NBA 2K15

[Rodster]

I've played about a half dozen games or so since the patch, and I think 2k15 is the best basketball game I've ever played now. Fouls are now both an issue and something to exploit offensively, and the computer uses 3-pointers more and more effectively. If I leave a good outside shooter open, it's likely he will take the shot unless there's a reason not to.

I am also enjoying the off-court stuff in My GM mode. I'm playing as the Bulls, and I've had younger players asking me to ramp up training intensity while older players have asked for it to reduce it. I've also had a couple of reasonable trade offers from AI teams. All in all, this is some of the most fun I have had with a sports game.

The game is a masterpiece but i'm not having any fun because i really suck at it. I like the My Team mode too but I keep losing. Any tips to stop the high scoring CPU offense? I can get back into a game maybe 2-3 points but then the cpu goes on a 10-0 run on me seemingly everytime.

Set the game to arcade and it'll play sort of like NBA Live.

[Brando70]

I've played about a half dozen games or so since the patch, and I think 2k15 is the best basketball game I've ever played now. Fouls are now both an issue and something to exploit offensively, and the computer uses 3-pointers more and more effectively. If I leave a good outside shooter open, it's likely he will take the shot unless there's a reason not to.

I am also enjoying the off-court stuff in My GM mode. I'm playing as the Bulls, and I've had younger players asking me to ramp up training intensity while older players have asked for it to reduce it. I've also had a couple of reasonable trade offers from AI teams. All in all, this is some of the most fun I have had with a sports game.

The game is a masterpiece but i'm not having any fun because i really suck at it. I like the My Team mode too but I keep losing. Any tips to stop the high scoring CPU offense? I can get back into a game maybe 2-3 points but then the cpu goes on a 10-0 run on me seemingly everytime.

I am playing on All-Star Simulation with everything at default with the Bulls, and I find it a reasonable challenge. Hard teams are hard, bad teams are easier but will still be hard if I play like an idiot and commit a lot of turnovers.

The best tip I have for playing defense is to lay off the guard close button until you need to use it. You will move laterally more quickly if you just move your defender or use the turbo for a quick move. This will help you keep your defender between the offensive player and the basket. The CPU is really good about punishing overly aggressive defense. If you can keep yourself between them, you'll deny the easier baskets that can kill you in this game. When the shot clock winds down or I sense a shot coming, then I'll hit the close guard button. You want to cut off the inbound passes so the CPU has to work the perimeter until the shot clock forces them to act.

Also, change strategy depending on what's beating you. I almost always play man-to-man with some halfcourt trap mixed in if I want to press for turnovers or am facing weaker guards. But 2-3 zone can help if you are getting beaten in the post. I don't play 3-2 zone and generally avoid fullcourt because it's too easy for the CPU players to beat it.

[Diablo25]

I have finally been getting some results on defense. It is a fairly steep learning curve but man it's a fun game once you get a clue. Can't wait to see how the XB1 patch impacts defensive play.

[Diablo25]

Xbox One patch is supposedly out. Gonna play some later today to see the difference. Hope it's a good one.

[pk500]

Xbox One patch is supposedly out. Gonna play some later today to see the difference. Hope it's a good one.

Very subtle improvements in many areas, but the biggest flaw in the single-player game still exists -- a big rebounding edge for the CPU, especially on the offensive glass.

I can set my defensive tendencies to crashing the glass and still get KILLED by the CPU on the boards post-patch.

I don't understand why 2K15 is bathed in such love by gamers and the gaming media. It's a solid game, but it's nowhere near the best team sports sim as many claim. FIFA 15 and PES 2015 both simulate soccer better than 2K does basketball. I don't play The Show, but I hear nothing but praise about its realism.

[Pete1210]

pk, did you try adjusting the offensive and defensive rebound sliders for CPU and user?

[pk500]

pk, did you try adjusting the offensive and defensive rebound sliders for CPU and user?

No. I will. But the whole point of a patch should be to make sliders optional to suit individual tastes, not as a mandatory fix for hard-coded gameplay flaws.

[Diablo25]

pk, did you try adjusting the offensive and defensive rebound sliders for CPU and user?

No. I will. But the whole point of a patch should be to make sliders optional to suit individual tastes, not as a mandatory fix for hard-coded gameplay flaws.

I agree Paul. It's a fabulous game in many areas but the rebounding and playing defense are so frustrating. Live is a fun game to play. It doesn't have the awesome animations that 2K has but it's defensive engine is way more fun. I'm just waiting for Live to drop in price on the XB1 to snag it.

[pk500]

I'm just waiting for Live to drop in price on the XB1 to snag it.

Same. We're lucky this year because there are two excellent soccer games, and one excellent hoop game and one improved hoops game.

Could Live 15 be next on EA Access? UFC was the latest addition, and that was the last of the possible titles shown in the promo when Access first went live earlier this year. EA already has said Titanfall won't be included in Access.

[Inuyasha]

What game modes you guys usually play? I'm doing My Team and getting my ass kicked. No slider setting in that mode. I did some My Player and it was fun.

[dbdynsty25]

I don't get why you guys are having so much trouble w rebound and D. Its really as simple as playing off the guy you're guarding and then when the ball is up in the air...switching to a big man and hitting the glass. Rebounding is always an even stat for me. Win some and lose some. All-Star defaults w slightly lower shooting sliders for me and CPU due to shooting percentages being slightly too high. PS4 version might be the difference I don't know.

[Diablo25]

I don't get why you guys are having so much trouble w rebound and D. Its really as simple as playing off the guy you're guarding and then when the ball is up in the air...switching to a big man and hitting the glass. Rebounding is always an even stat for me. Win some and lose some. All-Star defaults w slightly lower shooting sliders for me and CPU due to shooting percentages being slightly too high. PS4 version might be the difference I don't know.

I can deal with the rebounding. I've actually gotten much better at it. It's not as frustrating as playing D. 2K is that good that I can overlook some of its very few shortcomings.

[Inuyasha]

I suck at offense too. The only play I am good at is when the ball gets moved around and leaves a guy open for a 3. That one I can hit with a good player. But any game trying to get to the basket seems all random. Probably because my guys suck, but a 2ft being missed is frustrating.

[pk500]

I don't get why you guys are having so much trouble w rebound and D. Its really as simple as playing off the guy you're guarding and then when the ball is up in the air...switching to a big man and hitting the glass. Rebounding is always an even stat for me. Win some and lose some. All-Star defaults w slightly lower shooting sliders for me and CPU due to shooting percentages being slightly too high. PS4 version might be the difference I don't know.

Doubtful. Probably deficient skill here. My oldest son plays 2K15 religiously, so I'll ask him about his rebounding. I don't play it nearly as much as FIFA or Madden, so my skills are dull. Thanks for the tips.

[Aristo]

Yeah, rebounding really just comes down to timing. When I was sucking, it was mostly because I was spastically trying to jump without thinking.

Offense I can handle, but I run with Play Art on full, and set to every play. I let the coach call plays. If I was more dedicated I would memorize the plays for a team and learn to run plays without the art. Instead I just follow the play and freelance when it makes sense. About the only thing I can't pull off is an alley pop, which I can do in Live 15.

But defensively, I'm a mess. I give up layups all day long.

As for Live, I never made it through the six hours. 2K15 is just too complete.

Oh, and I play NBA Today 90% of the time, and occasionally consider playing franchise. Not a fan of My Player at all.

[Inuyasha]

Yeah, rebounding really just comes down to timing. When I was sucking, it was mostly because I was spastically trying to jump without thinking.

Offense I can handle, but I run with Play Art on full, and set to every play. I let the coach call plays. If I was more dedicated I would memorize the plays for a team and learn to run plays without the art. Instead I just follow the play and freelance when it makes sense. About the only thing I can't pull off is an alley pop, which I can do in Live 15.

But defensively, I'm a mess. I give up layups all day long.

As for Live, I never made it through the six hours. 2K15 is just too complete.

Oh, and I play NBA Today 90% of the time, and occasionally consider playing franchise. Not a fan of My Player at all.

did you try ultimate team in Live? Any good or pretty basic?

[Diablo25]

DP

[Aristo]

Yeah, rebounding really just comes down to timing. When I was sucking, it was mostly because I was spastically trying to jump without thinking.

Offense I can handle, but I run with Play Art on full, and set to every play. I let the coach call plays. If I was more dedicated I would memorize the plays for a team and learn to run plays without the art. Instead I just follow the play and freelance when it makes sense. About the only thing I can't pull off is an alley pop, which I can do in Live 15.

But defensively, I'm a mess. I give up layups all day long.

As for Live, I never made it through the six hours. 2K15 is just too complete.

Oh, and I play NBA Today 90% of the time, and occasionally consider playing franchise. Not a fan of My Player at all.

did you try ultimate team in Live? Any good or pretty basic?

I'm sure I looked at it, but if the gameplay doesn't grab me, the UT version isn't going to help. I'm not a big fan of the My Team mode in 2K15 either.

The only UT mode I am playing these days is Madden 15. After years of considering NHL's HUT the best mode, Madden really hit it out of the park this year. I had tried it and the NCAA version in past years, and found it to be terrible. But this year's has so much solo content. And I've really begun to dig the style of play in heads up. I don't play it a ton, as I'm just in level 3 in four seasons played. I'm 2-1, and I expect to win the number of games required to promote to the next level. But I will hit a wall soon. But there are gobs and gobs of hours of MUT play without ever playing a single online game.

It's not going to be for everyone, as it is not sim. The quarters are short, so the strategy is more like playing in the fourth quarter for the whole game. At this point, the online seasons are 4 minute quarters, so you have 16 minutes to manage. But you have six time outs, two end of quarter stoppages, and two two minute warnings. Then there is half time, and timing it so that you can score and get the ball back, or avoiding letting your opponent do this is a big part of the game.

Some guys go with aerial attacks, but that limits their ability to mange the clock. I go with a Ground and Pound attack, but that limits my ability to come from behind. Other than a few quitters in the very first level, most of my games have been fantastic. I've been blown out a few times, and pounded a few other guys. But many come down to the last couple of possessions, and managing the clock is huge.

I have absolutely hated madden for years and years. I boycotted EA after the exclusivity deal. Even after giving up that and buying their games, I rarely kept them for more than a couple of weeks. But Madden 15 might be my Sports Game of the Year if I don't consider FH2 a sports game. Because on top of MUT, I love the regular gameplay, too. I have not spent this much time with a football game since FBPro 98. And yeah, that includes NFL 2K5, and even the several online seasons I played of APFB 2K8.

Sorry for the OT ramble. I should probably have put this in the Madden thread.

[Inuyasha]

Ya MUT is great this year. I like they shortened the qtrs too. Solo Play they gave a lot of content. Right now they uploaded all TOTW's and are giving you a 90 rated Bo Jackson.

[Inuyasha]

i used all of your's advice and had an incredible game in MY TEAM vs the Magic who I still can't beat for like the 10th time. But this time I got close, getting it to double OT. Hit a 3 to force OT and stopped them to force 2nd ot. Had the ball with 20 seconds left but got nervous turning it over and the magic made a layup with like 7 seconds left and I couldn't answer. I think i need a good C with 90 rebounding skill and maybe i can get past the magic.

[Diablo25]

For those of you who have edited rebounding sliders...how much have you edited them??

[Pete1210]

For those of you who have edited rebounding sliders...how much have you edited them??

I feel that 2K default rebound sliders give up too many offensive rebounds. In the past I have set both OR sliders down 5 and DR sliders up 5.

[Diablo25]

For those of you who have edited rebounding sliders...how much have you edited them??

I feel that 2K default rebound sliders give up too many offensive rebounds. In the past I have set both OR sliders down 5 and DR sliders up 5.

Ok, I'll give those a try!

[Inuyasha]

hey i won a game!

I did that thing to make the play art appear and it really helped.

Also I used the 2k cam instead of the broadcast cam. That makes the prespective of the game completely different from the broadcast default cam. I still like broadcast default since it looks like a real telecast, but 2k cam is better for executing your plays correctly.

This game is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!

I haven't been much of a bball videogame fan since the ps days, but this game is ranking right up there with my all time favorite NBA LIVE 97.

[Brando70]

The more I play NBA 2k, the more I love it. I'm doing a MyGM with the Bulls and I'm right about even with the real-life schedule. I have just left it on All-Star Simulation since the patch and feel like it plays a really balanced game of basketball. The shooting percentages are a little too high, but I kind of like that compared to tweaking sliders to drop them closer to the real NBA. What I like in particular this year is that the AI seems to feed its stars rather than feature the same positions over and over. It still does the age-old 2k thing of featuring 2s and 3s more prominently in the offense than other positions, but really good 1s, 4s, and 5s will get a lot of touches. I played against the Rockets last night, and Harden and Howard were by far the most involved players on offense.

The other great thing is how fouls are such a factor. I haven't had a player foul out yet, but I've had to sit guys because of early foul trouble. I've also gotten AI players to foul out by attacking them if they get into trouble.

There are still gameplay things I'd love to see improved: better AI with front-court offense, better ball physics (especially long rebounds). But its been a long time since I've played a sports game where I think presentation is the biggest area for improvement (they really need to beef up the crowd and arena atmosphere). If Madden was anywhere near this good, I can't imagine how many hours I'd play that over the course of a year.