I rated this game as a 3.5/5 a week after release, but after playing online... yeesh. 2K21 next-gen has kind of been rejected by the hardcore community the same way Call of Duty: Ghosts was rejected in favor of BLOPS II.
Let's start with some positives. The City is very visually appealing and a welcome change from the copy-pasted "Neighborhood" from the past couple of 2K releases. Graphically, the jersey materials, shading and lighting is very impressive. Skin tones are massively improved, making the player models look even better than they already were. It's a visual marvel.
Other than that... this game is busted. MyTeam and MyCareer are more monetized than ever. On MyCareer, a single game will probably only net you enough VC for a SINGLE ATTRIBUTE UPGRADE. In MyTeam, the introduction of seasons has ruined a mode which has been feasible to play no-money-spent in past years. Seasons is a battle pass-esque model, but unlike most battle passes in games like COD and Desitny, 2K seasons awards game-breaking cards the higher and higher you level up. You can get more XP by scoring with new cards which will cost you real world money to acquire. The servers are booty cheeks, The City is a pretty but over glorified commercial, the Curry slide and fadeaway shots are broken beyond belief, the 6'7" demigod build has completely ruined pickup games and I have never seen as many cheaters using the CronusMax on a game since Warzone.
One day I'll get out of this abusive relationship.
Let's start with some positives. The City is very visually appealing and a welcome change from the copy-pasted "Neighborhood" from the past couple of 2K releases. Graphically, the jersey materials, shading and lighting is very impressive. Skin tones are massively improved, making the player models look even better than they already were. It's a visual marvel.
Other than that... this game is busted. MyTeam and MyCareer are more monetized than ever. On MyCareer, a single game will probably only net you enough VC for a SINGLE ATTRIBUTE UPGRADE. In MyTeam, the introduction of seasons has ruined a mode which has been feasible to play no-money-spent in past years. Seasons is a battle pass-esque model, but unlike most battle passes in games like COD and Desitny, 2K seasons awards game-breaking cards the higher and higher you level up. You can get more XP by scoring with new cards which will cost you real world money to acquire. The servers are booty cheeks, The City is a pretty but over glorified commercial, the Curry slide and fadeaway shots are broken beyond belief, the 6'7" demigod build has completely ruined pickup games and I have never seen as many cheaters using the CronusMax on a game since Warzone.
One day I'll get out of this abusive relationship.