For the third year in a row now, 2K is letting us demo their MyCareer mode from the character creation screen to just before your player makes it to the NBA. Each year the Prelude comes with some bad acting, cheesy dialogue, but ultimately good gameplay and an idea of which direction 2K is heading this year for their most popular game mode. There are some positives and negative this year, but fortunately for 2K, a lot of the positives outweigh the negatives.
Gameplay:
This is the most important factor when it comes to a basketball video game. Yes, the acting is important, but that always takes a back seat to premier gameplay and quality controls. Luckily, 2K is the best at gameplay and has been for many years now. This year, they do not seem to be giving up their lead. The control on offense are almost exactly the same as last year with the exception of some new animations and different shot stick (although I am sure you can adjust that in the main game if it isn't to your liking). Defense is a where a couple of the important changes have happened. The most important of these changes is what the player can now do with the right stick on defense. Last year (2K18), the right stick was mainly used to contest shots. The year before (2K17), it was used to steal the ball on defense. Now the stick is a combination of the two depending on how the player decides to play defense. Hold the right stick up and the defender will put their hand up like their contesting a shot. move it right or left, the defender will swipe at the ball or attempt to steal the ball. These small additions now allow for more precise defending and ultimately will help separate more advanced players from casual ones.
Modes:
There are only two real game modes in this demo: 2KU and MyCareer. 2KU, unlike last year where the mode only had made up players, now lets you play a full quarter 5 on 5 game against the Cavaliers as the Warriors. This is a perfect way to practice new dribble moves and the gameplay mechanics I mentioned above. It is the best way to practice, not only because there is no score, but also because you're playing as the WARRIORS!! Against the CAVS...WHO DON'T HAVE LEBRON!! It's about as easy of a win as you can get in a 2k game!
MyCareer is the main reason why anyone who downloads the Prelude decides to do so. Once again, you have the ability to scan your face into the game, but be careful doing that. My guy looked ugly as hell the first time I did it because I didn't have nearly enough lighting and the face scanning app still has some issues it needs to work out. You don't need to scan your face in order to play the MyCareer mode and you can always re-scan your face later if you want. Watching yourself on the screen can be a bit jarring, so, if that makes you uncomfortable, I'd recommend skipping that and using 2K's incredibly realistic set of pre-rendered face models. Once again, stat caps are back meaning that your player will never be able to be Kevin Durant or Kawhi Leonard because statistically the game will never let you be good enough to do so since you are forced to choose from a variety of classes like in an RPG. This is once again very disappointing. As someone who hardly plays online, I prefer to be able to make my character in my dream build and wreck havoc in my fictionalized NBA. However, improving length and shoulder size on your player doesn't seem to be as penalized and affect your shooting as much as it did last year. This is a welcome change to the 2K creation system. Finally, it appears that if you want to play online, you'll have to be among 3 different builds. Point Guard who's a 3 point specialist (and some other trait second), a wing who's a 3 point specialist (and some other trait), and a big man who's a three point specialist (and some other trait). Yes, once again this year, the 3-point specialist class has the most balanced of the other stats while being far and away the only viable perimeter shooting option which, if you want to compete online, is a must. Obviously, when the full game comes out we will know more whether or not this is the case. It seems to be that way very early on though. So, with the character building out of the way, let's move to the story!
The actual storyline of MyCareer is a bit cliche, but it is different from any other 2K storyline before, so I'll give them credit for that. You are a player that went undrafted in 2017 (the draft class with Lonzo Ball, Jayson Tatum, etc...) and now you're playing over in China. Your character seems to be absolutely miserable doing so and constantly fantasizes about playing in the NBA. He is completely full of himself, which both a good and bad thing, and doesn't seem to appreciate that, despite the fact he's in Shanghai and not the NBA, he still is playing basketball for a living in an incredible part of the world. Characters throughout the story try to get this through your player's thick skull, including one-time friend turned rival Corey Davis (played by Aldis Hodge). It appears that you and Davis were friends throughout the AAU circuit and played on the same team in college, but had some sort of falling out once he skyrocketed up draft boards and you fell out of the draft completely. The entire plot of the prelude is you trying to play your way out of China and eventually find a way to compete with Corey Davis in the NBA. There is a major moment in the Prelude that puts you on the world stage to do so, but I won't ruin that here. This moment actually was a surprising twist that I appreciated. There are also multiple nuggets and tributes to classic 2k games during the Prelude, which, as a long time fan of the series, I really enjoyed seeing. The best tribute comes at the very end of the Prelude, but I won't spoil that either.
Finally, there are a few additional details that I feel like I need to include because I found that positively impacted my desire to not only keep playing, but to buy the whole game. First, 2K finally let's you skip cutscenes! That's right. If you want to just play basketball and not pay attention to any of the drama or bad acting you can do so! You still have to make some of the timed decisions like before, but those don't appear to have any major consequences in the long run for your player. Secondly, you no longer have to pay for jumpshots, dribble moves, and layups. You simply unlock them when you get to a higher overall rating. I don't know if this will be in the final game, but, after last year's fiasco of charging over 1000 VC for a haircut, it was a welcome surprise to see that 2K was offering so many things for free. Secondly, the rewards for getting to higher overalls is way better than last year. The one reward that stood out to me was, at 90 overall, you can be the GM of your team, allowing you to make trades and manage the team you are on. This is something players have been asking for in 2k for a long time now. The mode is MyCareer, and now with this addition, you can finally have the ability to make the team best suited for yourself. The only setback is that it will probably take over a hundred hours to get to that level if you try to play completely for free. However, it is a good, and much needed addition to the mode overall.
Overall, the Prelude is a fun introduction to the MyCareer mode, and although most of the acting was cheesy and a little over dramatic at times, it was cool to see a different setting for a 2K game. The prelude also included famous actors like Anthony Mackie and Aldis Hodge which was cool to see. Seeing world-famous actors take a game like NBA 2K seriously is a win for the gaming community as a whole. This mode is free and definitely a must-download if you are a basketball fan at all. If you're not, it can't hurt to try out. The overall mode takes about 4 hours to complete, you can skip the cut-scenes, and the trophy/achievement list is very easy to 100%.
My Score: 87/100
+ Good gameplay
+ Interesting new story
- Below average character creator/stat restrictions
Trophies:
All bronze and silver trophies are completed by playing the story. No matter how you do in the games you will get the trophies as they are mainly for watching cutscenes. The only miss-able trophy is the gold one. You need to play an entire quarter of 2kU in order to get it. It is not hard and it's a good way to practice the game. However, the trophy is hidden so, unless someone told you about it or you happened to play a full quarter, you'd never know to do so.