NBA 2K22 Reviews
NBA 2K22 has provided a unique experience and wholesale changes to many phases of the game, including a style of play that has become more challenging and difficult than ever and mimics real NBA players.
NBA 2K22 offers the best on-court experience in the history of the series. That’s no small thing for a franchise long known for rock-solid gameplay. The problem is that so much around that experience feels incomplete or messy. NBA 2K22 provides such a wide range of experiences that many players will get what they need from it. The overall package, however, is a lot more uneven.
At this point, I don’t even know what else to say. NBA 2K22 is gorgeous and plays better than its predecessors. Visual Concepts does improve upon its predecessors with each new installment, but the cringeworthy story mode, obscene usage of product placement, and the abusive microtransactions are just too much to handle.
If you are looking for the best version of NBA 2K22, the eighth generation release is probably not the best place to look because it lacks any truly new features compared to the last year's outing and a yearly franchise with not many new ideas is always a disappointing product that you have think twice about buying.
Review in Persian | Read full review
While there isn’t enough new content in NBA 2K22 to justify a full-priced upgrade, its online component is a marked improvement over its predecessor.
The new shooting mechanism along with the changes in the alley-hoop and the dunks, the improved setting in the defense and the attack and the rest of the changes in the gameplay, give a better basketball experience.
Review in Greek | Read full review
NBA 2K22 offers a more immersive career mode with a system of quests and objectives, but which is unfortunately poorly exploited with numerous and long loading times in addition to display problems related to the online aspect of the title. The new generation experience is long overdue despite a successful atmosphere during matches while microtransactions spoil clashes against other players.
Review in French | Read full review
NBA 2K22 is not just a roster upgrade. Overall gameplay upgrades make it a blast to play, offering some of the best action compared to recent years. 2K has certainly listened to the community, making meaningful changes that try to accurately reflect the state of the game as we can see it.
NBA 2K22 brings major improvements to its gameplay, making it more balanced and suitable for all types of players, while also offering us a next-gen graphic rendering at the edge of photorealism. The picture is completed by the usual overwhelming number of modes, among which the further improved MyCareer is the absolute king.
Review in Italian | Read full review
For another year, NBA 2K is a good basketball game that is surrounded by many problematic aspects, that mainly stem from its extreme monetization.
Review in Greek | Read full review
NBA 2K22 is a nice addition to the franchise even though PlayStation 4 players get the shorter straw in terms of content.
NBA 2K22 is a successful return to form for the series. An extra year on the hardware has certainly helped, and the developers continue to blend lightweight RPG elements with action-packed basketball for an end result that I have sunk a ton of time into already, and will no doubt continue to play throughout the rest of the year. The focus is still on the Career mode, with minor tweaks to Franchise, WNBA and MyTeam, but that’s okay by me – MyCareer is where I’m usually at. There’s still room to improve, but this year’s iteration of the series is worth playing for hoops fans.
NBA 2K22 offered what I admire the most in the sport: dynamic matches, great athletes, famous teams and a lot of fun. The gameplay and production are excellent, with high quality in its multiple play modes. Though there are some inconsistencies when the versions are compared, the title's most substantial caveat is related to its online modes. If the player can ignore these issues, they'll find a complete and addicting game, especially for basketball fans and connoiseurs.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Overall, NBA 2K22 is serviceable, if not slightly better than average. The game functions as it should, but it’s clear where the focus is. The graphics become more impressive each year, especially for the newer platforms. Gameplay isn’t very different, but it definitely has a level of polish that I didn’t see in previous years. It’s just too bad that the fun of the game is bogged down by the clunky transitions and the constant nagging to spend real money on in-game items. NBA 2K22 is exactly what the franchise has been; a fun, familiar, and accessible competitive sports title.
Year after year, like it or not, 2K has become the home for basketball. While it does not revolutionize the genre, it's a great step in the right direction in the simulation department.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Overall, NBA 2K22 plays like a strong offering from 2K, a welcome change from recent years.
I was honestly looking forward to NBA 2K22 with the real-life NBA 2020 season a write-off due to covid, I thought that this edition would have been a big jump in all areas of the game from the 2020 and 2021 editions but sadly it wasn’t. Here’s hoping that Visual Concepts will keep building on the great foundations and add something spectacular in the 2023 edition! Don’t get me wrong it is still a great game. It’s just not the jump in improvement I may have been expecting. If you want a visually stunning basketball game, a superb soundtrack, and aren’t worried about grinding away for VC points, then this is the one for you! I award NBA 2K22 the Thumb Culture Gold Award.
NBA 2K22’s much improved career mode and vastly improved defensive options provide a deep, satisfying game of basketball for new and old fans alike.
Although NBA 2K22 is the best and only new generation basketball game on the market, it is far from being a perfect game and continues to annoy with its microtransaction-oriented structure.
Review in Turkish | Read full review
NBA 2K22 remains an entertaining entry in this ever-growing franchise. There’s lots of smart changes and good adjustments that make this installment even more interesting to play, but there is also a lot of familiarity and unsettling extras which are starting to hold the entire property back with each passing year.