‘NBA 2K19’ Hands-On Impression: Likes And Dislikes After 6 Full Games On An Early Build

Author: Brian Mazique / Source: Forbes

Last week I had an opportunity to play an early build of NBA 2K19 on Xbox One. It was a two-day event that provided me a good opportunity to preview the game as a user and spectator.

Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell has the same rating as Jayson Tatum in NBA 2K19.
Credit: 2K

I took mostly mental notes on the first day, but on the second, I wanted to start jotting down some of my likes and dislikes. Before I get into the lists, there are three very important things to know about this preview and the following assessment.

STOP! WAIT! READ THIS BEFORE PROCEEDING

This Was An Early Build – This was not a final product in a variety of ways. Most of the presentation aspects weren’t added yet, and even some gameplay components weren’t in place. In fact, gameplay producer Mike Wang told me that an even newer build had already been pushed through that cleaned up a few of the issues I’m going to mention. I didn’t get to play that build, so I can’t definitively say the problems will be resolved. However, I’ll be sure to mention what I was told where applicable.
We Only Got to Play With The Lakers and Warriors – LeBron and the Misfits vs. The Golden State juggernaut was the only matchup we could use. I played with the Lakers most of the time. I mention this in the disclaimer section because not every type of player and scenario will be accessible or common with this combination of players. For example, neither team has a blazingly fast point guard who could tell us how a player with those talents impacts the gameplay.
Likewise, the number of dominant back-to-the-basket options are also limited to DeMarcus Cousins when it comes to the Lakers and Warriors.
I Only Played 6 Games – It was impossible to see everything. Six games is a good preview, but not enough to be able to answer every gameplay question. I’d suggest absorbing this impressions piece with the rest of the content that came from the event to gain somewhat of a consensus on the areas of the game you’re most interested in learning about.

Likes

On-Ball Defense on the Perimeter – One of the things that I thought EA did better with NBA Live 18 than 2K did with NBA 2K18 was on-ball defense. It seemed as if you could use your body more effectively to block a ballhandler’s path and poke the dribble away if you timed it right. Thankfully, I can report, this aspect of the game is greatly improved in NBA 2K19. For the first time in years, I felt as if I actually had a prayer of containing a talented perimeter player.
Low-Post Gameplay – Both on defense and offense, I liked the balance in the low post. It didn’t feel too easy to back an opponent down, although a mismatch in the post still felt like a mismatch. As I mentioned, Cousins and perhaps LeBron were the only guys who ever seemed to have a huge advantage in strength over the player that was guarding them. In both instances, when controlling Cousins or James, it felt like I could move the defender.
Passing – I’m not sure if I was in a zone or something, but my passing felt cleaner and crisper–especially on Day 2 of the preview. I saw a lot less wasted motions and animations.
Make/Miss Ratio – Not every open three is supposed to go in. Even Steph Curry and Ray Allen miss open shots sometimes. The make-to-miss ratio felt far more realistic and looked to play similar to the build we see with the NBA 2K League. I liked this a lot.
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