NBA 2K18 Reviews
NBA 2K18 has a few holes in its game -- the series needs to improve its writing, the ballyhooed MyCareer Neighborhood hub falls flat, and the tech powering the series is nearing retirement age. That said, boil the game down to its essentials and you have a rock-solid, well-balanced sports sim that provides an immensely entertaining shoulder-to-shoulder same-couch multiplayer experience. It's that strong core that keeps NBA 2K18 and its vast array of modes and features from collapsing in on itself. NBA 2K18 isn't a milestone entry in the series, but it's a solid playoff contender well worth basketball fans' time.
NBA 2K18 is currently the best sports simulation. Only the ubiquitous virtual currency disturbs the otherwise perfect overall package.
Review in German | Read full review
All in all though, NBA 2K18 is a welcome addition to the Switch library. It's great to have realistic hoops back on a Nintendo platform, and 2K knocked it out of the park with their debut Switch title. It looks great, plays great, and if the kinks can get patched should be the start of a great franchise finally embracing a Nintendo platform.
NBA 2K18 proves again that they're one of the best sports games of the year. But several of it's features are starting to feel the same year after year. They need a radical change to keep innovating in the future. The MyCarrer mode has more changes than the other modes, with a social experiment that not all fans are keen of. It has an excessive use of microtransactions that might demoralize the fans that try their best to be on the top.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
NBA 2K18 is a king on the court, but its antics off it, particularly its use of microtransactions, leave it in a world of trouble.
Is NBA 2K18 an all-around slam dunk? Not quite thanks to unscrupulous microtransactions, the undercooked Neighbourhood, and mediocre/annoying storytelling. However, despite these fumbles, NBA 2K18 still delivers wildly when it comes to the ability to just play basketball better than any other title without having to leave the couch.
NBA 2K18 has one of the biggest and boldest changes for an annual sports title but inadvertently introduced some serious flaws that are difficult to overlook. Nonetheless, the developers have created a great foundation for the series.
NBA 2K18 returns to be the star of the sports games. The effort of Visual Concepts continues to surpass year after year is evident in this release to recreate the entire NBA perfectly, with The Neighborhood as a great novelty and a lot of content and game modes with which you will have endless hours of entertainment. All this with a spectacular graphic aspect.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
NBA 2K18 is the biggest departure that the series has had in recent years, which is both good and bad. Elements such as MyPlayer feel like they have the potential to be fantastic, but are still too mired by microtransactions and bugs in its current form to truly be the experience that I was hoping for. Gameplay continues to be the reason to pick up any NBA 2K game however, and NBA 2K18 doesn't miss the mark when it comes to putting forth the most realistic basketball sim on the market. With a few patches over the course of the next year, I'm hoping NBA 2K18 can continue to improve and fix many of the issues that I have with it out of the gate this season.
NBA 2K18's dedication to the finest of details make it a living, breathing adaptation of the NBA experience.
The best series of sports video games comes back this year with in a nice wrapping paper full of promises. This episode of NBA 2K18 is an instant pleasure as well as a garanteed immersion. With a solid length and a tough challenge, i twill speaks to both basketball aficionados who will be thrilled to welcome back the series, but also to newcomers who might want to join in. This strong basis might gives us a perfect hypothetical follow-up which might correct the few Career Mode imperfection.
Review in French | Read full review
Rarely have I had as many conflicting feelings about a game as much as I do with NBA 2K18. So much about the basketball sim is top-notch, but there are also so many elements that make me want to put it down and never touch it again. From gross business decisions that get in the way of enjoying modes to adding so many elements that get in the way of simply enjoying the on-court action, it winds up being its own worst enemy. Those who just want a solid basketball game to play exhibition matches won't find anything better, but the rest of the package winds up stepping on its own feet all too often.
Maybe NBA 2K18 has been the king of the court for too long and now it's getting bored. Instead of improving gameplay, it's figuring out more ways to make money through MyCareer and MyTeam. It's new Neighborhood functions as a metaphor for the entire game itself, in that it seems like a big addition to the game but you quickly realize it's pretty much just an empty shopping mall and a distraction from the actual game.
If it gets patched soon we'll happily declare this one a highly recommended game, but in its current state we simply can't recommend it at all. Fingers are firmly crossed 2K will issue a patch quickly to solve the problem, but there is of course no assurance of that at present.
NBA 2K18 is very likely the best basketball game ever made and a template in how to approach a sports sim on nearly every level.
2K may have made a major mistake tuning the game towards microtransactions and the responses from fans is clear – they're not happy. 2K has made a grave mistake and taken a pricing model which was previously acceptable and turned it into gaming taboo. The difficulty this causes gameplay and advancement makes NBA 2K18 too grindy, and even the hardcore grinders who've banked hundreds of hours already are saying the struggle is real.
NBA 2K18 is yet another astonishingly good basketball game that delivers on the hardwood and in the suite of inviting modes on offer. Resist the urge to shell out for Virtual Currency and you'll be fine. Just focus on the great game at NBA 2K18's core, because it really is at its best this year.
NBA 2K18 has many flaws, but the core gameplay is on the highest level possible as always. Promoted The Neighbourhood mode is screwed up and micropayments are just awful. Nonetheless, the game is worth playing... unless you have 2K16 or 2K17.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Open world NBA is all flash, no substance – a dampener on an otherwise great game.