NBA 2K13 review: Blueprint for success

The get-hype opening movie, cut with a performance of Jay-Z's "Public Service Announcement"; the matchup-specific pre-game vignettes, in striking grayscale; the post-game highlight reel for the player-of-the-game award — these video packages, combined with a soundtrack assembled by the rapper, add flair to the typically staid broadcast presentation.

And as far as that goes, NBA 2K continues to feature the best commentary in sports games. NBA 2K13's commentators discuss ongoing storylines in the franchise mode and offer specific anecdotes about teams and players — including your own created character from the MyCareer mode. Hearing them talk up the brand-new Barclays Center made me consider switching my fandom from Knicks to Nets. Their natural flow convincingly evokes a real NBA telecast.

Presentation only serves to highlight the game itself. Visual Concepts made a risky change to allow less experienced players to pull off cool-looking shots and dribble moves. In NBA 2K13, the left stick governs movement while the right stick controls dribble moves, with the left trigger modifying the right stick for shots. The control revisions intuitively break down three of the main things basketball players do. As an NBA 2K novice, I enjoyed the ability to flick and twirl the right stick in various directions to produce dribble moves like a crossover or spin.

These RPG-like modes are designed to connect you to your player, and I certainly felt proud to see my athlete's face on a billboard or being used to advertise ticket packages. The new option to chat with your general manager even lets you influence the direction of your career and team, a realistic interaction that makes you feel like you're part of a basketball club. NBA 2K13's social media feature (read: in-game Twitter) — which incorporates cheers and jeers from fans, fellow athletes, and celebrities — furthers that sense of immersion, of living life as an NBA star.

MyTeam, a brand-new mode for the franchise, is essentially a clone of EA Sports' "Ultimate Team," which lets you assemble your own fantasy team with in-game trading cards. The best thing I can say about MyTeam is that I experienced little to no lag while playing other users online — Visual Concepts finally appears to have resolved that perennial shortcoming of the NBA 2K franchise. I can understand the allure such modes have for fans, but I've never cared for them in other games, and NBA 2K13's implementation didn't do much to draw me in.

Worse still, MyTeam replaces last year's terrific NBA's Greatest mode. No sports series had been doing anything nearly as interesting with its sport's history, and I'm sad to see it go. The mode's classic teams, as well as the newly introduced USA Basketball men's teams from the 1992 and 2012 Olympics, can be used in exhibition games. But it's a tremendous disappointment seeing those historical squads relegated to one-off contests rather than highlighted in their own compelling stories.