As is usual for this time of year hype starts building up for the start of the NBA season, one of the greatest sporting spectacles in the world, it is not only the real NBA that is generating hype though as just like clockwork it’s time for the premier basketball video game franchise NBA2K to satiate our dreams and desires of being an NBA player as they drop the latest edition to the game NBA2K23. This year the cover athlete is Devin Booker, or Michael Jordan if you buy the appropriate edition, regardless of which version you buy though the game promises to be a celebration of all things Jordan by paying homage to the GOATs absolutely insane career.

After having the pleasure of playing the ‘next-gen’ version of NBA2K on the Xbox Series X and Playstation 5 respectively, this year is a bit different for me as I will be playing the PC version which effectively means playing the last-gen version of the game, more on that later, so it will be a very different experience for me compared to what I am used to. As usual I jumped right into the MyCareer mode which once again sees you stepping into the shoes of MP, this is the same name as the character you played in NBA2K22 but this is definitely a new story and not a continuation on from that saga, a bit confusing really. MP has worked his way through college and proved himself on the hardwood floors by becoming a superstar that is ready to join the elite ranks of the NBA. After creating your player and assigning attributes by using what has to be one of the most definitive and detailed create a player modes in modern sports games you will then be able to pick what college you went to and also the NBA team you want to draft you, this seems to cost 500 of the games virtual currency (known as VC for short), I was a bit taken aback that the game wanted you to part with VC this early on, before you had even stepped onto a court.

Once these choices have been made the game then skips to the hype of draft night and the hometown fans have certainly let it be known loud and clear that they want the team you picked to play for to draft another star player, Shep Owens, over you, of course you get drafted instead of Owens and this leads to the hometown crowd booing you and being extremely angry that you have been drafted instead of Owens. This sets the basis for the story of the MyCareer mode this year, throughout the story you will have several run ins with Shep Owens as you try to become a star in the NBA and turn the hometown crowd around on to your side. To be fair the story this year is pretty generic and uninspiring, you can also tell in several of the cut scenes that content has been cut from the story on the PC version as some of the dialogue appears to be very badly stitched together and the transitions from scene to scene can be very jarring. Since there is no city in the PC version of NBA2k23 players are instead treated to what is known as the ‘GOAT boat’ (I don’t know how this name got past anyone’s cringe filter) which is essentially a slightly redesigned of the cruise ship from last year’s and doesn’t really bring anything new or exciting to the game, it’s the usual grind of walking around finding basketball games you want to participate in so that you can earn VC to upgrade your player.

You can wander around the boat picking up some very uninspiring quests that basically require you to visit certain sections of the ship or perform certain tasks in games for VC and cosmetic rewards, I was tasked with working out in the Gatorade training facility in order to continue the starting quest chain, unfortunately I had already performed my workout before picking up the quest, this lead to me being unable to continue progression through the quest line until I am able to undertake workouts again, in 7 days, that’s a pretty serious bug right there. Essentially MyCareer is the same game mode as it has always been with the main loop being to play games of basketball to earn VC and badges in order to improve your player.

One of the other main modes of NBA2K23, MyTeam, does see a fair few improvements this year even in last gen versions. For those who are new to the NBA2K series MyTeam involves collecting virtual basketball cards from opening packs of cards or earnt by completing certain tasks given out by the game, you can then use these cards to create a team of players that you can use in both single and multiplayer game modes. Clutch time is the main new game mode this year and it essentially allows you to take a team of 5 of your players into a game with a time limit of 5 minutes, the court features a 4 point line so one of the best strategies is to stack your team with your best long range shooters and try to pile on the 4 point scoring opportunities, it’s an interesting game mode that tends to lean a more quick and frantic style of game than your normal 4 quarters NBA experience.

Another change is that player contracts are now gone, this is probably one of the best changes to MyTeam mode that has ever been implemented and you will no longer have to worry about applying contract cards to players in your team when they run out, you can use any player as much as you like, a huge quality of life improvement that really must be applauded. There are also prize balls that you can earn, which you can equip to your team and play with and after a few games they will crack open and reward you. The biggest change to come to MyTeam this year, though, would be the fact you can now play games such as triple threat co-op with your friends, this is something fans have been crying out for and I am glad that 2K have delivered. MyTeam seems to have been given a lot of love this year, even on this, the last gen version of the game, it would be practically impossible to get bored playing this mode as there is always a different mode to play and something to work towards.

Unfortunately, the franchise mode of NBA2k23 hasn’t received the same kind of love that MyTeam has, and is miles behind the MyGM and MyLeague modes of the next-gen version, this is such a shame as most of the differences between the generations from what I understand would not even be due to system performance, and it is hard to not just chalk the differences up to laziness, regardless of this MyLeague is still one of the better franchise modes available in modern sports games, especially if you are new to the series, if you are a veteran then it becomes a harder selling point as you are probably a bit frustrated at the lack of major changes in this mode year after year.

The Jordan challenge makes a return this year, having last appeared in NBA2K11, this mode celebrates all things Jordan and takes you through all of the highlight moments of his career from college through to his highly prolific time in the NBA. If there are two things that go together it is Jordan and highlights and there are a lot of moments to play through, starting off in college with Jordan as a member of the 1982 North Carolina Tarheels squad, you get to play through the game hoping to recreate the magic that scored Jordan his one and only collegiate championship, you get to play through a total of 15 moments in the mode ending with the 1998 NBA Finals, Game 6, playing as the Chicago Bulls against the Utah Jazz.

Every single one of these moments have been meticulously recreated right down to the actual TV presentation, the commentators and the actual score bugs and graphics that would have been used at the actual times the network aired the games, the presentation here is outstanding and even at times jaw dropping not only making this mode an ultimate video game homage to Jordan but also a pleasure to play through, the fact that you can also earn in game rewards is just an added extra.

The NBA2K series has always had what I would consider to be one of the best examples of presentation in a sports video game and to this day this still stands true, at least to a certain extent. The graphics on last-gen are starting to get a bit long in the tooth, the player models are still great as are most of the animations, but the arenas and especially some of the textures in the backgrounds in cut scenes are starting to look a bit old. Control is another thing that seems to be a bit dicey this year, the shooting seems to be refined and improved a lot however the players feel like you are controlling an ice hockey player more than an NBA player and stopping on a dime depending on what animation you are locked into can be a frustrating experience, especially when it comes to defending, sometimes the game looks and controls beautifully at other times it can be very jarring as players seem to warp to the ball.

NBA 2K23 is a good game, even if it really is your only choice for an authentic NBA style experience on the PC, what harms it is the fact that PC owners get a last-gen experience on a device that has several times the power of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. This really isn’t good enough and expecting PC gamers to pay full price for a lazily put together last-gen version of the game actually feels quite disrespectful, there really is no reason that the PC version should be last-gen and it really feels like the developers were going for profits over putting in the effort to give PC players the experience they deserve.

As far as micro transactions go I have pretty much always praised NBA2K with how the game went about letting you earn VC to upgrade your player just by playing the game, however this year upgrades cost 2-3 times more than they have in previous years, which either way means a lot more grinding, or a lot more opening your wallet, no thanks. NBA 2K23 is not a horrible game, and if you are new to the series you will most likely have a lot of fun with it, as a veteran though it’s hard to not feel slapped in the face by the fact the developers expect us to be happy with what is decidedly an inferior edition of the game.