NBA 2K24 Reviews
NBA 2K24 shows that there is a bigger problem with gaming today. While you can get a good game out there if you decide to make it into a “games as a service” model with the main goal being purchased over skill, the game itself gets lost under an avalanche of hate because of corporate greed. NBA 2K24 is the game that shows this to be true. As a game, NBA 2K24 is the same great game it always is, but the hard push for you to open your wallet hurt the game too much overall… And Michael Jordan is the GOAT.
NBA 2K24 continues to do what it has done best in recent years – throwing in monetization elements everywhere. Even though it is an excellent basketball simulation, the need to spend extra money for smooth gameplay makes the game hard to recommend. The multiplayer game is just a big pay-to-win.
Review in Czech | Read full review
NBA 2K24 may still look gorgeous and play amazing but everything else feels like a step back and is flat out exploitative at points, becoming a poster-child for microtransactions ruining games.
There’s still a lot of good basketball in NBA 2K24 but it mostly feels buried in modes the developers are trying hard to keep new players from discovering. The series’ formerly rock-solid gameplay foundation feels like it’s slowly slipping away as well. Minor improvements around the edges don’t offset this slippage and the series’ continued descent into being nearly unplayable without spending a fortune on microtransactions. If you’re a series veteran who is willing to spend the vast amounts of money needed to compete online, you already know you’re buying this. The same is true of long-time series veterans who know where to find the best parts of the game even when they’re hidden away. With all its issues, though, it’s hard to recommend NBA 2K24 to anyone else.
NBA 2K24's lack of meaningful updates and continued overwhelming presence of microtransactions make it feel like it's going through the motions and doesn't have anything to say.
NBA 2K24 is less a continuation of what made the series good on Switch and more a downgrade of what has come before it. Even with how smoothly this one plays on the console, with some clean animations and a sprinkling of improvements to MyTeam being the real MVPs, all of this is overshadowed by just how watered-down this year's entry feels. With none of the new game modes making the jump to Switch apart from the disappointing Mamba Moments, a severely lessened MyCareer and a model that continues to be plagued by microtransactions and long load times, the 2K franchise on Switch has never needed more of a boost. If you are after a basketball game on the go, last year's offering is a much better option.
Regardless of what this review says, NBA 2K24 will sell millions of copies, and generate millions of dollars through VC. That is because basketball fans who want to play a basketball game have nowhere else to go. The on court action is really good, but without competition to keep them honest, 2K's monetisation has got out of hand and made modes like MyCareer near unplayable without extra investment from players.
NBA 2K24 could be the best basket simulator on the market, were it not for all that mentioned in the last few paragraphs. The game boasts stunning visuals, fluid gameplay, and an extensive list of game modes to keep players entertained for hours on end. If I enjoyed it, not being the biggest basketball fan in the world, I believe aficionados will delight.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
NBA 2k24 provides a stellar game of on-the-court basketball. Its main issues haven’t changed in years: clumsy storytelling and some of the worst microtransactions in the business. At this point, everybody knows about them, and you have to make your peace with them or not. If you can look past that, NBA 2K24 is a slam dunk of an experience, even if the rest of the game does its best to keep it on the bench.
Ultimately, what makes NBA 2K24 wonderful ends up being negatively overshadowed by the level of pay-to-win that the game has. There are many cosmetic items for styling MyPlayer with fun clothing or having fancy new hoverboards and animations that all would have been plenty valuable as microtransactions, adding in the ability to improve actual game skills by paying money was an unnecessary and distracting feature. The game itself is fun, realistic, and addictive, and could easily be a must-play for any basketball fan if the in-game purchases can be overlooked.
I do not think this year’s story in career mode has been as good as previous years. And for me, that is a big letdown. However, I cannot deny that the team behind NBA 2K24 has listened to the community. With improvements such as those seen in MyTeam and the introduction of ProPlay being highlights of this newest installment.
NBA 2K24 continues the series’ strong basketball simulation elements, but some egregious monetisation this time around and changes to progression make this entry a little more frustrating than it has to be. Still, the ‘Mamba Moments’ mode is a super cool tribute to an awesome player and for me, quickplay with family is where it’s always at.
NBA 2K24 showcases a franchise in need of going back to the fundamentals. Its clumsy implementation of VC is nothing new, but it's now actively hampering the rest of the game - especially given the disappointment of MyCareer. And yet, on the court, NBA 2K24 remains the finest basketball sim I've played in years - it just needs to find its form again.
After the large strides last year, the minimal announcements for updates to this year's game raised a red flag.
NBA 2K24 has made several noteworthy improvements, like its addition of ProPLAY, which amps up the realism, and a modern approach to the game's presentation that makes it feel fresh. However, it's disappointing that the otherwise fantastic simulation experience is marred by the game's microtransactions, transforming it into a pay-to-win model. Unless you are a basketball enthusiast who wants to collect every title in the NBA 2K series, it's best to skip NBA 2K24.
It’s a real shame that the reputation of this franchise has evolved over the last 5 years from the standard of the best of what sports games can offer to a shining example of its worst excesses. Comparing this game to MLB The Show, another game that offers microtransactions, only increases how egregiously 2K exploits players through rigging everything from the on-court gameplay to traversal from quest to quest to encourage additional spending despite already having collected the cost of a full priced game up front (plus that sweet State Farm money). While several of the changes present in this years game are disappointing (including the inexplicable decision to dumb down MyCareer) there are some good things here. Unfortunately (to paraphrase Ralph Waldo Emerson, a first I believe for this site) the ever-present feeling that I’m being milked for every dime I can spare speaks so loudly, I cannot hear what any of the improvements say.
There's no doubt NBA 2K24 is the best presented sports game on the market, and it's also arguably the most complete, with a dizzying selection of modes and features to accommodate all playstyles and tastes. But an insidious overreliance on microtransactions and player retention yet again detracts from the MyCAREER mode, which to its credit feels much more focused this year. There's still a lot to like about this game, and depending on which modes you enjoy, you may never have to interact with the nefarious aspects at all. But it does sour what is otherwise an enjoyable game.
Visual Concepts continues to provide the most authentic simulation in sports gaming, but the in-game economy is on a fast break to the bottom.
Following the innovative and pleasantly surprising NBA 2K23, I expected Visual Concepts to build upon its success and introduce even more improvements with its latest entry in the long-running basketball series. But instead of mirroring the Black Mamba's gradual rise to permanent relevancy, NBA 2K24 sadly feels like a stop-gap – a quick hit to temporarily satisfy diehard fans. If this continues, the series could veer closer to a forgettable imitation of Kobe's signature move: a fadeaway into obscurity.
NBA 2K24 scores big with gameplay, but its microtransaction tactics feel like a costly turnover.