NBA 2K22has launched and millions of gamers are connecting all around the world to pass, dribble, and shoot their way to ultimate sports-RPG glory.
This year, however, there are two versions of the world’s most popular basketball sim. And it’s important to know which one you’ll be playing.
There’s a current gen version that’s only available to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series players. That’s right, you read that correctly: PC players get the last generation version that’s also available on Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
What does that mean? Well, you’ll be missing out on a lot if you’re stuck in the last gen.
Here’s a trailer for thenext genversion’s “My City” environment:
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The major differences include a different environment (an open-world style city versus a cruise ship), the weird fact that the WNBA is completely omitted from last gen, a brand-new matchmaking system, and a completely revamped badge system for My Career on current gen.
In other words, you’re getting a different game on current gen. Last gen versions however, follow the tried-and-true incremental update format that results in it taking hours to suss out all the changes.On to the review.
Note: I didn’t have time to check out My Team for this year’s review. If 2K eventually offers the current-gen title to PC owners, I’ll cover it in a review then.
I testedNBA 2K22on PC. I played last year’s version on PS4 Pro, Xbox One, and PC but this year I opted for the best possible last gen experience. And I wasn’t exactly disappointed.
The good:
The bad:
The ugly:
Final thoughts:If this game had come out last year, I would have given it a glowing review. This is the improvement we should have seen betweenNBA 2K20andNBA 2K21.
But, on last gen consoles and PC, it ends up being a mixed bag.
It’s good. And if you never plan on getting a current gen console, I’d recommend picking it up. It’s a better all-around game thanlast year’s version.NBA 2K22is a solid entry into the series and it does enough right — even on last gen — to merit the upgrade for serious fans.
However, it was a somewhat insulting decision for 2K to choose to leave PCs out of the current gen. I mean, wasn’t the game literally developed on PCs?
It’s understandable that last gen versions don’t have the sprawling “The City” open world or some of the flashier bells and whistles. But it’s almost unconscionable to give last gen owners a completely different badge system for My Player creations – and don’t even get me started on the fact that the WNBA experience is limited to current-gen only.
Story byTristan Greene
Tristan is a futurist covering human-centric artificial intelligence advances, quantum computing, STEM, physics, and space stuff. Pronouns:(show all)Tristan is a futurist covering human-centric artificial intelligence advances, quantum computing, STEM, physics, and space stuff. Pronouns: He/him
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