UPDATE:  I’ve recalled this review.  I no longer recommend buying this game.

CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT WHY

This one’s going to be pretty short.  It’s basketball from the folks that, in my opinion, have been making the best basketball franchise for years now.  NBA 2k10 found its way into my PS3 this week, and I haven’t been able to put it down.

Despite my love affair with the game, we need to call the Orkin man… because this thing’s got bugs!

This edition of the 2K franchise isn’t without its issues, at least on the PS3 where I’m consuming it.  While many of the visuals are absolutely gorgeous, there seems to be a lot of strange visual crap going on as well.  For one, the crowd.

At first glance, the spectators at your games are a wild bunch of hooligans, and only about 1 in 20 are dressed the same.  they get up for popcorn and beer from time to time, and normally cheer for the correct team.  But upon closer examination, they seem to be victims of a freak steamroller accident.  They’re missing their polygons.  This doesn’t happen all the time… just a lot.  It’s distracting to be cheered for by someone who looks like zombie meets trapezoid.

The gameplay also has a few hiccups, including time warping.  No kidding!  You can be on a fast break down the court, and then suddenly you’re back in time by 2 seconds at the other end of the court again.  Its a bug that needs fixing.

I’ve also had to call a timeout on more than one occasion because the referee wouldn’t give my guy the ball for an inbound pass.  On two other occasions, my guy and the ref started playing a perpetual game of catch, again remedied by a time out.

All of those little critters aside, 2k10 is solid fun.  The stadiums are as gorgeous as the player models (I mean this platonically).

The commentary is the best I have ever heard in a video game, and I mean ever!

The shot control mechanic continues to dominate the competitors.

If there was anything about NBA 2k10 I could change, it would be their signature ANNOYING menu structure.  I understand the desire to be original in many ways, but the 2k sports series needs to rethink their menu system.  It’s not as cool or awesome as they think it is.  It’s downright annoying to find the settings or submenu you’re looking for.  A lot of the navigation is counter intuitive.

BUT….

If you’re in to basketball gaming, and especially enjoy having very deep player and team creation tools at your disposal, there’s a lot to be excited about for 2k10.  Renting this game would simply set you up for eventual sadness when you had to send it back.  Do yourself a favor.  Buy NBA 2k10.  It’s worth every penny of 60 bucks.

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