NBA 2K18: Micro-Transactions Missing The Net

NBA 2K18 is an ugly sports game. It doesn't matter that the graphics are polished and crisp. It doesn't matter that the gameplay is above average. The fact that the game supports Pay-To-Win loot boxes and microtransactions to update your athletes attributes through essentially virtual steroids based on the size of the gamer's wallet makes this game an abhorrently voracious and unbalanced basketball video game.

Microtransactions have ruined video games. Flat out, ruined gaming. And because rich morons continue shelling out the bucks to greedy game developers who used to release fully functional games without paid DLC or microtransactions, unfair practices have seeped into the competitive e-sports market and destroyed all skill. This game would be a fantastic sports video game, complete with near photorealistic graphics and decades of professional NBA all-stars to chose from! But now player skill is determined by your wallet, and whoever has the most money gets the most durable athletes, not who is better at sinking nothing but net. The real world of sports frowns sharply on athletes who embrace steroid doping. Now thanks to microtransactions, this practice is subtly approved with a wink and a nod, because hey! "It's just a video game."

No, it's not just a video game. Its an extension of ourselves. When we buy into consumerist greed and play into profits over purity, we lose a piece of our integrity. When we allow game developers to exploit tactical skill for monetary gain, the honor of competitive sports, both in the NBA, the NFL, or E-Sports, becomes lost.

NBA 2K18 also throws insult to injury with a laughable story mode, weak supporting characters, and cringetacular cinematics. The gameplay is excellent, sans NBA players missing over 1/2 their standing layups. Yet due to loot crates and cash grabbing, skill means nothing in NBA 2K18. Constant grind fests abound unless your willing to shell out the bucks you will remain forced to sit through terrible cutscenes to level up at the progression of a snail! Only to get beaten by a competitive online player who merely spent money on all the player upgrades and saved themselves months of wasted time! 

Point blank you cannot advance in the single-player mode without spending money for squad and player upgrades. Any competitive value is lost on this title, and all the excellent gameplay in the world means nothing next to an infrastructure devoid of integrity or skill without compromise. Loot crates, Pay-To-Win video games and Triple AAA titles saturated with microtransactions spell the slow, agonizing and putrid death of the entire gaming industry if continued unabated, uncompromised, and unchecked.

Final Verdict:

Gameplay: 8/10

Story: 1/10

Sound: 5/10

Replay Value: 1/10

Final Score: 2/10 (Garbage)