NBA 2K24 PC review: A crash course in alienating your fanbase

Yearly releases are always talked about in relation to their predecessors. This rings particularly true for annual sports titles. There’s always the question: Is this just copy and paste from the last game with upgraded rosters? NBA 2K24 is, like 2K23 and 2K22 before it, last-gen on PC. In truth, NBA 2K24 on PC doesn’t need to be compared to its PS5 and Xbox Series counterparts to show us just how poor the experience it offers is, and it mostly boils down to the plague that has befallen many games of 2023: performance.

I tried to go in with an open mind and enjoy myself as much as possible. This is my job, after all, and you need that mindset in times of hardship, like having to go through NBA 2K24‘s constant crashing on PC. Only those who have endured this dark fate know the feeling of getting punched in the gut each time you start developing thoughts of having fun. Yet, there is fun to be had, theoretically speaking.

Gameplay

Actually playing basketball in NBA 2K24 is rather pleasant. Animations are fluid and realistic. Moving around the court, dribbling, and shooting feels natural relative to the athletes’ statures and abilities. Playing good defense is possible but is beaten by good offense, as it should be. The AI doesn’t appear to be brainless, though I did yell on a couple of occasions when I had a guy running toward the basket on an open break just to have him fade away to the three-point line as soon as I passed the ball.

Other than the crashes, I didn’t experience any glitches or overpowered or broken mechanics. The one gripe I have is that pulling off an excellent release on Hall of Fame difficulty is nigh on impossible, especially with unfamiliar shot releases, but, you know, gaming journalist difficulty and all that. All in all, NBA 2K24 is good for a game of basketball. But we all know there’s more to it than that.

MyCAREER

MyCAREER is where you go to live out your NBA dreams. Creating your MyPLAYER gives you all the usual facial and body customization options, plus a face scan for extra immersion. That’s ripped away by you selecting which team you get drafted by rather than the other way around. I understand the choice of giving players the option to hoop for their favorite team right away, but in exchange, we’re left with no pre-NBA experience at all—no draft combine, no team workouts, and obviously no draft.

Instead, you get dropped straight into the Neighborhood, where you’re be presented with frequent quests, and I’m using that word very lightly. Completing these quests is a decent early source of VC, but that’s it. They’re given by random, unvoiced characters, tasking you with challenges in areas of the Neighborhood.

You can freely roam the Neighborhood and play numerous offline and online formats with friends or strangers on the internet. They are mostly fun, but beware that playing online formats without a pre-made party can result in tear-inducing wait times.

There’s not much of a story going on, but I’m not a fan of needlessly bloated stories in basketball games anyway, so found the Neighborhood to be a refreshing playground for when you’re not in NBA matches. It’s a smart choice to avoid another cringe-inducing story like some recent NBA 2K entries.

You also have your NBA career to worry about. There isn’t too much to it, really. You play league games and gradually progress your character’s stats, popularity, and endorsements. It’s a simple system and that’s why I appreciate it. I just like playing basketball in my basketball game.

The pace of progression is solid, despite what was said in previews of the game. I was instantly averaging a double-double with my 60 OVR center, including online games, and leveled up quite a bit for each play session. We are the instant gratification generation, but that’s not video games’ problem to solve.

MyTEAM

Collecting collectibles for your collection, the game mode. MyTEAM is seemingly centered around building a strong team to compete with, but in actuality, it’s a completionist’s wet dream and worst nightmare all at once. There are many, and I mean many different collections to complete—players, different versions of the same players, team logos, uniforms, court floors, and arenas (yes, they are separated), shoes, and other trinkets. The list is seemingly endless, and that’s the whole point.

If you don’t obsess over bringing every single collection to its completion, there is fun to be had in the numerous single-player and multiplayer modes in MyTEAM. Some of them overlap with stuff you can do in MyCAREER, but you’re not playing with a MyPLAYER, so it’s different enough.

In NBA 2K24, all VC you obtain, through the extent of your skills or the depth of your wallet, is shared between MyCAREER and MyTEAM. This also affects Season Passes. Even if you prefer one mode to the other, you could use both for acquiring capital that you can then spend in your preferred mode. This is a player-friendly mechanic that allows for more freedom of choice on what you wish to play and when, so I’m all for it.

Mamba Moments

We’ve seen similar modes in the past. In Mamba Moments, you get to play seven legendary games from Kobe Bryant’s career. You’re given three objectives to complete in each game to match Kobe’s real-life performance. You even get trophies and achievements for it. I have a soft spot for these kinds of NBA 2K game modes, so its addition gets an approving nod from me. It’s a touching tribute to the Mamba.

MyLEAGUE

This is an ideal time to out myself as a nerd who primarily plays MyLEAGUE. I just love seeing how the league’s history develops and NBA 2K24’s MyLEAGUE scratches that itch. You can play yourself or run a franchise as its General Manager in MyGM, for decades or select a single-season experience in the NBA or WNBA, or play through a playoff bracket of your design. It’s also possible to play with standard teams and rosters or customize the league to your liking.

There are options for everyone and there’s nothing better a game can provide its players. Just look at my Jacksonville Celtics for proof. And yes, I did pick Derrick White specifically for this pic. Sorry Derrick, that Heat playoff loss and now this.

Performance

If you came in reading the title and were looking for confirmation bias against the calamity that is NBA 2K24, you might be wondering what I’m on about, as I’ve been mostly positive throughout. I firmly stand behind the claim that NBA 2K24 is a decent to good basketball game. If you are able to play it.

I have never persisted through such poor game performance in my entire life. That’s partially because I wouldn’t willingly slam my head against a wall in my spare time, and I didn’t review any of 2023’s trainwrecks, God bless. Then again, if NBA 2K24 wasn’t so poorly optimized for PC, I would have played rather than persisted and fully enjoyed it rather than almost enjoyed it.

Crash is in the title and crashes are in the game. I didn’t count the exact number, because I didn’t think I’d need to, but NBA 2K24 must have crashed at least a dozen times, including three times in the same match. It crashed in regular Play Now games, it crashed in the Neighborhood, it crashed during a MyTEAM challenge, it crashed in the MyGM menu. There was no safe space for me anywhere in this game, the crash was always there, lurking and waiting to take all enjoyment out of my playing session.

All this coupled with the stripped-back narrative and lack of cross-play between PC and current-gen consoles shows the PC player base is being left behind, yet again by NBA 2K.

Conclusion

NBA 2K24’s PC port left me emotionally scarred, like a morbid master torturing its victim by giving it minor amounts of fun before stripping it all away. I didn’t develop Stockholm syndrome, but I can see that there’s something decent buried deep underneath all of the performance issues, which aren’t exclusive to PC and old-gen, by the way.

PC players are rightfully angry that they’re still stuck behind current-gen consoles. Despite offering some fun matches, NBA 2K24 does plenty enough to deserve its mediocre rating.