The goal in NBA 2K17 is to create a highly rated team

In NBA 2K17, things were taken a step further with the introduction of “Livin' Da Dream,” a storyline attached to MyCareer mode courtesy of Spike Lee. If you're familiar with Spike's many films during his incredible directing career, then you may be able to anticipate a lot of the stories and plot points thrown your way. If you haven't familiarized yourself with what Spike does with his stories, the early parts of MyCareer may blow your mind.

It was a great idea for a franchise that has been near the top of the sports gaming genre for over a decade, but it was tripped up by the little things. This is a textbook pitfall for filmmakers transitioning into gaming. They are used to presenting their vision to a captive audience, but gaming is an interactive medium. We expect the ability to affect our characters’ destinies in meaningful ways - even in the extremely cinematic titles like “Until Dawn” and “Heavy Rain.” The “NBA 2K17” team failed to recognize this.

I think Livin’ Da Dream is a cliché-ridden, shallow, ridiculous mess, but that’s not my biggest problem with this version of MyCareer. Enumerating the problems with Lee’s script and characters could gobble up this entire piece, but I’d be missing the forest for the trees. The problem with the development and inclusion of Livin’ Da Dream is that it completely misunderstands the appeal of MyCareer mode in the first place; it results in an oppressive, narrow experience, one at odds with the mode’s actual gameplay and character development.

On the multi player side of things you can play locally and online competitively. MyPark allows for you to team with other individuals to play matches against others, while MyTeam is the mode where you can collect players through opening card packs or obtain them through picks after winning certain games. The goal is to create a highly rated team as well as collect every card possible, which will take quite some time, since there are over 2400 of them. Online leagues are back too so if you have a group of friends to play NBA 2K16 with it is definitely worth setting up.

There are no dialogue choices or different paths to proceed down and you kind of feel a little redundant in your own career. As for the acting, the ham-fisted performances and stereotypes took a lot away from the smart and engaging plot. On the whole though, the Spike Lee joint is a valiant effort to push into the fold of sports storytelling in video games, with lots to enjoy as you reach your goal of being the new Steph Curry or Lebron James.

Moving from the graphics to the gameplay, 2K17 has taken a big step into improving the CPU. In past versions, even at the Hall of Fame difficulty level, the game came down to individually breaking down your opponent with a series of dribble moves (or even just turbocharging past them) and then either finishing at the basket or finding the open man. Once one figured that out, there was no challenge in going up against the CPU. This year, the defense has been revamped in a whole new way.

It’s frustrating as this could be a huge mode for NBA 2K players, but just like in previous years, Visual Concepts and stable networks isn’t words that you can associate with each other. While standard online quick time matches seem to have stabilized more for NBA 2K17, 2K Pro-Am is a broken mess in its current state and something that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.