NBA 2K10 [PS3]

From there I was on a squad of 20 players that needed to be pruned to 15. I was told by the occasionally trusty 2K Insider – who reappears for an encore performance from Draft Combine – that I was to fight for a spot and that one player would be cut for each of the next five games. My blonde bombshell was let go after the third.

One thing that struck me about My Player when going through these introductory games was how much the mode makes you play like a real basketball player to achieve success. Constantly mashing on the A button (or X on PS3) to call for the ball and then driving to the basket every time you get the ball will get you nowhere fast. Just as in Draft Combine your play is constantly being judged by a letter grade in the upper-left portion of the screen. If you go for steals with no restraint, that grade is going down. On the other hand if you play realistically and set off-ball screens for your men, fill lanes properly on the break and challenge shots then that grade will go up which nets you more skill points.

Your teammates on the court do a relatively good job of behaving like pro ballers. One of my main concerns when I first saw NBA 2K10 was defensive rotations and that seems to have been corrected in the preview build I played for the most part. My single remaining complaint is that your men are a little too aggressive when rotating to cover your man. Sometimes I'd be standing next to my match up and there'd still be a looming AI defender who could've been used better elsewhere.

Once I was cut by the Magic I made my way down to the lowly NBA D League, playing for the Erie Bayhawks. I ran into two problems when playing in the D League. The first and most troubling was the framerate. When in the summer leagues there are no crowds watching your games, but as soon as thousands of fans piled in for my first D League competition the framerate took a swan dive. I was playing a preview build, after all, but it's disconcerting to see the fluidity of the action take such a serious hit. The next issue I had when playing in the D League is that there's really no indication as to when you'll be called up to the NBA. There's no progress bar and no goals to hit other than the three that are laid out for you before every game. Hopefully 2K Sports can fix these few grips before 2K10 drops onto store shelves on October 6.

NBA 2K10's My Player mode feels like it's made to last. With a full NBA schedule to go along with the summer trials and tribulations that you'll need to complete to make it to the show as well as a healthy list of drills, there's no question that there's plenty to do. I do wish that contract negotiations and perhaps some off-the-court activities made it into the structure for My Player, but keeping it focused to on-court shenanigans is a good starting point. With a little refinement to smooth out the framerate once things get more hectic and some slight AI tuning, My Player could beat out franchise mode for the hottest attraction in the NBA 2K10 package.

Stay tuned to IGN for more NBA 2K10 as its October 6 release date on PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii draws closer.

©2009-09-21, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved