2K, you've done it again!!
Firstly just to bring in the reasons as to why i switched. It was all down to gameplay. The EA games had the CPU being too easy, which meant that you could take your team and walk through the opponents without trying. They didn't block and left open gaps everywhere. Which dissapointed me, because EA apparantly are the king-pins of Sport titles. It was 2007's NBA Live that made me decide to switch to 2K's version, and discovered a vast improvement on everything. The CPU were tougher, making for more interesting matches. The rest, i say is history.
And here we are, onto 2K11. What can i say with this title. Basically, wow. The CPU are more, how can i put it right, realistic. From this, i mean if you throw a long shot they are more likely to block it and attempt a 2 point play whilst you are still in the "attack" phase. They are more likely to block inside shots than before and do the same thing. You might say to yourselves, why!!. Well thats the nature of the game, to make sure you are fully aware of the field of play.
I move onto the way the players perform now, and that is more excellence right here. 2K have improved how each player does "his" thing, be it with a special move or a stylish slam dunk. They look as if you are watching them live, and that is something to be excited about from a basketball fan-wise. Yes, 1 or 2 of the players do look like cave men in this title, and some of the player pictures are missing. But this is easily over-looked because 96% of the players in this game look and play like they do on the TV. Controls are spot-on, i have no qualms with this.
If you are playing a Home game and have a mascot (in my case, Benny the Bull). You see the mascot holding a sign/flag in the middle of the court, just like you would see it on TV. As 2K have done in the past, the mascot entertains the fans from the court-side line during the game, if say a foul is committed on-court or a time-out is called (well, it is more likely to occur in the centre of the court (along with the cheerleaders)).
More improvements this time come in the form of the menu's, which are more detailed and explain what each option does in the "game sliders" area, which is good if you want a easier or a harder game than the default settings allow.
You will be interested to know that this is the first 2K game to feature the man, Michael Jordan. He is available to have on any team (well, all versions of him because he features in all past-winning Bulls teams). There is a new feature which allows you to recreate Jordan's historic career as well. I don't want to go into detail on this, don't want to spoil it as such.
One thing i noticed is that 2K's NBA games give you FREE player updates, unlike EA's games which charge upto 800 points for this feature.
EA are abandoning Live and bringing in Elite for next year (well, it is this years title just delayed). Probably seeing if they can beat 2K, which will be hard because 2K have done nothing but improve year on year on it's last game.
I can't really find a bad-spot on this title, except the online feature. Which to be expected with many other sports titles and so much going on-screen is suspectible to lag. Over-look this, and you've got an awesome game here.