2K's venerable hoops title is back for another go and basically has the market all to itself with EA's announced delay for Elite. Having the gameplay formula down pretty well, it's up to 2K to improve other features enough to justify its existence.
And, in some ways, they pulled it off nicely. One of the two main non-franchise mode modes is the Jordan challenge where you have to match or exceed his performance in major games of his career. This is actually a great addition. Its hard (the Bulls in 85 were shockingly bad) but a worthy addition and might be exceedingly enjoyable in future iterations with other legends. Some of it is irksome --- Drexler wasn't that totally unstoppable at any point --- but, overall, the challenge is up there, but doesn't feel "cheap".
The core gameplay is still good...but there were some odd choices.They seemed to crank up the defense significantly. Defenders will hit your passes way too freaking often. It is a major drag on the flow of the game. Also, injuries seemed to occur frequently. Way too frequently. And controls are really floaty. No matter how slow you walk, you cannot stop on a dime. It doesn't even matter if you're running...a slow walk ALSO can't end instantly. It seems like the animation routines dictate a bit too much here. I don't think the small changes amounted to improvements.
Now, My Player is a TERRIBLE mode. A really bad one. It takes so long for your player to gain enough skills to become a non-chore to play that a lot of folks, myself included, just got sick of dealing with it. You are asked to do things that are really difficult (good luck with getting assists as the AI isn't fond of shooting quickly). The camera angle makes depth perception a bit difficult. There isn't a lot I can say is enjoyable about this mode. It's like a longer and equally dull version of last year's draft combine DLC title.
Online also had problems. Lag was prevalent for me. Connecting to games didn't occur easily. It just wasn't well-implemented.
NBA 2K11 had a big drop-off in quality from prior iterations. They had some good ideas, but bad execution and weird choices. I suspect it'll be the best NBA game this year (Elite reeks of "problematic development"), but its not near their usual standards. I hope the devs spend some time to look at the Legend Challenge mode because that could produce a few years worth of content, but do eliminate "My Player". It's just not worth it.