If for some reason you’ve been living in a cave and haven’t been up-to-date with 2k’s recent leap to the elite, here’s your chance to catch up. This past week, 2k Sport released a gameplay enhancement trailer — ‘The Living World’ — now developer(gameplay producer) Scott O’Gallagher aka the ‘OG’ gives us a detailed blog via O.S on 2k16’s vast improvements.
PLAYER LEVEL –
Improved on-ball defensive behavior – The first thing that we wanted to change from 2K15 was that our on-ball defenders were ALWAYS guarding you “head up” so it was too easy to break down the defense by getting to the middle of the floor. Our CPU defenders now have a much better understanding of where they are on the court and conceptualizing “NO MIDDLE!”
ANTICIPATION REACTIONS – Whether it’s a signature size up or a simple hesitation, the CPU defenders will react and drop correctly to put themselves in the best defensive position.
In the example below, Wall is going to one of his “Signature Size Ups” and Curry recognizes this immediately on the hesitation and retreats back.
WINGSPANS – Length is everything in the NBA, so we’re taking full advantage of our “true-to-life wingspans” in NBA 2K16. Players such as Kawhi Leonard and The Greek Freak will defend at the appropriate distances and take the proper containment angles knowing where THEY need to be to contest the shot.
NEW – Off-ball defensive directives and behaviors- If you were a heavy play caller last year, you could have tons of success with simple floppy and off-screen concepts. That is no longer the case because the AI will now get on the hip and chase out shooters such as Redick and Korver. The defense has a complete understanding of pin downs, back screens, cross screens etc.
NEW – Improved hedge defenders – You should no longer feel like you have to control both the on-ball defender and hedge defender. Depending on the hedge defender’s defensive IQ and ratings, he will now drop and take the appropriate containment angles. Turning the corner on a hard hedge or blowing past the post in ICE should be much more challenging this year.
NEW – Player-specific defensive behaviors & Crowd System – Like Mike mentioned to you earlier, we really wanted to make elite defenders feel special. When you play against a Kawhi Leonard or a Tony Allen, they feel like they’re constantly “bodying” you all night. They wear you down in real life, and they’re going to wear you down in NBA 2K16. We didn’t stop there, different defenders will react differently to particular moves. Be prepared to take what the defense gives you.
You can read up on the blog in full on Operation Sports as the have a few clips of gameplay as well.
