With the release of NBA 2K21 just a few weeks away, some gamers may be wondering what new features are going to be offered in this year's basketball installment. After all, this one is going to be released for next-gen consoles as well. Not to worry since today we take a quick look at some of these changes.
Upped PGs
Back in June of this year, it was announced that Portland Trail Blazers Point Guard Damian Lillard will be on the cover of the standard edition of NBA 2K21. It turns out he’s also a 2K gamer and offered feedback and ideas for this upcoming game. One of these was to be able to come up with an oversized PG in the game’s MyCAREER. The good news is that the height for PGs have been upped to 6’8”.
Skill Gap vs. Accessibility
In a blog post, NBA 2K Gameplay Director Mike Wang said that one of the challenges that they face is to find “the right balance between simulating real life and making a game that’s fun and enjoyable for a wide range of fans.” The goal, according to him, was to offer a game that was easy for new users to play while being able to give “enough of a skill gap for veteran users to really showcase their talent.”
To make this happen, NBA 2K21 has a robust set of sliders to be able to carefully map the appropriate settings for all the different modes. There’s going to be wide range of gameplay experiences for everyone.
Pro Stick
For many years, the Pro Stick has been part of the 2K series, and since it was introduced, it has remained unchanged. Well, the Pro Stick is going to get some improvements and a remap this time around. This not only expands the player’s dribble move arsenal, but also gives them access to more moves in a more intuitive control scheme.
Shooting
The upgrade to the Pro Stick isn’t just going to bring changes to the dribble. There’s also going to be some benefits to jump shooting. Specifically, this is going to be Shot Stick Aiming, which was first tried back in NBA 2K17. So when shooting with the Pro Stick, the shot meter is no longer a timing bar, but a targeting system.
Motion styles
Last time around, NBA 2K introduced some signature dribble styles. This time around it’s coming to the defensive end with signature defensive motion styles. Be prepared to see some interesting moves from Russell Westbrook, Kawhi Leonard, Draymond Green, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and LeBron James, among many others.
Badges
Last year, the badge system was redesigned to give players the ability to swap badges in and out as they upgraded them. Badges are coming back in NBA 2K21. For this version, there’s going to be even more badges that have merit and will fight for a spot in your badge loadout.
So what about you? Which feature are you most excited about? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
