got back to the NBA. About 3 games in, I was training and lost connection to the server, and upon reboot, I had to enter my damn name again because i was back on my CAP creation. Lost again. How do the people let this continue by buying this game year after year on day 1?? This was my only day 1 purchase and that will never happen again. I will only buy this game on the switch moving forward ( going NBA Live for PS4 ) and that will only happen if it launches a cleaner game. Take Two and 2K outta be ashamed of themselves man. Its so hard to see a once great company drop down like this to be a greedy VC hungry machine. GTA and Red Dead are my only 2 Take 2 Games now, and they better not start to go down the tubes like the NBA 2K series is doing. So much hype, commercialism, not enough attention to the quality of your damn game. Dropped my score from a 6 to a 3 because these issues have just gotten worst.… Expand
  15. jackpotsoftware
    Sep 18, 2017
    3
    Bug filled, money grabbing game. So many errors that I'm not sure how it was launched successfully with bug testing. Can't have real fun without buying at least 200k in VC, that would take you 300+ games to earn without buying it.

    People will say EA paid me. People will say I'm an NBA Live fanboy. I don't own Live, but I do know when I am being told that I need to spend an additional    Bug filled, money grabbing game. So many errors that I'm not sure how it was launched successfully with bug testing. Can't have real fun without buying at least 200k in VC, that would take you 300+ games to earn without buying it.

    People will say EA paid me. People will say I'm an NBA Live fanboy. I don't own Live, but I do know when I am being told that I need to spend an additional $80 to have fun in a video game.    … Expand
  16. ChildishGavino
    Sep 19, 2017
    3
    For anyone who loves giving 2K your money this is the game for you. They made some small improvements and changes like the dribbling and the "Run The Neighborhood". The walking around is cool at first but get boring really quick, but the thing that makes it worse is 2K and their greed. Basically forcing you to by VC just to have a decent player. 50 dollars to get to 85 like wtf. Its likeFor anyone who loves giving 2K your money this is the game for you. They made some small improvements and changes like the dribbling and the "Run The Neighborhood". The walking around is cool at first but get boring really quick, but the thing that makes it worse is 2K and their greed. Basically forcing you to by VC just to have a decent player. 50 dollars to get to 85 like wtf. Its like 2K is making it pay to win and that's just not good and I definitely can't support that… Expand
  17. Matilda_BBD
    Sep 22, 2017
    3
    I don't really care about annual releases in sports games even with only the tiniest tweaks here and there with new roster, but 2k has gone too far with the MICROTRANSACTIONS. I'm a long time NBA 2k fan and even I had to create an account just to review-bomb this crap. If you're gonna get this game as a casual NBA fan this game will not disappoint. The presentation and gameplay is topI don't really care about annual releases in sports games even with only the tiniest tweaks here and there with new roster, but 2k has gone too far with the MICROTRANSACTIONS. I'm a long time NBA 2k fan and even I had to create an account just to review-bomb this crap. If you're gonna get this game as a casual NBA fan this game will not disappoint. The presentation and gameplay is top notch and always has been. But if you're looking forward to mycareer I suggest sticking to 2k17 and not waste your money because spending real money is the only way you'll enjoy it for a long time. They basically made 2k18's mycareer a freaking next gen mobile game that you paid $60 for. If this is the direction this franchise is going, count me out from now on. It's a sad day in gaming when EA is holding 2k's beer while they demonstrate how to milk a full-priced game like a champ.… Expand
  18. 3dupunk
    Sep 23, 2017
    3
    Don't listen to the critic reviews, they are paid advertisements for the most part. If you want an honest review read the sixth axis review. Listen to the actual users, those who play the game for more than a week and have been playing this game for years. This years it is absolutely a disgrace, its been moving in this direction for quite some time but this year takes the cake. Not beingDon't listen to the critic reviews, they are paid advertisements for the most part. If you want an honest review read the sixth axis review. Listen to the actual users, those who play the game for more than a week and have been playing this game for years. This years it is absolutely a disgrace, its been moving in this direction for quite some time but this year takes the cake. Not being able to know what kind of player you are building because the ratings aren't shown. 2K did this so that we would make mistakes with our build and start a new build all over again. Ordinarily, that wouldn't be such a bad thing, but this year 2K has gone so hard with micro transactions and the VC grind that it makes it hard to walk away from a character you've wasted so much time as well as VC on and start all over. You'll have to buy everything all over again, clothes, sneakers, haircuts, accessories...I mean everything. They took a step further in making VC harder to get, you know, I wouldn't mind it being like this if this game were free to play, but for $60 its disgusting.

    To compound the grind for VC, the devs make myCareer hard to play because they blatantly placed code in the gameplay to cheat us gamers even further. This is beyond unethical because they are strong arming players to pay for attributes and even when we do pay they cheat us using these tactics. For instance when practicing, and in the prelude, it is far easier to hit a shot. You can get excellent (greens) at will if you've practice the timing of your shot. Well it doesn't work like that when you are actually playing a NBA game. In game you rarely get a green even if your wide open and or hit open shots, missing layups is the norm, turnovers that have been happening for years are still happening. What bothers me the most is that 2K dedicates so much time to these stupid storylines, but they cant take out time to fix these things which tells me that this is an intentional act.

    All 2K cares about is the VC system, everything they do is for us to waste more of real world currency and to protect their VC system. Its a shame because this could be a great game if the company wasn't so greedy.    … Expand
  19. SanctifiedN7
    Sep 26, 2017
    3
    Money money money. The creedo of the 2k business model. The problem? Their disgusting GREED went to an entire new level with NBA 2k18. The only thing that does not go STRAIGHT in your wallet, looking for cash is the LOGIN. For now. The game is trash. 2k is straight up garbage. Full of bugs, DELETED players, STOLEN VC(virtual currency) and you are bombarded at every step to PURCHASE VC,Money money money. The creedo of the 2k business model. The problem? Their disgusting GREED went to an entire new level with NBA 2k18. The only thing that does not go STRAIGHT in your wallet, looking for cash is the LOGIN. For now. The game is trash. 2k is straight up garbage. Full of bugs, DELETED players, STOLEN VC(virtual currency) and you are bombarded at every step to PURCHASE VC, instead of earning it. Horrible and intentional grind to squeeze as much money out of you, for a subpar game with LAST GEN GRAPHICS. F 2k. F NBA 2$18.… Expand
  20. r3xv_02
    Sep 27, 2017
    3
    Complete waste of my hard earned money. A premium pricetag for a half-assed done game, so many effin' bugs and glitches. And don't even let me start on on the Player progression on MyCareer mode, there is no fun on this mode, grinding on and on just to even buy an overpriced in game shoes wtf? And where the hell is the fix for the disappearing VC bug? you gonna sleep on that too 2k? yourComplete waste of my hard earned money. A premium pricetag for a half-assed done game, so many effin' bugs and glitches. And don't even let me start on on the Player progression on MyCareer mode, there is no fun on this mode, grinding on and on just to even buy an overpriced in game shoes wtf? And where the hell is the fix for the disappearing VC bug? you gonna sleep on that too 2k? your player remains trash if you dont spend real money - but why? you already paid premium price for the whole game which is not even polished oh my god.… Expand
  21. Kasai
    Oct 21, 2018
    3
    I bought this game a few months ago and was excited to play it. I always enjoyed 2k games on the previous gen consoles.

    The gameplay itself isn't bad, and the graphics are great. That being said, there were major flaws: - The games take forever to play and you're forced to sit through stupid cut scenes during the game - The shot mechanic is bad. Go ahead and call me a trash player,    I bought this game a few months ago and was excited to play it. I always enjoyed 2k games on the previous gen consoles.

    The gameplay itself isn't bad, and the graphics are great. That being said, there were major flaws:
    - The games take forever to play and you're forced to sit through stupid cut scenes during the game
    - The shot mechanic is bad. Go ahead and call me a trash player, I don't care. You shouldn't shoot 30% in a game with wide open players.
    - The AI in the game is super cheap and seemingly always nails a contested 3 every time you miss a wide open one.

    Now, onto the elephant in the room: microtransactions. No matter what mode you play, you need to either grind forever (which sucks, because the games take forever to play), or you need to pony up $30-50 on top of the $50 you paid for the game just to advance in the game. I had enough of this game, and I returned it for a game that doesn't nickle and dime you. At this point, 2k17 will be the last 2k game I buy for a while.    … Expand
  22. robertonunez
    Sep 27, 2017
    2
    money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money . thats the only important in this game...GIVE YOU MONEY money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money moneymoney money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money
  23. Critical_Fun
    Oct 23, 2017
    2
    Reviewing only MY Career. I give the game a 3 instead of a 2 because I'm still playing it, and I might actually get some playing time when I reach level 90 when I can control the roster. Putting a LOT of money in the game already. I'm an 87 and at the rate the idiotic AI coaching is going, I'll be 90 around when 2K99 comes out. Advancement is painfully slow. The next best player on myReviewing only MY Career. I give the game a 3 instead of a 2 because I'm still playing it, and I might actually get some playing time when I reach level 90 when I can control the roster. Putting a LOT of money in the game already. I'm an 87 and at the rate the idiotic AI coaching is going, I'll be 90 around when 2K99 comes out. Advancement is painfully slow. The next best player on my team is an 81 and I get 4 minutes per game despite my 2nd year contract guaranteeing me at least 6. The unrealistic minutes I'm playing eliminates any realism immersion.

    PROS - Good graphics, game play can be good when you've spent many many hours building up badges.

    CONS - Unrealistic coaching decisions. A year ago in-game, all the coaches pleaded with the head coach to let me start. I'm still not starting despite being the best player on the team. My game experience goes like this. Spend 5 minutes waiting on unnecessary cutscenes you can't skip. Play for about four minutes. Go through another 10 minutes of load screens and unskippable cutscenes until I get to the practice facility. Practice. Repeat. It's infuriating! I paid for the game and VC and I can't even play as a starter??? There is no other explanation other than the programmers simply want to troll us and laugh because they took our money.

    Layups - Any 7th grader that can't make open layups will not make their school team. Should be rare in the NBA but not in 2k. Be prepared for some of the most outrageous BS to ever occur in modern gaming. You've been warned.

    Unnecessary waiting - Download some phone games or something because you're going to need something to do for several minutes while you have to spend 20 or so unnecessary seconds watching your player sit in a chair only for you to hit X to get on with it already. This is not a loading screen. Just something you have to wait for Every. SIngle. Game. Just a small example of all the waiting you have to do.

    ONLINE - My Career is a single player function that requires internet connection. Enough said. FU 2k!

    MONEY - I've enjoyed 2k in the past so decided to spend extra money on it. It really doesn't matter how much money you spend here. The game will keep an elite player on the bench most of the game and progress will take FOREVER! No minutes mean no advancement. It's a cycle that I'm trapped in. Once I can manipulate the roster (which I shouldn't have to) at level 90, I can actually get going. With money and 3 weeks play, I'm level 87. At the current rate, I will be level 90 in about 2 or 3 months real time, all the while getting weak stats due to minutes played.

    If you don't mind spending a lot of money and putting up with idiotic coaching roster moves and playing the game for months before you see more than a few minutes game time while waiting 10 minutes in various loading and cutscenes, then this game is for you.

    2k, you got my money this year and I promise you, based on this experience, it will never happen again. Another company will take your place in a similar way The Show took baseball away from you. You've been doing this a long time and it's unbelievable that you can actually become WORSE at something the more you do it.    … Expand
  24. Alpenmilch
    Sep 22, 2017
    2
    Nothing new to the game is actually more a step back from 2017 than I thought. Without talking about the aggressive microtransaction. It's a sport game so please 2K don't milk your customers.
  25. Rankor
    Sep 15, 2017
    2
    One of the biggest cash grabs in video game history. Have to pay for haircuts that you cant preview, can no longer preview attribute upgrades leading to broken builds, and everything cots more VC then ever before. VC earning has been neutered across the board. Making 1/2 per game and even less through the app than last year. They are forcing consumers into micro transactions at every turn.One of the biggest cash grabs in video game history. Have to pay for haircuts that you cant preview, can no longer preview attribute upgrades leading to broken builds, and everything cots more VC then ever before. VC earning has been neutered across the board. Making 1/2 per game and even less through the app than last year. They are forcing consumers into micro transactions at every turn. Game play feels very familiar and the same cheese will be back.… Expand
  26. Raptorsking
    Sep 16, 2017
    2
    This series keep on going down hill... this game is way over hyped by the community. I bought it and seems way to similar to 2K17. Run the neighbourhood is way overrated
  27. QWDL
    Sep 26, 2017
    2
    No opening CG? Seriously? The visual concept team must have been working on the switch version so hard that they do not even have time to make one.

    I purchased the steam version as well as the switch version, and I generally like the switch version since I have been looking forward to an NBA game on the go for a long time. The PC high-end version, nah. It is a clear money grab, no    No opening CG? Seriously? The visual concept team must have been working on the switch version so hard that they do not even have time to make one.

    I purchased the steam version as well as the switch version, and I generally like the switch version since I have been looking forward to an NBA game on the go for a long time. The PC high-end version, nah. It is a clear money grab, no opening CG, no changes for the player profiles, and the MC story is the worst for the last couple of years, reminds me of the pre-2k 14 days of this game.

    Besides the limited effort the develop team put in this game, I have the feeling that if you are a person who has a normal life, you wouldn't even have enough time to play this thing. It requires so much grinding otherwise you need to buy and spend VC on literally everything. Even if you upgrade your character via tons of VCs you would still miss easy layups, like you are controlling a kindergarten player but not an NBA player. In the end, you still need to grind and grind to get those badges to ensure your layups...

    I mean, I totally understand 2K wants the players to hook up more with this game, but man, I have my own life, and I just want to play a video game, to do what I could not do in the real life. I surely can miss layups a lot, no need to recreate that feeling in a video game.    … Expand
  28. TheManilaMile
    Sep 22, 2017
    2
    As a guy who has a guilty pleasure with Sport Sims, this game is an alright basketball sport sim with an obvious money pig objective which drags the game A LOT. For a guy who LOVES Career Modes in Sport sims, the fact that VC dictates mostly everything and practically revolves around it, I'm very disappointed.
  29. Maarifa
    Sep 23, 2017
    2
    U can swap ur game name with VC Simulator 18. Pure grab for cash. Rly. The career plot is so bad its insane. Characters are cringey, dialogs are boring, and on top of that u cannot skip it. VC is floding almost every part of gameplay. I'm sick of it. This year im going with live 18. Withous spending a dime for in-game currency i have 81 overall in my player mode. I enjoy it so much. And toU can swap ur game name with VC Simulator 18. Pure grab for cash. Rly. The career plot is so bad its insane. Characters are cringey, dialogs are boring, and on top of that u cannot skip it. VC is floding almost every part of gameplay. I'm sick of it. This year im going with live 18. Withous spending a dime for in-game currency i have 81 overall in my player mode. I enjoy it so much. And to be honest i think that next year 2k won't change...… Expand
  30. Musonu
    Sep 25, 2017
    2
    I bought this game thinking that I would enjoy the full 2k18 experience.. unfortunately I was in for a big surprise. It appears that 2k thinks that their customers enjoy spending hundreds of dollars extra on their 60$ game, otherwise I cannot explain why they chose this 'free-to-play' like business model for a AAA game. The grind is just ridiculous and it reached a point when it is obviousI bought this game thinking that I would enjoy the full 2k18 experience.. unfortunately I was in for a big surprise. It appears that 2k thinks that their customers enjoy spending hundreds of dollars extra on their 60$ game, otherwise I cannot explain why they chose this 'free-to-play' like business model for a AAA game. The grind is just ridiculous and it reached a point when it is obvious that they are not thinking on how to make their games more enjoyable.. they just want you to spend huge amounts in order to unlock the full experience.
    I am a huge 2k fan and it is a shame to see that they have reached such a low point with their games. There seems to be very little improvement from last years game and the my Career mode is truly broken. There is no replayability at all, player progress has become the most insane grind in the series ( no difficulty multiplier this time around) and the customization items in the game are impossible for me to get without investing a small fortune in VC currency (this includes the moves of your myPlayer mind you).

    I wouldn't recommend this game to anyone , not at 60$ at least... this is just a cash grab and the developer actually managed to remove the 'fun' from game.

    Not worth the full price! 2/10    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

58
#58 Best PS4 Game of 2017
25
#25 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2017
32
#32 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2017

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 54 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 45 out of 54
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 54
  3. Negative: 4 out of 54
  1. Riot Pixels
    Jan 28, 2018
    83
    Basketball fans, NBA 2K18 is your new best friend… until the next fall.
    Read full review
  2. Cubed3
    Nov 26, 2017
    60
    In no way is NBA 2K18 a bad game, but it's certainly not worth its current price-tag, as the few improvements it offers are simply not enough, and, secondly, its sub-par single-player portion relies too much on micro-transactions.
    Read full review
  3. Playstation Official Magazine UK
    Nov 20, 2017
    80
    A beautiful, exciting representation of the sport. You'd be hard pushed to find a better, more accurate simulation of basketball on a modern console. [December 2017, p.82]
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