One day the Earth will stop spinning, the Sun will die. When all is set and done, and maybe aliens get to look at the history of our art and culture – therefore, also, including the art and culture of gaming -, the vast majority of sports games will rest in peace, forever undisturbed, but forever inglorious. The very few select titles that manage to escape that dreadful fate will define the history of the sports gaming scene. NBA2K11 is, undoubtedly, one of them.
NBA2K11 is one of those rare games whose legendary status is a consequence of not just its phenomenal gaming value, but also its historical relevance. NBA2K’s rival NBA Live completely dominated the virtual basketball scene, standing on the shoulders of a past giant (1993’s NBA Jam) to be able to bring NBA gaming to the masses as not just an arcade-ish, over-the-top, fun-oriented experience but an actual simulation that could be taken seriously as a faithful representation of the actual sport. For over a decade, EA’s basketball videogame controlled the scene, even after the arrival of a new competitor, NBA2K; however, even the greatest have to fall someday: NBA Live got too comfortable, enjoying the spoils of its total and utter dominance, whilst NBA2K worked hard to provide something fresh to virtual basketball fans, slowly evolving into something that was so competent that it could, perhaps one day in a very distant future, threaten NBA Live’s unquestionable and seemingly unbreakable legacy. NBA Live’s spell was then broken: its sales decline, its ratings sliced; its rival thriving – on all areas. As the first decade of the new millennium reached its end, it brought about the end of an era as well: NBA2K9 makes history as it sells more copies than EA’s basketball game for the first time ever, after a long period of snatching more and more slices of NBA Live’s pie over the years. NBA 2K10 continues that alarming trend; at that point, it was clearly the superior title, taking advantage of the transition from the PS2 to the PS3-era of consoles to deliver the killer blow to the Live series.
Enter NBA2K11, the kind of game that changes the world. It confirms NBA2K’s status as the dominant basketball game, obliterates its once unbeatable competition, singlehandedly destroying the Live series forever. After NBA2K11, NBA Live is renamed to NBA Elite, but the modern iteration is cancelled – and then the whole series is. Live is resuscitated with NBA Live 14, before dying…again, after Live 19; remaining in the world of the deceased videogames up until now. Who knows if it will ever come back.
How could a single game revolutionize the virtual basketball world? Well, it’s not as if this particular iteration reinvented the (basketball) wheel; NBA2K11 is first and foremost a continuation of the amazing work carried out by the previous iterations. With the inimitable Michael Jordan as its centerpiece, the game pays homage to MJ’s legacy by creating a mini-time travelling platform where one is able to play a collection of the most legendary games in Jordan’s career; NBA2K11 was ahead of its time in understanding the importance of gaming also as modern, interactive history books. The previous iteration had introduced the MyPlayer mode, allowing one to create his own basketballer and play out his NBA career; this mode’s success skyrocketed as soon as people could experience NBA2K11’s gameplay – and they were never the same after that. NBA2K11 is a phenomenally realistic depiction of not just the NBA but the sport itself; one that forces the player to play the sport correctly, calling plays and respecting the players’ attributes and each team’s style in order to get a chance at being competitive. What is eerily interesting is that over the years and up until our modern era, the sport has changed so much – mainly because of the revolutionary influence of the 2010s Golden State Warriors – that, looking back, NBA2K11 is not the faithful representation of the NBA as it once was: now, it is totally unrealistic. The eerie part of this is that that evolution of the real-life sport transformed it into something that looks more videogame-y – players abusing the three-point-shot, teams rushing their plays -; while, in retrospective, strangely, NBA2K11 now looks more realistic and less videogame-y than…the real thing! Playing it nowadays is opening a window to a vastly different brand of basketball, one that consequently gives this title an unexpected retro relevance. It is not at all controversial to state amongst hardcore virtual basketball fans that NBA2K11 has the best gameplay in virtual basketball history. Opinions may vary but this is widely considered to have been a game that just “nailed it”. If one day basketball ceases to exist, NBA2K11’s depiction of it is exactly how I would like to remember it.
Stupendous gameplay, brilliant graphics, an astonishing sound experience (its soundtrack is unforgettable), loads of content and, the cherry-on-top, the greatest basketballer of all time on the cover and as a centerpiece. If there is such thing as gaming perfection, NBA2K11 is at least knocking on its door. This is one of the most relevant chapters in sports gaming history; to play it is to experience game development at its best, gaming history at its finest and NBA basketball at its classiest. It is quality entertainment, relevant culture, admirable history, and for those looking to dip their toes in either virtual or real basketball action – or both -, a uniquely competent teacher. A must-play and a must-have.
The ideal Christmas gift for…: any basketball fan (not just NBA enthusiast…) worth his salt, the sports fan looking to learn more about the sport and how to play it, the gamer who wants to own one of the best sports simulations of all time.
Libero Magazine 