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. Kaleexto
    Oct 16, 2017
    1
    Living in Mexico, it costs 73 USD just to buy the standard game, thank God I stopped and convince myself to check out the reviews, I've had Nba 2k9, all the way to 2k16, skipped 2k17, and by 2k16 I did notice a high requirement of VC, but to be honest, it would've been ok for the game to have. micro transactions if it was free to play, or costed 20 USD (or 30 USD here in Mexico), butLiving in Mexico, it costs 73 USD just to buy the standard game, thank God I stopped and convince myself to check out the reviews, I've had Nba 2k9, all the way to 2k16, skipped 2k17, and by 2k16 I did notice a high requirement of VC, but to be honest, it would've been ok for the game to have. micro transactions if it was free to play, or costed 20 USD (or 30 USD here in Mexico), but paying 73 USD, plus paying a commission if you don't go for the extensive grind route is ridiculous, even being a Dark Souls fan i think that is unscrupulous. Actually thinking of trying NBA Live this year.… Expand
  2. gaspar
    Oct 16, 2017
    1
    Just a disaster on so many levels. The game has been a creeping cash grab for some time but took it to a whole new level this year. They destroyed single player MyCareer modes, they made playing online MyPlayer even more of a mind-numbing grind, the totally neglected MyGM/MyLeague modes are hideously buggy and never corrected because they're not the cash grab the other modes are. MyTeamJust a disaster on so many levels. The game has been a creeping cash grab for some time but took it to a whole new level this year. They destroyed single player MyCareer modes, they made playing online MyPlayer even more of a mind-numbing grind, the totally neglected MyGM/MyLeague modes are hideously buggy and never corrected because they're not the cash grab the other modes are. MyTeam is the only mode I can realistically say is better than last year, but that mode also is by definition a massive cash grab.

    The gameplay overall is slightly better than 2k17, but everything surrounding it is much, much worse. If you enjoy MyCareer/MyPark gameplay, the two most popular modes, everything about them is worse than last year. There's a lot of good, ambitious ideas in here but its clear the developers bit off more than they can chew. Particularly galling is how slow they are too fix bugs that ruin the user experience but how fast they are to crush any that might make it possible for you to progress at a reasonable rate without draining your bank account. If you're on the fence about this game, get off and get something else.    … Expand
  3. VedoB
    Nov 9, 2017
    1
    If you enjoy playing exhibition mode matches, then this game will fulfill your enjoyment. READ THIS CAREFULLY, if you intend to play MyTeam and MyPlayer let me save you a lot of time and a lot of money by urging you to not buy this game, you are forced to spend a ridiculous amount of time in order to obtain enough vc coins to make cosmetic and progression upgrades. It literally ruins theIf you enjoy playing exhibition mode matches, then this game will fulfill your enjoyment. READ THIS CAREFULLY, if you intend to play MyTeam and MyPlayer let me save you a lot of time and a lot of money by urging you to not buy this game, you are forced to spend a ridiculous amount of time in order to obtain enough vc coins to make cosmetic and progression upgrades. It literally ruins the grinding experience in this game. 1/10, the one thing that is bearable in this game is the exhibition modes, other than that stay away from this game. Also something interesting to think about, I believe to this day the platinum trophy for the ps4 version of the game has a 0.00% rating. Think about why that is!… Expand
  4. EricBell
    Nov 6, 2017
    1
    How the mighty have fallen.

    2k/Visual Concept have taken the once king of basketball games and turned it into a sad, depressing stroke inducing money grab grind that's as enjoyable as shaving your face with a cheese grater. VC is the currency in the game, need that to do anything. ANYTHING. Tattoos Gear Shoes Levelling up Skill boosts Gatorade power up Haircut Absolutely    How the mighty have fallen.

    2k/Visual Concept have taken the once king of basketball games and turned it into a sad, depressing stroke inducing money grab grind that's as enjoyable as shaving your face with a cheese grater.

    VC is the currency in the game, need that to do anything. ANYTHING.
    Tattoos
    Gear
    Shoes
    Levelling up
    Skill boosts
    Gatorade power up
    Haircut
    Absolutely everything in this game that can be customizable costs your their in game currency.
    How do you get said currency? Well buy it on the pan store for a charge of up to 100$usd or earn it by playing. But you earn so little it would take say 4 my career games to earn enough for a haircut or tattoo.

    The mycareer mode main feature is the road to 99. You have to level your player up by playing, but again your rewards are so far and few that it could easily take you 3 full seasons, playing every game, with 12 minute quarters and practicing before every game to even get close. Okay for the hardcore that's fine, but for casual players who have jobs and lives, forget it, you will never see your career player progress beyond a bench warmer.

    Most casual gamers will be turned off after their first hour anyway because of their forced story telling and opening sequence which is just asinine. Nothing is skippable. You. Must. Sit. Through. It.

    Then there's the server issues. See you bought the game right, and you wanna play your offline career right? Well too bad, it requires their servers, and if they go down, which they do, daily, you can't play anything but play now. You could be in the middle of your careers best game, and when it's over, server is offline, you lose all your earned VC. There is no fixing it, lost, bye, do it again, chump. Their forums are a joke deleting posts that are critical or call their servers out and the load times are longer than it takes a one legged no armed 10 year old to load the contents of bill gates house into a fleet of uhauls.

    But this is sports games now, buy the game, then keep buying or spend a year getting your player levelled to about 90.

    It's getting to the point where gamers need to consider lawsuits as these games are clear money hosing scams, they are literally becoming the Trump University of gaming, pay big costs with little to nothing to show for your investment.

    The staff at 2k/VC should be ashamed of themselves, once reputable honest to goodness game debs have become virtual crack dealers. The first hit, cost of the game, is tolerable, but you have to pay huge to keep getting that fix. But don't come crying to them when the needle breaks (server) before you can ascend, because they will ignore, ban or delete.

    R.i.p. 2K series. Best of luck devs, I hear walmart needs greeters.

    Just awful on every level.    … Expand
  5. hulkgonzo
    Dec 1, 2017
    1
    The game play sucks. What is the point of having a meter if the AI will determine if you make it or not. Missing layups frequently. That is insane. I finally bought the NBA2K18 since I enjoyed the Fifa17 career mode. When I started to play career mode it was horrible. I figure it is do to rating of being 60. So i went to play franchise and vs friends and it is just frustrating how bad theThe game play sucks. What is the point of having a meter if the AI will determine if you make it or not. Missing layups frequently. That is insane. I finally bought the NBA2K18 since I enjoyed the Fifa17 career mode. When I started to play career mode it was horrible. I figure it is do to rating of being 60. So i went to play franchise and vs friends and it is just frustrating how bad the game is. I have never been upset in a game and really feel I wasted my money. Worst game of the year.… Expand
  6. carterw3
    Dec 24, 2017
    1
    One of the biggest disappointments for video games in 2017. This game largely leans on microtransactions for the majority of it's modes. MyCareer is only enjoyable if you have a good player, which costs a lot of VC. MyTeam mode, which was my personal favorite, is ruined by frustrating online modes, unfair pack odds, and the only way to get good players is through buying VC to get boxes, soOne of the biggest disappointments for video games in 2017. This game largely leans on microtransactions for the majority of it's modes. MyCareer is only enjoyable if you have a good player, which costs a lot of VC. MyTeam mode, which was my personal favorite, is ruined by frustrating online modes, unfair pack odds, and the only way to get good players is through buying VC to get boxes, so again, it is extremely pay-to-win. The new "story" for MyGM mode that was very hyped up only lasts one season. The gameplay itself is decent, when you aren't dribbling off of the opponent's feet every other possession. In addition to microtransactions, The amount of server issues this game has is unbelievable, so you can't even play the modes half of the time. And with the amount of issues and glitches that this game has, their support is completely incompetent. Just embarrassing. Definitely will have to think twice about buying another NBA 2K game.… Expand
  7. cbg45133
    Jan 30, 2018
    1
    What can I say about this game that hasn't already been said? This game is the worst 2k game I’ve ever bought and the sad part is it might be the best basketball video game I've played as far as gameplay is concerned. I bought the game on launch and quickly quit playing it after a week or two. I am a mycareer player only and after seeing all the glitches and microtransactions I decided theWhat can I say about this game that hasn't already been said? This game is the worst 2k game I’ve ever bought and the sad part is it might be the best basketball video game I've played as far as gameplay is concerned. I bought the game on launch and quickly quit playing it after a week or two. I am a mycareer player only and after seeing all the glitches and microtransactions I decided the game wasn’t worth playing or at least not in its current state. I finally decided to pick it up and start playing again Sunday night (January 28th) I had heard that 2k had fixed some of the microtransaction concerns and I know that at this point the game has been patched a few times so I figured I’d give it a shot. Using the 25 dollar PSN 25 gift card that I had since Christmas I bought some VC (stupid I know) because I honestly wanted to see how far 25 bucks (90,000 VC) would get me if I used it all on a fresh 60 overall player. In the end I got to 75 overall and since then I've played 5 games on all-star difficulty and so far I have only made about 2500 VC which was enough to upgrade my player 1 attribute point in a major skill (layup) and enough to get 4 non-generic dribble animations that actually allow me to get open for shots. Even at 75 overall, I am still missing wide open shots going 2/10 and 3/10 in back to back games. I’m not taking bad shots and I’ve been practicing my shot on my court and in the team workouts where I am being guarded so I can adjust for that. I can get green shots at least half the time in those situations which tells me that my shot timing changes in the game and that isn’t fair and it seems like another way that the game is pushing you to pay to make your shot better. I miss 2k14 so much not because it was the best 2k ever, but because in that game I could make my player better, get on court accessories, and get a bunch of different badges all without spending a dime after the original purchase. The gameplay and graphics weren't as nice as 2k18 but the game was much more fun because there wasn’t a paywall and tons of microtransactions holding you back from enjoying the core game. I wish these publishers would stop being so dang greedy. I just wanted to pay my 60 dollars and play mycareer mode I want to upgrade my player without spending any more cash and maybe get a cool story to go along with it, but that will probably never happen again. I don’t play park, or pro-am, or myleague, or myGM but still I am forced to pay money for VC just so I can have a decent player to play the games AI. I'm so sick of buying a game for 60 dollars just to be forced to pay more just so I can enjoy the core game right from the start. People will say you don’t have to pay if you don’t want to well it cost almost 190,000 VC to get to 85 compared to the 180,000 VC it took to fully upgrade a player to 95 last year and you can start to see the problem. This game basically forces you to pay to have a decent player if you have any kind of life away from your console and me for one will not be buying another 2k game until this paywall is removed. I am a diehard 2k fan I’ve been playing since 2k9 and I just won’t allow myself to be ripped off by these people anymore. I just wanted to play standard mycareer mode and upgrade my player at a decent pace based on how well I play against the AI is that too much to ask for? I give this game a 1 because the basketball simulation is good but there are just too many self-inflicted problems and pay to play systems for this game to be a good game.… Expand
  8. zabian
    Jul 28, 2018
    1
    Don't get me wrong this game is horrendously bad and full of micro-transactions , but I saw potential in the neighborhood though the cut-scenes were awful and everything was overpriced, the hood was huge and it has some good modes like king of the court or dunk off, now the gameplay, yikes it was even worse than last year, you see why are centers at the 3-point line and everyone on my teamDon't get me wrong this game is horrendously bad and full of micro-transactions , but I saw potential in the neighborhood though the cut-scenes were awful and everything was overpriced, the hood was huge and it has some good modes like king of the court or dunk off, now the gameplay, yikes it was even worse than last year, you see why are centers at the 3-point line and everyone on my team isn't reacting to the offense or even moving? it still has time to improve to a 5.7/10 generously like I'm trying to be positive but this was a waterfall of quality compared to even last year in 2K17, and honestly I expect 2K19 to be awful. Verdict: 1.4/10 or 0.7/5.0 or if your a fan of Nintendo you-tuber Arlo 1.1/7. +Smooth Graphics +The Hood has potential - horrendous game play -overpriced - disgusting soundtrack - terrible cut scenes. To make a long story short DO NOT PLAY NO MATTER HOW CRAZY YOU ARE!!!… Expand
  9. 2k18SUCKS
    Jun 25, 2019
    1
    First off I wanna say is I would rate this game a 0 but when I try it tells me to "select a rating" This game deserves a 0 nothing more!!!!! I'm basically forced to rate you a 1 when this game doesn't even deserve that. This gameplay is absolutely HORRIBLE!!!!!!!! I've played other 2ks before and I'm really good at them! but this one is plain stupid!!!! I play Mycareer a lot! And my playerFirst off I wanna say is I would rate this game a 0 but when I try it tells me to "select a rating" This game deserves a 0 nothing more!!!!! I'm basically forced to rate you a 1 when this game doesn't even deserve that. This gameplay is absolutely HORRIBLE!!!!!!!! I've played other 2ks before and I'm really good at them! but this one is plain stupid!!!! I play Mycareer a lot! And my player has an overall 84 open/contested 3pt shot! But I literally miss EVERY single shot!! 1/10 I'll make and that's if I'm lucky! Not to mention the layups! My player can't even make a layup!! This is ridiculous!!!! To whoever is thinking of getting it DONT!!!! Waste of time and money!! And on top of that all the transactions to!!!! You have to pay $60+ for the game and then even more just to make it SEMI ENJOYABLE!!!!! Worst game ever purchased. So I wanna give a BIG **** YOU to the creators of this game! You really ****ed over your fan base!!! Congrats douchebags!!… Expand
  10. jakandjoe
    Apr 19, 2021
    1
    very bad like i mean very bad NOT worth it at all the game sucks i hate it it has nothing new that's good or actually fun.
  11. WashedPotatoes
    Jul 21, 2022
    1
    worst mycareer of any game, **** gameplay, everything is either duplicated from 2k17 or worse. **** this game
  12. keroxsan
    Jul 3, 2021
    1
    The worst NBA 2k game Ive played and will ever play. The neighborhood is a horrible change that they shouldn't have made. Then everything costs WAY too much. And it takes way too long to actually "grind" out your player. This game is so bad to the point where I haven't bought a NBA 2k game since. Its the last NBA 2k that I will EVER play. All of the critics that are saying its a good gameThe worst NBA 2k game Ive played and will ever play. The neighborhood is a horrible change that they shouldn't have made. Then everything costs WAY too much. And it takes way too long to actually "grind" out your player. This game is so bad to the point where I haven't bought a NBA 2k game since. Its the last NBA 2k that I will EVER play. All of the critics that are saying its a good game have either been payed to say that or they just like to lie for fun. Because this game is absolutely garbage.… Expand
  13. AnthonyDiMattia
    Sep 11, 2021
    1
    This game ruined MyCareer, did nothing interesting with MyTeam, and ruined the gameplay with constant blowbyes. The worst 2K ever.
  14. DonTheGamer
    Jun 22, 2023
    1
    Terrible gameplay. terrible MY CAREER, terrible micro-transactions....basically, everything is terrible.
  15. PeaceWalker
    Sep 23, 2017
    0
    SCAM!! Paying $60 does nothing more than make this playable. The bulk of the content and actual progress requires more and more $. The career mode is pretty awful too compared to some of the earlier entries. AVOID!!
  16. GuyM
    Sep 25, 2017
    0
    Microtransactions don't belong in fully priced games. Virtual currency is even worse. This company has 0 respect for consumers, they treat us like ATMs. Never touch another 2K product or any other game company's product if they pull crap like this.
  17. ff7rule
    Sep 23, 2017
    0
    Pay 2 win microtransaction simulator. 2k games are greedy money whores. Worst NBA 2kXX game ever?

    Also the devs tried to influence The Sixth Axis to remove their low review score. Oh how low they've sunk.
  18. Ristul
    Sep 27, 2017
    0
    If you want a game that screws you over and reaches out for your pocket wallet with microtransactions, this is the game for you. Not only do you pay full retail price for this, you also pay to unlock the full game. It's basically free to play without being free.
  19. TrueCouchSurfer
    Oct 17, 2017
    0
    I have played NBA2k since the beggining and the squezing out the money of fans is ridicoulous right now.
    It was happening year by year since the introduction of buyable VC. The whole progress system of my career got rigged. To top that each year the mynba companion application gives you less and less VC per day (from 5000/2500/1200 up to 600 this year). Last year after 30 games i had    I have played NBA2k since the beggining and the squezing out the money of fans is ridicoulous right now.
    It was happening year by year since the introduction of buyable VC. The whole progress system of my career got rigged. To top that each year the mynba companion application gives you less and less VC per day (from 5000/2500/1200 up to 600 this year). Last year after 30 games i had solid progress, this year the grind to achieve any playability in mycareerr is unbearable. In MyTeam they've cut the ammount of contracts for players that you earn via domination to force you to spend more virtual currency.

    I've payed 60 USD to find that the game is basically a pay to win and just asks for my money constantly. And the unskippable advertimesents in the game of JBL, Gatorade and other companies - UNSKIPPABLE FORCED ADVERTISEMENT in 60 USD GAME !!!

    THE GREED OF THE COMPANY'S MANAGMENT IS ASTONISHING.    … Expand
  20. ThroneBender
    Sep 25, 2018
    0
    Microtransactions are a farce and for a fully priced game it doesn't belong. Stop buying these games with microtransactions.
  21. KnowsHisShiet
    Sep 16, 2017
    0
    300 hundred in the trash. im not poor i have no problem playing 20 games all weekend to be able to afford a haircut ingame. 2k17 was the best game for career balancing with archtypes which gave u 5 master badges and 40 other bronze, which i spent forever to atttain all making my rebounder a lebron.now i have set my 2 archtypes, it tells me the 20 badges im allowed to get, fine. but when i300 hundred in the trash. im not poor i have no problem playing 20 games all weekend to be able to afford a haircut ingame. 2k17 was the best game for career balancing with archtypes which gave u 5 master badges and 40 other bronze, which i spent forever to atttain all making my rebounder a lebron.now i have set my 2 archtypes, it tells me the 20 badges im allowed to get, fine. but when i dont have to stats to use allyoop animations wtf is it giving me a waste of lob finisher badge.last year a rebounder was not a useless terd in the post. ntm i had to putt 200k vc just to find out how **** he was, they no longer show you the projected stats when spending points. neighborhood is cool for about 5min than you realise they found a way to add nother 20min load time between games. more loading. more money. less stats and badges. less fun. GG FAIL… Expand
  22. Vitoner
    Sep 22, 2017
    0
    **** microtransactions in AAA games in general. In particular, this ****ing "game" is full to the brim with them to the point they hugely impact the gameplay and the general experience. DO NOT BUY.
  23. Jiggawatts
    Sep 20, 2017
    0
    Unfortunately very bad ingame economy riddled with microtransactions and heavy free2play-mobile-game-like progress model. Without real cash to pay for progress the game is a very slow and tedious grind. More like pay 60 bucks upfront for a fee2play game. Sad :(

    Overall I guess probably a fun basketball video game experience if you have 150+ bucks to start with.
  24. xcoders
    Sep 20, 2017
    0
    I've seen games use micro-transactions many times but this time they went too far, this is just inexcusable for a 60 dollar game to get to a point of it being unplayable unless you pay more. I hope 2K goes bankrupt, they don't deserve to exist.
  25. frod0
    Sep 28, 2017
    0
    This is the worst basketball game to ever be released. 2k went from great, to spike leer rock bottom to the absolute definition of hell. After Lee I figured career mode and GM mode could only get better, but forget racism, this is way worse then racism, this game is ass.
  26. kstud1
    Nov 30, 2017
    0
    Worst NBA2k game to date a game where pro players miss layups constantly, no one can shoot consistently but the AI,long load times, way too many cut scenes, a definite PAY TO PLAY concept to play this game everything cost you money, if this is the future of gaming, I’m going back to playing the Nientendo games.
  27. familyguy
    Sep 23, 2017
    0
    Greedy **** 2k want to suck every single penny in our wallet . Don't buy this **** guy . stop letting those scumbag climb over your head . They ruin everything they touch
  28. kingofkoopas
    Oct 6, 2017
    0
    Start taking a stand against micro transactions. The term itself is ridiculous, there is nothing "micro" about them anymore. They cost an arm and leg now.
  29. RyanJamesSez
    Sep 22, 2017
    0
    Currency system ruins the game. Returned Immediately. Be aware of critics that rate this high. Even if the design of the game is decent, you shouldn't get a pass on an awful business practice.
  30. The_Seaman_
    Sep 23, 2017
    0
    After all the hate Microtransactions get these years. Publishers and developers clearly keep pulling this on the consumer.

    Overpriced cosmetics, a slow progression system (unless you pay), microtrasactions
Page:

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]
See all critic reviews »