User Score
2.8

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 462 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 86 out of 462
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  1. Sep 17, 2019
    8
    Great game with little improvements. Addictive gameplay and very good AI. Great Career mode.
  2. Nov 25, 2018
    1
    Once a good guys on the basketball games front, 2k were ruined by all the money and a lack of competition. Now they are just another greedy corporation, not only they want you to spend 60$ on the roster update every year, this game is also riddled with microtransactions proudly representing all the worst qualities of a modern game industry. Please, do yourself and an industry a favour andOnce a good guys on the basketball games front, 2k were ruined by all the money and a lack of competition. Now they are just another greedy corporation, not only they want you to spend 60$ on the roster update every year, this game is also riddled with microtransactions proudly representing all the worst qualities of a modern game industry. Please, do yourself and an industry a favour and don't buy this game. Only declining sales will make them realise that gamers are fed up with this approach. Expand
  3. Jan 12, 2019
    0
    Hands down the worst basketball game unless you're a child who likes shooting ridiculous 3 pointers and making every one of them even if great defense is played on you. If that profile fits you then its the game you've been looking for. If you're a mature basketball gamer who likes realism in your sports game then this is THE ABSOLUTE WORST NBA GAME EVER CREATED!!!
  4. Dec 16, 2018
    0
    I used to love play now online. I had my favorite 2 or 3 all time teams that I used all the time. Now I'm forced to play with the worst teams in the game if I want to rank up. It's just not fun missing wide open layups and dunks. I'm made to play with tier 3 garbage teams, and with players I've never heard of.
  5. Dec 21, 2018
    2
    This is all referring to the MyCareer Mode, which is their bread and butter:

    1) you're not a dual archetype till you're a 94. O wait, i'm sorry, except for slashing post scorers. My guy is not a dual type till a 95. Paying the extra 50+ dollars to begin with was crazy, but at least last yr doing it got me to max the only two things I cared about. LIke when I made a dunker and
    This is all referring to the MyCareer Mode, which is their bread and butter:

    1) you're not a dual archetype till you're a 94. O wait, i'm sorry, except for slashing post scorers. My guy is not a dual type till a 95. Paying the extra 50+ dollars to begin with was crazy, but at least last yr doing it got me to max the only two things I cared about. LIke when I made a dunker and rebounder, at 85, i was able to do those two things while everything else i needed to earn which was fine, it just sucked that I needed to pay 50, unlike now, it doesn't mean anything. Not to mention as you unlock new things, it requires more VC. Some items like in the wheel shop, which can even be more expensive than paying another 50 dollars and starting over with a new guy.
    2) you have no control on what is getting the rep up, even after paying.
    3) you now have to grind for more badges now, like the personality badges that were free as you repped up. Now this, i wouldn't mind, but it already takes, days, weeks, months, to rep up. Like last yr I joined the 2k grind in January played till August. I put in so much, but i was only able to get to a 91 after starting from an 85. Then this 2k comes out, and I gotta pay another 50 and start all over again and do the samething when 2k20 comes out. if I continue to play, it will be pc, F it, I don't blame the hackers. Atleast they're just paying for the game.
    4)Guards got so much more love than big men. One, the taller you are, the less you can shoot which doesn't make sense cause there are bigs that can shoot well. Bigs are already at disadvantage because they are slow, cant dribble, cant pass, etc. So their idea to "make it fair" is to also make them weak shooters even if you make that you're main and only job. Also keep in mind, shooters are one of the worst defenders(attribute wise). Then to top it off, when maxing a big's weight, you become uber slower than last yr and harder to dunk with cause you'll need more ground for a running head to start. However, a guard will only need about 3 steps to take off and can dunk on you're head if they have their badges at least at silver. Then when its your turn, it doesn't matter that you have hall of fame and gold stuff, you're slow. Like shaq moved at -6 miles a hour on the lakers and no one could stop his dunks next to or under the basket. Their idea of making the defense stronger was an epic fail.
    5) no double progress days on holidays, so now it takes even longer to grind your player
    6) Game Lags costing VC when playing ante up games, lose the VC and the game. I was up 19-6 on a player, about to end it, a lag kicked me off and not only I didn't win the VC owed, I lost my VC too.
    7) if you win an ante up game, 2k taxes the VC you won while also taking VC from the loser. Like taxes on fake money, seriously?! I played some one for 500 VC, 2k gave me 450.
    8) Why is it so hard to knock the ball out of the AI hands, but its uber easy for me to just lose it without anyone touching me.
    9) The ball goes through my hands when i'm on defense trying to get a block at least a couple times in the span of 3 or 4 days. its like i'm finger popping the ball.
    10) random crashes.
    11) Need to join a person a session 4+ times just to meet up
    12) making purchases using my VC and seeing the deduction in my VC but not getting the Item. When I complain to 2k support, they ask for a youtube video. How the hell can I show a video of something that happened after the fact.
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  6. Dec 24, 2018
    0
    Broke a** m*game. I keep trying though. Ball hit CPU leg turnover on me. Kickball right? U should let EA sports have your my player idea because I can assure you the gameplay on live will be 20 times better than this..hands down.
  7. Dec 30, 2018
    2
    Microtransactions and online play have utterly ruined everything good about this franchise. Progressing your character in any way is a depressing grind without spending real life money to unlock their dumb in-game currency. It only becomes fun after at least a dozen plus hours of it not being fun at all. I could deal with that if their ridiculous neighborhood and focus on online playMicrotransactions and online play have utterly ruined everything good about this franchise. Progressing your character in any way is a depressing grind without spending real life money to unlock their dumb in-game currency. It only becomes fun after at least a dozen plus hours of it not being fun at all. I could deal with that if their ridiculous neighborhood and focus on online play didn't screw everything else up. It's almost 2019 and this game doesn't allow you to have multiple save files in any meaningful away. Yes, I can create multiple players, if I feel like skipping through a dozen cutscenes to get to actual gameplay. And then if I want to switch back, I can't even change my character's name back without creating a whole new save file and deleting it once the name change has taken affect. Being able to switch between multiple unique characters is the absolute minimum I should be able to accomplish in a game in 2018 and I can't even do that. The gameplay itself is actually quite a lot of fun, but once again is ruined by the fact that you have to pay in-game currency for unique dunks, layups, passes, crossover moves, and celebrations, and you can only unlock most of these once your character has reached a certain level, and depending on your position and your character's play style, some times you can't even unlock them at all.

    If you want to create multiple players to experiment with different play styles and experience different aspects of the game, you are out of luck, unless you want to skip the same dozen cutscenes of the Prelude. Skipping the whole thing isn't worth it either, because the gameplay is actually fun and your character will be in a better starting place if you do it. What's more, the Prelude/story in 2K19 is actually a massive improvement over the hot garbage that was 2K18's myCareer, its pisspoor excuses for characters and story, and the fact that in that game, you actually couldn't skip any of the cutscenes, so creating a new character was a two or three hour drudge through mind-numbing dialogue and a story that feels like it was written by a 12 year old. The story itself is actually really good for a sports game, although I'd like to be able to choose my backstory, similar to how it usually works in the Madden franchise, rather than being shoved into whatever character the game devs make you play as. The fact that you don't have a choice to be anything other than an undrafted college dropout is really annoying. Most of the issues with this game are fairly small, but they combine with the cash-grabbing tactics the company uses to maximize their profits to make an absolute mess of a game franchise that offers the best basketball gameplay of any game out there, far as I can tell. Eventually it just gets boring, and I'm guessing the devs purposely plan it that way so that you'll have to buy the next year's game, since they only ever plan on you playing it for a year at most. I wasn't even going to buy 2K19 until I saw how much more I liked the myCareer mode than i did for 2K18, but now, even though I got it for less than half price, I just feel ripped off. I have better ways to spend my time and money than marginally improving an undrafted shooting guard's jumpshot to go from a 78 to a 79. Things need to drastically change or this will be the last 2K game I ever buy.
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  8. Dec 31, 2018
    1
    I have been buying the 2k Series for a while, this will be my last game for a bit.

    My Career: I start my Career, man this is bogus. The engineer that came up with the coaching AI needs to be fired and blacklisted from the industry. They give you something to do, you are 5/5 12 pts 2 assists and destroying the other team, coach sits you in the first quarter till 30 seconds left in
    I have been buying the 2k Series for a while, this will be my last game for a bit.

    My Career:
    I start my Career, man this is bogus. The engineer that came up with the coaching AI needs to be fired and blacklisted from the industry. They give you something to do, you are 5/5 12 pts 2 assists and destroying the other team, coach sits you in the first quarter till 30 seconds left in second quarter. You get going again then he sits you again and your team loses....... What? Who subs with 2 seconds left in the game when a team is up by 10 ? WHO ? WHO Calls a timeout when you are down by 10 with 2 seconds left to go (then you get subbed out). Aside from that you have to play some bogus games (like an NBA 2k version against another player from 5 years or so ago). Why? I just want to get into the game, you start in China (no real reason). After the prelude I just didnt care to play anymore. I find myself needing to be motivated to play

    Aside from the obvious issues with my career, the controls are neat but very, very, very, clunky. There are times your character doesn't move or respond to the joy stick and it leaves your guy wide open. Spins and steps will take a lot of time to figure out if you are new. Half of the time I do a spin my person stops and tries to shoot (not sure why shooting motion is anywhere near the same thing as spining). Shooting doesn't stay consistent.

    The assignment system is still broken. On a pick you will be selected for the wrong person constantly. There are times you crash the boards following your coach's request then get dinged when someone else gets the rebound and your person scores.

    Aside from that someone put GOAT on the cover ..... Seriously seeing how in love the game is with LJ that is just sad... I would stay away and try something else.
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  9. Jan 26, 2019
    5
    It's an unfortunate reality. A studio takes what was once an amazing franchise and has reduced to a means to strip people of extra money for a pay to win model rather than reward players for loyalty.

    Not to mention gameplay actually feels WORSE than that of 2K17. How does a game go backwards in how well it plays? Look, I'm not gonna come out and give it a 1 or a 0 just because the
    It's an unfortunate reality. A studio takes what was once an amazing franchise and has reduced to a means to strip people of extra money for a pay to win model rather than reward players for loyalty.

    Not to mention gameplay actually feels WORSE than that of 2K17. How does a game go backwards in how well it plays?

    Look, I'm not gonna come out and give it a 1 or a 0 just because the studio is going in the wrong direction. There's still a lot to like about the game, especially in the offline modes (Franchise mode is still amazing). But it can't be ignored that there are some predatory tactics going on (and I hate using that term but here it is true).
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  10. Feb 9, 2019
    0
    One of the worst sports game i've ever played. I play nba2k since 2k10, and this is the worst 2k after 2k18. The game is still a cash grab and full of predatory microtransactions. I buy 2k mainly for my career, like 90% of the players do. MyCareer is still a cash grab and just a giant advertisement for Gatorade etc. The gameplay is arguably the worst in 2k history. I have a 90 rated shotOne of the worst sports game i've ever played. I play nba2k since 2k10, and this is the worst 2k after 2k18. The game is still a cash grab and full of predatory microtransactions. I buy 2k mainly for my career, like 90% of the players do. MyCareer is still a cash grab and just a giant advertisement for Gatorade etc. The gameplay is arguably the worst in 2k history. I have a 90 rated shot creating point guard and I can`t do a damn thing. The AI defense is completely overpowered. 2k makes kris dunn look like kahwi leonard. Everyone is a lockdown defender. You can`t create rooms for an open jumper cause the AI runs trough screens and your defender will be in your face constantly. When there is an open lane to the hoop, my player will just stop in the middle of the sprint for no reason and gets stopped by a defender. You can't hit open shots. The gameplay in my opionion is the worst in the history of 2k. Park is dead already. The only thing you can do with this game is either trade it in, or throw it in the trash can, this is where it belongs. Expand
  11. Feb 15, 2019
    0
    I purchased the anniversary edition to which I deeply regretted doing so within an hour of play. The game is designed to make you pay more and more in order to even think about completing side tasks and winning games. The games A.I is horrible, feels like the game is rigged and designed to make you lose.

    EA have despicable customer service and offer no help whatsoever except only to
    I purchased the anniversary edition to which I deeply regretted doing so within an hour of play. The game is designed to make you pay more and more in order to even think about completing side tasks and winning games. The games A.I is horrible, feels like the game is rigged and designed to make you lose.

    EA have despicable customer service and offer no help whatsoever except only to condescend and mock to which it makes me believe they have little to no interest or intentions of fixing the plethora of issues abound.

    I Have been playing the franchise since 2001 and I can say with confidence that this is definitely the last one in the series I will ever buy or play.

    Do yourself a favor and give this a miss.

    Almost zero customization options. Myplayer career is the single most frustrating experience I have ever had in a game. You cannot choose a nickname, the face scan feature never works leaving your scanned face with blue or black patches on your characters face, the story makes your player come across as a self entitled cringe worthy tool. It feels like you are playing against even your own team mates at times with their constant clumsiness and "keep away" attitude. The only decent thing about this game is the graphics.

    If you like missing uncontested wide open shots with perfect releases, having fouls called on you for no reason, replaying the same game over and over with the same fixed result, fighting against team mates in order to try and win games, paying plenty of real life money to get a slight but worthless advantage and wasting time on pointless game modes; then this title is just for you.
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  12. Mar 10, 2019
    0
    WHAT IN THE HELL IS THIS!!You pay $60 a YEAR FOR A ROSTER UPDATE, oh and did it mention MICROTRANSACTSHONS a lot of those and the gameplay feels like your on. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY on 2k20 it lets them do nothing and get MONEY!
  13. Feb 26, 2019
    3
    This game is a lot of fun when it's not glitching, or throwing error codes. Literally the second the clock ran down to win the finals, the game threw a code, and kicked me out to the main menu. I now have to play the game yet again. Extremely aggravating.
  14. Sep 19, 2019
    0
    A videogame that teaches little kids how to gamble. How to spend ridiculous amounts of money to get an in-game tattoo or dance emote... Well done 2K. If the game were excellent i would say it is almost tolerable. But it is the same as last years... And the year before that...
    So the only thing I can say is WELL DONE 2K.
  15. Mar 20, 2019
    0
    This is the worst basketball game ever! I have tried to give this game chances but I am totally done with this series. Pushing which is an illegal screen or even a technical foul has been in the game for way too long. I stopped playing 2k19 for months because of this exploit, came back and its still in the game! The developers dont really seem to care about the actual user playing theirThis is the worst basketball game ever! I have tried to give this game chances but I am totally done with this series. Pushing which is an illegal screen or even a technical foul has been in the game for way too long. I stopped playing 2k19 for months because of this exploit, came back and its still in the game! The developers dont really seem to care about the actual user playing their game and just like 2k18 where there was an inblound steal glitch, travel glitch, animation glitches, vc glitches and the list goes on. 2k19 is full of glitches and there is no skill gap. You aren't rewarded for good defense when contesting someones shot, stealing is overpowered, it takes too long to grind for badges and if you want to be a decent overall like an 80 with your MyPlayer to compete in park it takes much time of nonstop playing the game for like a month just to be decent enough to play but by the time you do that competition is still ahead because they bought vc to upgrade their player so its a lose lose situation for those who dont buy vc. I can no longer support this game that doesnt seem to care about its fan base and it is the same recycled modes to play over and over again, same park, cages and rec center. It takes too long to achieve getting mascots in this game, 2k literally has to be your job to do so, I mean people have lives, work, go to school, relationships etc and in order to achieve and go higher up in the ranks you literally have to play an unhealthy amount which even non of the developers have played to reach the 98 level. Quick game takes no skill, all people do is play computer defense and you cant speed boost around the computer to score easily, its very hard to score in mycareer weather on pro or hall of fame difficulty. I havent even touched on the MyTeam issues but I know from seeing other youtube videos that it is basically pay to win, this entire game is pay to win and where is the fun for those who dont buy or cant buy vc because nobody plays with you if your a 80 or below. I have more bad memories of this game than good and as a person who plays basketball and made all-star teams in High school I know how to play basketball and understand what shots to take and not. I had a 75 win % so its not like i have no idea as to what i'm doing on the game. Its just depressing to play the same thing over and over again with nothing to gain and when there are problems in the game those issues aren't fixed immediately. Goodbye 2k this game is horrible on so many levels and I wish that other youtubers would be completely honest about this game instead of continuing to support it because of money or what ever the case may be. Expand
  16. Apr 2, 2019
    2
    This is a fun experience if you are athlete but is very annoying with lack of feed back and care from developers.
  17. Apr 2, 2019
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. NBA 2K19 is the worst game in the whole franchise's history. I have been playing since 2k12. The stealing is absolutely ridiculous and 2k tries to rip you off on MyTeam because player packs cost tons of money and it is difficult to get good. One of my friends has a great MyTeam, however, having played on his PS4, my experience has been nothing less than awful. Galaxy Opal Blake Griffin is trash and 97 overall Shaq cannot make a layup. If you want to rage quit games, throw your controller, and also have your console get struck by lightning when the game is in the system and need repairs (actually happened) then, by all means, buy this egregious game. Expand
  18. Apr 5, 2019
    0
    worst sports game ever played, constantly getting shoved and pushed around as if there is no rules in basketball, i wouldn't even recommend this to a friend if it was on sale for a dollar, biggest waste of time ever created, and money.
  19. Apr 25, 2019
    0
    Shut all these critics up, this game was very unappealing. Too many microtransactions, and don't even start with the difficulty of this game, it doesn't even have any mercy, you get no tutorial, and the story is lazy. graphics aren't that good but it doesn't matter. this game was the worst game I ever bought on my ps4. Such a waste of money.
  20. May 22, 2019
    0
    Это худшая игра из всех существующих игр на всем белом свете. Разработчики просто не хотят делать ничего с этим куском поноса. Бесконечные баги, вылеты. Стоит ли говорить о дизбалансе (каждый в парке ссаный стретч 4)
    Это не игра, это просто ежегодная выкачка ваших денег. Каково мне было сейчас выиграть игру с победным мувом, и чтобы игра просто такая "у вас проблемы с сетью", и вылететь к
    Это худшая игра из всех существующих игр на всем белом свете. Разработчики просто не хотят делать ничего с этим куском поноса. Бесконечные баги, вылеты. Стоит ли говорить о дизбалансе (каждый в парке ссаный стретч 4)
    Это не игра, это просто ежегодная выкачка ваших денег. Каково мне было сейчас выиграть игру с победным мувом, и чтобы игра просто такая "у вас проблемы с сетью", и вылететь к чертям собачьим
    Абсолютно дизбалансная игра, полный ширпотреб. Все зедсь сделано через задницу. Ведь для победы нужен простой стретч 4 и ВСЕ. А сервера в европе когда нибудь появятся нормальные? а система уровней когда нибудь появится, чтобы был хоть какой то смысл играть в ссанном парке?
    В ней нет ничего хорошего, она просто убивает любовь к баскетболу и видеоиграм в целом
    0/0 горите в аду
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  21. Jun 3, 2019
    1
    **** THIS GAME at first I had a great time grinding up to my first championship, and of course I was excited as hell because obviously it's my first championship. Well either way I was playing OKC as the Chicago Bulls in the championship and it went to game 6 my team had 3 wins and OKC had 2 wins so all we had to do was win that game and I went on to score 38 points and dominate the other**** THIS GAME at first I had a great time grinding up to my first championship, and of course I was excited as hell because obviously it's my first championship. Well either way I was playing OKC as the Chicago Bulls in the championship and it went to game 6 my team had 3 wins and OKC had 2 wins so all we had to do was win that game and I went on to score 38 points and dominate the other team, keep in mind this was the best game I played all season.so it was the end of the fourth quarter and we were up 62-43 and i was like well we did it, all the regular season grinding and we finaly did it we won the championship and I was happy as hell. Then the game ends and it ****ING CRASHES and none of what I just played counted I loaded the game back up and I was in the pre game show. Morral of the story is play a diffirent game and dont have to waste money on a new controller like I did. Expand
  22. Jul 9, 2019
    1
    Don't buy, no seriously don't do it, not worth the money. If you do, buy it second hand there are plenty of copies because of how terrible a game it is. Attempting a slashing player is a complete waste of time and effort they dont dunk this year at all
  23. Jun 20, 2019
    1
    cant make any opens shots or any shots at all in my career when i was making them before i got drafted
  24. Jun 20, 2019
    1
    Worst game I’ve ever played. I’ve just beat the rockets for the championship in my career an soon as it ended it kicked me out and had to start over. Worst game ever! Thank god I only paid 2.99 for it. It’s not worth the full price. Plus they could exceed the story and not make it so short. After you get drafted story ends which is garbage.
  25. Jun 22, 2019
    1
    it doesnt make fun while playing. the servers are **** and you have to pay real money to even have a chance to win
  26. Jul 4, 2019
    0
    Worst servers out of any game I’ve ever played, always something wrong. When I’m about to get a good card in my team, the server crashes or says there’s a problem. When I finally get a card I can’t use it because it’s stuck in auction outcomes because a problem has occurred. Ex: I was about to have a GO CJ McCollum and right when the ball dropped into its slot it crashed. After tried itWorst servers out of any game I’ve ever played, always something wrong. When I’m about to get a good card in my team, the server crashes or says there’s a problem. When I finally get a card I can’t use it because it’s stuck in auction outcomes because a problem has occurred. Ex: I was about to have a GO CJ McCollum and right when the ball dropped into its slot it crashed. After tried it again it says it’s already been used. I thought it was just mine but it’s everybody’s. Stop letting the money get to y’alls head and fix the game. Worst customer service as well they never help, they just say it’s been fixed and it hasn’t been. Or they’ll give you an error code on the game and when you type it in it doesn’t exist. Get y’alls s*** together it’s not fun anymore. Only reason I still play this game is because friends play it. Keep it up you’ll end up losing you community, and then you’ll try to wonder what happened. When the problem is right in front of your face. Expand
  27. Jul 25, 2019
    0
    In this game you can miss open lay ups and the commentators are annoying, and if you have a 97 open 3, you mostly are still not gonna make 3s.
  28. Aug 12, 2020
    1
    I dont like it. it had made me think that im too old for an NBA game until i play 2k20 i realize this game is just bad. i dont like the gameplay,
  29. Jul 30, 2019
    0
    This game is a piece of **** sh*t. Whoever thought of making this retarded a$$ piece of shi kys fu*k you 2k19
  30. Aug 9, 2019
    0
    The incompetence of 2k... loot boxes, microtransastions, and unskippable ads that make the game more like watching NBA than ever before
Metascore
82

Generally favorable reviews - based on 49 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 39 out of 49
  2. Negative: 1 out of 49
  1. Playstation Official Magazine UK
    Oct 28, 2018
    80
    NBA 2K19 is fantastic at all the times when it isn’t asking you to part with real cash. Although sadly, in MyCareer, you’ll be tempted to open your wallet way too often. [Issue#155, p.95]
  2. Oct 12, 2018
    85
    NBA 2K19 is still the go-to basketball simulation game out there. Its polish and refinement have only improved since last year, and it's difficult to imagine any improvements for next year. The MyCareer story has definitely improved, and so have the cut scene management and character customization. MyTeam feels like a revolving mode of new updates and content, but players who don't purchase VC may be getting the short end of the stick, since 10 pack boxes are exclusive to VC only. The game is amazing in all regards, but the constant reminder and pressure to purchase VC is wearing thin.
  3. Oct 9, 2018
    90
    NBA 2K19 is everything that you expect from a basketball game. With the new edition 2K Games and Visual Concepts are closer to the real thing than ever.