NBA 2K18 Gameplay Blog Outlines Major Changes In Movement, Shooting & More

NBA 2K18 comes hot off the heels of a predecessor that, while popular, was often lambasted for its unbalanced gameplay mechanics. In a new blog post, 2K outlined how movement, shooting, dribbling and more have been totally reworked to iron out some pretty serious problems.

Are you tired of slow response, players taking more steps than necessary and animations favoring weaker athletes? You’re in luck. One of the major improvements in 2K18 is that stats are given priority over animation. Attributes like deceleration, acceleration, cutting and turning are registered for each player, and then the animations are stitched together to fit those numbers. As a result, movement should feel more predictable than ever.

“If I had to pick one word to describe what we wanted to achieve from a high-level with gameplay this year, it would be: FEEL,” the composing developer said.

In that same token, shots should feel more reliable too. A dodgy shot meter plagued NBA 2K117 from day one, and those problems were exacerbated by tweaks that were far too stat-focused in the game’s later months. This year, players will be given maximum feedback to better discern the odds for each chance. The revised shot meter stays out of the way and displays coverage as well as timing. The league’s best players will score more favorably, so you’ll need to keep guys like LeBron open if you want to win.

The blog post goes into detail on some finer offensive mechanics too. Pulling up off dribbles has become more responsive. Layup packages have been reworked and now include archetypes for long athlete, tank, unathletic small as well as the traditional categories. It’s possible to chain jabs and fakes, movement outside triple threats has become more nuanced and bigs have new moves for power drives.

Speaking of triple threat, one major bid for accessibility is that it’s now easier to perform triple threat moves, dribbles and posts simply by tapping or double-tapping the button to post up. For those who’d like a bit more control over ball handling, signature size-up combos have returned with the addition of explosive rhythm dribbling sequences. Tapping the right stick will reveal one of dozens of new animations from the league and in the streets.

On defense, steal logic has become more specific. Blocks are also more attuned to how many hands a dunker goes up with. With a new “limb collision” mechanic, players that go up with one hand will be far more susceptible to blocks than a true dunker that goes up with two.

In terms of new features the main area of focus is Receiver Control. In short, it’s a way of using single button presses to ensure the right player is open every time. It’s activated by pointing the left stick at the desired receiver while pressing and holding the bounce pass button. Of course, those who don’t like this idea can choose other methods of control too.

This post arrives just hours after the premiere of a brand new NBA 2K18 gameplay trailer focused on animation, mechanics and highly stylized sequences. We’ve embedded it below so you can watch the described concepts in action. We’d still like to see a raw gameplay feed sometime soon, but it’s the best we can get for now.

NBA 2K18 comes to PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Switch and PC Sept. 19. A Prelude demo launches on PS4 and Xbox One Sept. 9.

What do you think of these gameplay tweaks? Are they good enough to make you interested in NBA 2K18? Tell us in the comments section!