NBA 2K21

 Xbox One
Metascore
67

Mixed or average reviews - based on 24 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 24
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 24
  3. Negative: 3 out of 24
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  1. TheXboxHub
    Sep 15, 2020
    90
    NBA 2K21 on Xbox One is a brash, flashy and powerful game that has a huge array of toys to play with, as well as a powerful toy-kit to make it more your own too. Whilst there are micro-transactions within, the patient player can just grind their way to the top.
  2. Impulsegamer
    Sep 21, 2020
    86
    Providing a complete NBA experience, NBA2K21 accurately captures and then places you center stage of everything that makes NBA basketball great. The music, the sounds, the energy, the hype, and most importantly the gameplay, this sports sim provides fans of the game the complete experience. With detailed controls and dynamic gameplay which mimics the game’s best players, you, the player, can play out your hoop dreams on the world’s biggest stage. Just mind your step on the microtransactions on your path to glory.
  3. XboxAddict
    Oct 30, 2020
    85
    NBA 2K21 is a good, but severely flawed game. Once those flaws get fixed though, there won't be a better basketball game on the market.
  5. Generación Xbox
    Sep 19, 2020
    83
    The best basketball returns with NBA 2K21, a new release that comes with several new features in its most played modes and a totally renewed shooting system.
  6. Everyeye.it
    Sep 14, 2020
    80
    The work of Visual Concepts is, also this year, solid and of absolute quality, even if necessarily less "busy" than usual.
  7. MondoXbox
    Sep 13, 2020
    80
    This current-gen version of NBA 2K21 definitely feels like a transitory episode of the game, with welcome improvements to MyTEAM, career and shooting mechanic, but without any other meaningful changes to the game's formula over last year.
  8. Attack of the Fanboy
    Sep 8, 2020
    80
    2K21 is another solid entry in the series that builds upon the great gameplay strides of the last few years. Visual Concepts has some fires to put out and hopefully that happens sooner rather than later so fans can get on to enjoying the grind.
  9. SomosXbox
    Sep 16, 2020
    77
    NBA 2K21 is positioned as a too continuous delivery of its predecessor. Visual Concepts has tried to surprise everyone with the new Pro Stick, but the result has been too irregular in the different shooting situations to consider it a hit.
  10. 3DJuegos
    Sep 16, 2020
    75
    NBA 2K21 still offers the best gameplay in any sports game this generation, but the lack of innovation does little to distinguish this game from the previous year's entry. If you add a new shooting system that is counterintuitive, the utter disinterest by the studio in the single-player modes, and the ever present microtransactions, you finish up with a game that could be much greater than what it manages to be.
  11. IGN Spain
    Sep 14, 2020
    75
    In a generation where NBA 2K had border on excellence as the norm, a last-minute change in gameplay due to a new shooting mechanic makes its farewell bittersweet. Hopefully in the face of a new generation they'll return to what worked in the past.
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  1. Polygon
    Sep 10, 2020
    The best efforts of NBA 2K21 are optional, like Shot Stick Aiming; variants of a theme, like The Long Shadow; or a more respectful relationship with the player, like MyTeam. And if they aren’t a case against sticking with last year’s edition, they aren’t much of a case for going in on this year’s, either.

Awards & Rankings

18
#18 Most Discussed Xbox One Game of 2020

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
1.7

Overwhelming dislike- based on 130 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 130
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 130
  3. Negative: 106 out of 130
  1. Xbox_Alive
    Sep 14, 2020
    7
    NBA 2K21 is as fantastic as ever, but too little has changed to get excited about the latest edition of the franchise. Every game in theNBA 2K21 is as fantastic as ever, but too little has changed to get excited about the latest edition of the franchise. Every game in the decades old NBA 2K series has hit consoles between September and November in time for the next NBA season. But what happens when, come early September, the pros are still trying to complete the previous campaign because of, oh, I don’t know, a global pandemic that has disrupted just about everything in the world in one way or another? You get NBA 2K21, a game that feels too much like last year’s model. The game makes for a great metaphor for the 2019-20 NBA season. The on-court action is as good as ever, both in the league’s bubble at Disney’s Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Florida and in 2K21. The virtual basketball is just as smooth as the real thing. Quality simulation gameplay has always been the hallmark of the franchise, and that’s no different this year. But that metaphor works two ways because, just like the real thing, NBA 2K21 is stuck in last season. With no NBA Draft to bring in an influx of new talent, there are no rookies. Offseason player movement hasn’t occurred yet, either. Nobody can accuse NBA 2K21 of being just a roster update from the previous game, because it isn’t even that. The fact that there are no rookies yet created an embarrassing situation when I dipped into MyLeague, the almost completely ignored suite of modes. Playing through MyGM, I guided the Toronto Raptors through a fantastic 2020-21 regular season, having upgraded my lineup with an early-season trade for perennial All-Star Blake Griffin and locking up the best record in the NBA. Upon completion of the campaign, I looked through some of the awards honorees to find that none of the players on my dominant team were honored as either All-NBA or All-Defensive selections. Okay, sure, that can happen I guess. Unusual, but not bizarre. Here’s where it gets strange. I had skipped past the Rookie of the Year winner because I didn’t have any rookies. Turns out that the other teams didn’t have any either. In fact, the options for one of the NBA’s more notable postseason awards were so low that the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Dylan Windler took home the trophy. Windler, a second-round pick in the 2019 NBA Draft who missed this season due to injury, remained a rookie because he didn’t appear in any games, unlike winner Ja Morant or No. 1 overall pick Zion Williamson. What makes Windler such a strange award winner are his season averages: basically no stats. The MyLeague modes offer no alternative to starting in the 2020-21 season without any new rookies. Well, it does present an option to start In offseason, but it is designated as “NOT AVAILABLE” during my review time with the game. That means you can’t opt to do a 2020 NBA Draft to inject new blood with made-up players. For that matter, there’s no free agency period before the season starts, and all upcoming free agents are treated as if they signed one-year deals. My Raptors had just one player still under contract after winning the championship: Pascal Siakam. Every other roster spot was open. I know MyLeague and MyGM get short shrift every year, but NBA 2K21 highlights how much of an afterthought these modes were. I know plenty of people who love the series but haven’t bought a new edition in years because so little has changed in these modes. I don’t blame them, and I would encourage anyone looking to play these modes in the new game to think twice about buying. All of the non-gameplay development effort went into new ways to interact with the card-collecting, microtransaction-soliciting MyTeam. And, to be fair, those who are all about MyTeam should be pleased with what’s new in NBA 2K21. Dedicated players can chase rewards during new seasons, which seem to last about 40 days or so judging by the initial offering. Those who can earn 150,000 XP before time runs out will be rewarded with a 96-rated Stephen Curry, plus 39 other rewards levels along the way. It’s the kind of tangible loot chase that’s much more tolerable than relying on RNG to deliver something useful from packs purchased with in-game MyTeam currency or Virtual Currency (VC). VC deserves it’s own paragraph, although it might be more apropos to talk about VC in every paragraph owing to its invasive presence in most modes of play in NBA 2K21. This is not a new complaint about the series, which has never settled for the cash flow that comes from being one of the perennial top sellers in console gaming in terms of units sold. Whether upgrading MyCareer player or looking to buy a MyTeam pack, VC is in your face. I accept microtransactions in the card-collecting modes that take center stage in NBA 2K21 and other sports games. It’s not my thing, but it's wildly popular for those who are diehards of the franchise. Ultimately, a great game just not much newish. I am very excited to see the improvements in the Xbox Series X version of the game.… Full Review »
  2. IliyaKiller
    Sep 5, 2020
    0
    Your stuff WONT carry over to the next gen, not to mention that the game doesn’t support smart delivery either. Waste of money and greedy AF.Your stuff WONT carry over to the next gen, not to mention that the game doesn’t support smart delivery either. Waste of money and greedy AF. This is the most insulting NBA game up to date.… Full Review »
  3. Games44un
    Sep 7, 2020
    10
    2k came thru with the bonus content packs and VC making things better and running much better much better than day 1 Great job
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