NBA 2K17 Image
Metascore
90

Universal acclaim - based on 6 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
5.7

Mixed or average reviews- based on 89 Ratings

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  • Summary: NBA 2K17 promises to take the game to new heights and continue to blur the lines between video game and reality.

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NBA 2K17 - Friction Trailer
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 6
  3. Negative: 0 out of 6
  1. Sep 21, 2016
    95
    In the world of sports sims, no other game feels like it’s even on the same level as NBA 2K17. Visual Concepts continues to embrace innovation and add benchmark-setting features for hardcore fans. With unrivaled gameplay, presentation, and game modes, 2K Sports’ latest hoops game is a must-play for all sports fans.
  2. Sep 26, 2016
    90
    NBA 2K17 strives for perfection and, in many ways, it succeeds. It definitely is an impressive step forward, offering rich and deep game modes, exciting and realistic gameplay and stunning visuals. Although it can be demanding at times, it is one of the most rewarding experiences we’ve witnessed, a must play sport simulation for anyone who loves basketball and the NBA.
  3. Oct 8, 2016
    88
    This year NBA 2K rocks again, but the onmipresent in-game currency casts a shadow over the career mode.
  4. Nov 25, 2016
    88
    Visual Concepts just needs to add some spit and polish to turn this game into the best sports sim of our time.
  5. NBA 2K17 is truly one of the most intense basketball games ever made. It has some glitches, but still, those factors are not enough to make this game a bad product. It truly is a must-play.
  6. Oct 1, 2016
    85
    From an outsider looking in this is a heck of a good sports game. Full featured with heaps to do and gorgeous to look at. I can only imagine how fantastic NBA 2K17 is for true fans of the sport, but even for a newbie like me it's an entertaining and comprehensive package that contains heaps to do.
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 16
  2. Negative: 8 out of 16
  1. Sep 21, 2016
    10
    This is the best 2k basketball game since 2k8 imo. They have improved nearly every aspect and also added some awesome new features to. TheThis is the best 2k basketball game since 2k8 imo. They have improved nearly every aspect and also added some awesome new features to. The game has so much depth to, I can see spending hundreds of hours on this game easy. It runs well, My career is very improved, the game looks gorgeous, plays the best the series ever has gameplay wise and the presentation has been turned up a notch to.

    The only gripe I have with the game is I wish you had the option to skip the cut scenes in my career.

    Also you don't need to spend a penny, I have owned every 2k game since the very first one and NEVER, I repeat, NEVER bought any VC (in game currency). You have the option to if you want you're player to be GREAT right off the bat, but what is the fun in that? I enjoy bringing my player from someone who is meh to someone who is an all time great. That games grit and determination in real life and in this game. I have neve felt like I HAD to spend extra money in this game, I just look at it as an option for those who are not the best at the game or who are impatient. I get a good amount of VC by playing my career, doing street ball games to 21, doing my team and the odd quick match with my pacers. If you know basketball well and don't mind a challenge early on this is a fantastic mode that is the best it has been this year.
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  2. Dec 3, 2016
    10
    El mejor juego de basquet que probé hasta el momento, bastante mejor en casi todo en comparación al 2k16, me gusto que hayan mejorado elEl mejor juego de basquet que probé hasta el momento, bastante mejor en casi todo en comparación al 2k16, me gusto que hayan mejorado el online, Las animaciones excelentes y ni hablar la captura de movimiento que mejoro muchísimo, excelente juego. Expand
  3. Nov 15, 2016
    8
    Haven't played a NBA 2K in a while, so I might not be too familiar with the latest changes introduced in the most recent entries of theHaven't played a NBA 2K in a while, so I might not be too familiar with the latest changes introduced in the most recent entries of the franchise, so I obviously enjoyed 2K17 a lot.

    It is visually stunning, super fun and smooth to play and the My Career mode has lots of depth, it seems that it is never going to end. Has a great value for its price, I think I'll be playing this entry for quite some years in the near future (never get this kind of games in a yearly basis, seems like a dumb approach for my wallet)
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  4. Jan 28, 2017
    4
    Long story short, this game has been developed year after year to become an arousing and visually stunning experience full of real worldLong story short, this game has been developed year after year to become an arousing and visually stunning experience full of real world references and endorsements. Actual, basketball, gameplay is very marginalized compared to the visual content 2k is adding every year.

    This 2k industry is showcasing the NBA brand as a whole. While doing this, they are involving the users in their own social network. This media industry broadcast, ingame, perfectly shot "tv-shows", tries to involve people into their Esport-ish experience, while pulling prizes etcetera.

    Being the company mission to sell the NBA brand and to bring more fans and fanatics into the NBA franchise, they have to represent it in a certain way. and they excell in this. Me myself, have started to follow NBA intensively while playing this game over the years.

    As i said, the company tries and delivers the best possible visuals a game could deliver in this videogame era. The animations in the game are, nowadays, countless. For each and every little move, they have a huge database of motion capture material. Most of it taken directly from the NBA players to better represent them. This galvanize, and most importantly, spoil the eye.

    To link these animations alltogether, yet, is a problem. It's a drawback to the gameplay.
    To represent a fadeaway and the d from two different build of players, in a realistic way to the eye, means that the control the player has shall be taken away to a certain degree. Controls in this game are the most unresponsive in ANY sport game to present day.

    The problem, with this, is that being the company mission what said above, considering this game is almost a monopoly over the genre, and considering the game entertains the players with the huge amount of visual content... considering all that, the controls being unresponsive is not an issue to the 2k industry. The controls being unresponsive, ITS A FEATURE.
    It's the company "guarantee" that what will be shown on the screen it's visually stunning and entertain to watch, as close to "reality" as possible.

    THE AI will be the same on any settings, because that's the representation of an NBA game this company wants to show; but most importantly, it's the best they can deliver WHILE fitting the animations alltogether, and all the variables regarding the statistics of every single player potrayed ingame.

    To make everything believable, numbers HAS to be shown in a believable way. Statistic shall get close to "reality". While this being almost impossible (and ultimately failing to a certain degree, and most surely to the more exigent players), the player in this big hard equation, is a noisance, a variable that the game engine has to control, to limit, so that it won't break the movie the way it has to be potrayed.

    WE ALL HOPE one day they'll solve the franchise problems (listing a few, to represent the most):
    -defenders sticking like glue to your player, while snapping magically out of hard d when YOU try to defend them
    -defenders stealing the ball from you as soon as the ball collides to ANY other physical model on the court, while completely ignoring this rule when it's the ai attacking.
    -passes responding to IQ statistics more than player choice (meaning easy assist are a nono, better to pass to the unreachable teammate behind 4 defenders)
    -space-time continuum obliterations in the extraordinary ability of the defenders to leap in the air or to close up crossing all the field in the split of an eye blink just to avoid you to score an easy one.
    -teammates that neverever GTFO your free path to the basked (and blocking you when you are trying to defend the paint)
    -and so on
    BUT, there's no reason to believe this will actyally ever happen.... PROBLEMS WON'T BE SOLVED, for two main reasons:

    1- to represent, with endorsements, and with motion capture, and licences and stuff, this big show of the NBA they need HUGE AMOUNTS OF MONEY. -> to get money they are pushing hard the online competition so that people is pulled down into the BUY TO WIN vc market. while wasting real money on stupid shirts and animations, haircuts etcetera -> since the online competition it's so central to the mission to make this game as eye candy as possible, gameplay can't change too much from one game to the other, because the central rule of an E-SPORT is that the game stays the same over time (or people can't become better at it if the rules change).
    2- Being visually stunning and having build this huge money machine (the two things, as we have seen, are deeply but intricately involved), playing this game spoils the eye and the player to the point that ANY COMPETITION will seem awkward and unpolished in comparison, even if the gameplay of these competing games it's actually BETTER and FUNNIER. Being the sole game on the market, means they have no reason to change and tweak their winning horse. Don't buy this game, they don't care about gameplay and only want your money.
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  5. Aug 17, 2017
    2
    Pay for vc. And you can only make one caracter otherwise you have to spend more money for more vc. Dont support these greedy game developers.Pay for vc. And you can only make one caracter otherwise you have to spend more money for more vc. Dont support these greedy game developers. dont support this **** please dont! Expand
  6. Nov 23, 2016
    0
    *Regarding online play*
    -So you can still pick the same color jerseys as the opposing team - there is no warning for this. You only find out
    *Regarding online play*
    -So you can still pick the same color jerseys as the opposing team - there is no warning for this. You only find out once you go to tip off and there is no way to change the jersey color after starting the game. The teams should be forced to choose alternate colors.
    -Input lag is awful.
    *In general it feels like I'm playing QWOP.*
    -How many times a game can a missed shot bounce off the rim over the backboard? Alot apparently, this happens 5-6 times in a 5 minute quarter game. This is just another game stopping pain.
    -& 7 footers are unable to make layups or dunks when within 2 feet of the basket.
    -Many times 7 footers choose to take jump shots within 2 feet of the rim.
    -Sometimes these 7 footers take a jump shot only to have the ball hit the underside of the rim.
    -Passes repeatedly soaring over the heads of teammates.
    -Controlled players running out of bounds even when not using the turbo button.
    -Being called for a charge even when not using the turbo button.
    -Being near the hoop and double teamed, wanting to pass to the open player on the other side of the hoop, for some reason my player chooses to pass not to the open guy 3 feet away but to the heavily guarded teammate out by the three point line.
    -Players celebrating baskets instead of getting back down the court on defense - there is no way to stop the celebration nor speed it up allowing the other team to get a fast break basket because of programmed celebrations.
    -Over the back calls repeatedly all game long.
    -Control of players is awful. Feels like the players are on ice.
    -Multiple times I have passed the ball in from out of bounds only to have the point guard pass it right back out of bounds. Turnover.
    -Multiple times after grabbing a defensive rebound my player immediately throws up a full court shot.
    -Feels like I have little to no control over how a player takes a shot. 3 feet from the basket with no defender around? Fadeaway brick shot.
    -I hate that the other player can use player free throw % for free throws and still mess with my free throws - they should make it that if you want to be able to mess with my free throws you have to change your setting.
    -They've made the in game offensive and defensive coach settings somehow more confusing and more difficult to find stuff. It was fine before. Now I can't seem to find an option to 'guard the paint' or prevent threes" they seem to have taken it right out.
    -When ever a player catches a ball or grabs a rebound there is lag, they cannot seemlessly keep moving, they stop as if they hit a wall and it takes a moment before they can run again. It is near impossible to get fast breaks because of this.
    -there is still no way to request a rematch after online play.
    -there is still no way to send a friend request to someone you are playing against in online play.
    -there is still no server browser or game browser to challenge certain players to a game once their current game is done.
    -There is still no direct way to challenge players listed in the stats portion of online play.
    -Everything feels greasy and clunky. Player control is awful. I feel like I'm button mashing half the time because the player isnt responding, it''s like 2k has these scripts for player movement and once it has committed to that there is no passing out of that script. I've seen players fumbling with dribbling the ball and they will dribble for several seconds right out of bounds.
    -So many charges, it should not be so easy to get a charge outside of the painted area.
    -Why did you remove the ability to set the offense and defensive plan prior to the game??? Why did you change the set up and make it MORE CONFUSING and DIFFICULT TO CHANGE?
    ***Other terrible parts of the game***
    I tried doing the myplayer but just like last year I am forced to watch these terrible cutscenes - let me skip the cutscenes on the first myplayer play through!!! I stopped playing myplayer because the cutscenes are terrible and I dont want to watch them.
    PLEASE FIX THE GAMEBREAKING STUFF I HAVE LISTED ABOVE.
    Why do my players perform programmed celebrations after dunks and free throws which allows the opposing team to get fast breaks?
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  7. Sep 20, 2016
    0
    VC, VC, VC, VC, VC. Need I say more? This game is even worse in regard of 2k trying to take your money away than 2k16. You start at an evenVC, VC, VC, VC, VC. Need I say more? This game is even worse in regard of 2k trying to take your money away than 2k16. You start at an even lower rating in MyCareer, even though you are again a highly touted start. It costs 240.000 VC to upgrade your player to 99, that is about 120 games on HoF. Happy grinding day not 2kday. You get less animations for free and more for which you have to pay. You earn less VC per game than before, less VC in the mobile app and have to spend more to get somewhere.

    They also eliminated the simulation slider so every game feels like either a casual experience or the CPU is totally cheating. All that new stuff in terms of gameplay leads to your opponent draining three, after three on you, even when they are defended or you have a hand up. Nearly every layup goes in. You end up with scores in the 120's and if you are really going for it and play HoF you might get absolutely whipped by the opponent who will have a shooting percentage of 70-80% from the field and from deep. It's absolute arcade.

    Glitches, Bugs, crashes to desktops and poor optimization also make a welcome return. The game will crash on you dozens of times. The game runs extremely poorly, like last years installment for the first 3 months but since this year it's loaded up with even more cutscene garbage it actually get's worse. The lag is pretty much unbearable. Cutscenes in MyCareer are also unskippable which means, even if you plan to play again and do not want to have to sit through minutes of cringeworthy cutscenes, unlike the garbage with Spike Lee, this time you won't be able to skip it. What does that mean? Well between winning the college championship and being drafted I had to sit through about 20 minutes of cutscenes and play one game before I was able to see a menu again. Good stuff right?

    Overall I would absolutely discourage you from buying this game. The technical form in which it was released is not acceptable for the price you pay, neither is the amount of fresh content. This is at best a DLC at worst a roster update and is not worth more than 15 Euro. Please do not support the greed of 2k. This game is a heap of trash and it will stay that way for another 3-4 months when they will finally patch most things and then stop supporting the game since it will only be another 8 months for the release of 2k18. It is unacceptable that a game that costs 50 Euro requires you to play at the minimum 40 but probably more like 80 hours to grind yourself to a 99 rating or buy enough VC for around 50 Euro. Microtransactions in Single Player Mode are absolutely unacceptable. The offline version of MyCareer is absolutely bare as well. You can't use the shop to buy clothes but this time around you can't even buy animations as those are also sold in the shop which also means you won't be able to gain any clothing items or whatsoever that you won during your MyCareer. Stay away from this game please. Do not support 2k Sports and their garbage.
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See all 16 User Reviews