It certainly takes getting used to given the years of shooting without an additional trigger pull, and odds are you will, like me, occasionally forget and fail to take a wide open shot you meant to attempt. Shooting is now accomplished by pulling in ZL in combination with a right stick directional press. The big change is the right thumbstick-based Dribble Stick, which marries the Freestyle controls of last generation’s NBA Live titles with the existing NBA 2K Isomotion control scheme. The post-up game is not only playable but enjoyable. The pacing, flow, and feel all remain impeccable.
A Court Fit for a King2K13 has the cajones to mess with its tried-and-true simulation gameplay a bit. Some of the new additions are great, while others you can live without, but, in the end, 2K13 is the pinnacle of basketball gaming on this generation of consoles. NBA 2K13 unquestionably takes the latter path, lacing the latest version of its annual basketball simulation with wild features that, rest assured, take nothing away from the already stellar pro-hoops gameplay.
But what if your chief – and really, only – rival kept finding new and astounding ways to spin out, leaving you as the only car on the road? Would you kick back, ease off the gas a bit, and set the cruise control? Would you keep the pedal to the metal anyway? Or would you drop the top, start turning down new streets, and see where the open road takes you? And thus, we consumers are the ultimate winners.
Competition, according to free market economic principles, makes the dueling products better as each pushes to outdo the other.