NBA 2K10 once again has some great gameplay features that stand above all others. My personal favorite is actually playing defense
off the ball rather than always switching to the matchup with the current ball handler. The ability to close down on the passing lane is outstanding, and if you happen to get the jump on a pass, you will at the very least be able to knock the ball down or pop it out of bounds, and at the best, you will directly pick it off and begin a fast break. Unfortunately, I've found it a bit frustrating that when you do get on a break, the defenders often are able to catch up instead of allowing your player to run the floor coast to coast for the easy deuce.
Adding to the great defensive controls are colored circles that follow you and your offensive matchup, and you'll also have arrows showing you the direction of your matchup at all times, just in case you get a bit disoriented. Because of these factors, I actually fell in love with the My Player feature of NBA 2K10, where you'll create your own would-be superstar and bring him up through the ranks to sign with an NBA team. Being that you'll control your character and only your character, you'll be forced to play off the ball most of the time, on both offense and defense. Fear not, though, because you'll have plenty of drills that allow you to both practice game-time situations and also earn Star Points that can be used to improve your player's stats (which start out really bad). Filling your player's attributes is also based on performance, so too many mistakes will take you in the negative while being a true team player and fulfilling your objectives will gain you more skills.
NBA 2K10 doesn't stop there as far as game modes go... there are actually a TON of options, but best of all, there is a sort of always-online presence that allows players to essentially play any mode through the network. It should be noted, however, that at the time of this writing, taking you're My Player character online in pickup games and such was broken, but in theory, this will be a sweet option to show the world your skills. Other gameplay modes include standard Quick Matches, Franchises (called The Association), Team Play with user-created Crews, and NBA Blacktop, where you'll also be able to get on the playground and have a 3-Point Shootout, Dunk Contest, or play a game of 21.
Being that NBA 2K10 appears to have great presentation on top of a ton of game modes, you'd probably think that it is the ultimate basketball game of all time, but there are some ever-present issues that arise. The gameplay itself is bittersweet. As mentioned, playing defense can be a very fun experience, especially off the ball. With that said, however, the controls still feel slightly too loose at times, which makes for a bit of a clunky experience. On the opposite side of the ball, I also don't feel like I have the control that is needed for playing offense, especially when it comes to post up moves. Although there are a number of moves that can be performed, they didn't exactly feel natural. Another big annoyance is that with the alley-oop button the same as the pass button (with a (LT) modification), I found myself throwing up prayers way too often, which felt like it was the engine deciding when to perform this highly-disciplined action. In some cases, this action will result in an unexpected dunk, but in many instances, the alley-oop results in a turnover or other type of errant pass. Feeling uncontrollable, it would be nice if this could be avoided.
It should also be mentioned that NBA 2K10's overall gameplay definitely takes some getting used to and isn't quite as user-friendly and easy to use as it could be. The frustration level doesn't end with the gameplay itself, unfortunately, because there a number of frankly unacceptable bugs that pop up all too frequently. First and foremost, there are certain times when the game has noticeable framerate drops. There are certain arenas where things are worse than others, which require you to adjust some gameplay/camera settings to help out in this area. Another annoyance is when the in-bounds player and the ref play catch for a lengthy set of time until the A.I. finally figures out what's going on. I've also had the great presentation hinder my gameplay by leaving an overlay graphic of upcoming schedules on the screen (coving nearly the entire screen, might I add) while the game continued behind it. Finally, while I am sure that NBA 2K10 plays great on a widescreen television, gameplay certainly wasn't meant to work as well with older TVs because the action is often cut off, and the score and ticker aren't far enough within the safe areas to be unaffected by the way tube televisions cut off the edges of the screen.
Another great gameplay feature that is simple, yet effective, is that there is a stamina meter that appears under your feet at all times. On the other end of the court, using the default passing button (without precisely passing to set icons) is dangerous. I lost count of how many times I ended up throwing to an unintended receiver instead of a near-sure scoring cutter.
If you can put some of these annoyances and frustrations behind you, then NBA 2K10 is certainly worth taking a look, so don't let me scare you off.
