REVIEW – In recent years, there’s been no shortage of criticism aimed at the NBA 2K franchise, but one thing always remained intact: the gameplay was stable, enjoyable, and well-balanced. This year, however, something has gone completely off the rails. Visual Concepts hasn’t just missed the shot — the ball didn’t even come close to the rim.

Let’s start with the biggest disappointment: the on-court action has completely lost its weight. Player movement feels floaty and lifeless, while the game’s pacing is absurdly fast — as if everyone just downed a gallon of espresso before tip-off. The AI is erratic and unpredictable, and the unique playstyles that once defined star athletes are nowhere to be found. Sure, some of the new animations are flashy, but they’re often more distracting than impressive: players suddenly shift into overdrive as if propelled by an invisible gust of wind, breaking the flow and any sense of realism.

It feels like the developers only partially reworked the engine, leaving new mechanics awkwardly stitched onto outdated systems. The result is a disjointed mess, like a freshly painted wall with old wallpaper still peeking through. Meanwhile, the CPU makes baffling decisions — passing up wide-open shots to force needless ball movement around the perimeter — and the defense often feels completely powerless. To make matters worse, shooting has been dumbed down to the point where we repeatedly checked if we were accidentally playing on “easy” mode. Spoiler: we weren’t.

Broken Gameplay, Greedy Systems

It’s no exaggeration to say that NBA 2K’s greatest strength has now become one of its biggest weaknesses. Sure, the gameplay might improve with future patches, but as it stands, the entire experience feels shattered. What definitely won’t change, though, is 2K’s insatiable greed. The company’s business model has revolved around microtransactions for years, and once again you’ll need to fork over roughly 50 euros just to make your MyPlayer remotely competitive. We gave up on this mode long ago — and we strongly recommend you do the same.

But for the sake of this review, we ventured into the monetized jungle. The first thing we noticed? Our buff, pro-level athlete sounded like a nervous middle schooler. That immediately shattered what little immersion the paper-thin story had to offer. On top of that, the game is suffocatingly cluttered and chaotic: pointless challenges, overly complex menus, and unnecessary fluff are everywhere, making it feel like trying to navigate a hoarder’s basement. Ironically, the main menu is the only space that feels calm — a rare exception in this mess.

MyNBA: A Nostalgic Refuge

To be fair, the real NBA has become increasingly confusing too — with the NBA Cup and seven-footers casually draining threes on a nightly basis. That’s why old-school players like us retreat to the MyNBA mode to relive the Jordan Era. It’s still impressively deep and highly engaging, but gameplay issues drag it down. Building a roster while only simulating games gets stale fast, and it feels like trying to make a low-post center thrive beyond the arc — completely unnatural.

The fact that MyNBA has seen virtually zero meaningful changes makes matters worse. The only “new” feature is dynamic banners in your home arena that reflect your achievements — like a digital championship flag if you win a title. Hardly the sort of feature that will make anyone rush to the store. And yet, that’s probably exactly what the developers were thinking when they essentially abandoned the mode.

Money Talks, Gameplay Suffers

“Stop whining, old man!” — we can already hear the chorus. But we’re not putting our canes down just yet. We remember when sports games aimed to do more than drain players’ wallets. The most depressing part? Despite all its flaws, NBA 2K26 is still one of the best AAA sports games on the market — right behind MLB The Show 25. And that fact alone speaks volumes about the sorry state of the genre.

Not even the visuals can save it. While the game occasionally looks decent, watching a poorly acted MyCareer cutscene where the camera lingers on a static wooden railing for minutes quickly kills any illusion. At times, NBA 2K26 feels less like a finished product and more like a half-baked project sold at full price.

The State of Sports Games

NBA 2K26 is the perfect symptom of a disease that’s been eating away at the industry for years: publishers clinging desperately to monetization while letting creativity rot. As long as it makes money, nothing will change. A lack of competition and a generation of players too young to know better only fuel the cycle. It’s a cliché, but things really were better back in the day — and when this bloated business model finally collapses, we won’t be dancing on its grave. We’ll simply mourn the loss of an old friend that never found its way back.

Of course, nothing will actually change. Next year’s game will likely require even less effort and deliver even less quality. Thankfully, emulation still exists — and with it, the glory days we can always return to.

-Zardoz-

Developer: Visual Concepts
Publisher: 2K Games
Genre: Sports / Basketball
Release Date: September 6, 2025