NBA 2K11

If you couldn't tell by now, NBA 2K11 isn't a great game. It's a masterpiece. With so many features that you'll likely never experience the full game, and on-court action as good as we've dreamed of,  2K Sports and Visual Concepts have delivered again. Few sports games are able to create such a true representation of their sport, and in that NBA 2K11 succeeds in a way that no game before it has been able to do. 2K11 not only provides a blueprint that will be chased by sports game developers for years and years to come, but it serves as one of the greatest accomplishments in general video gamin...

NBA 2K11 is meant as a love letter to basketball fans. If you're serious about basketball, this will fill a long-standing void in your hoops-loving heart. This is the NBA. But come into this knowing that the performance issues are a real concern and that it will take some effort to enjoy the PC version long-term. Hopefully this is something that can get patched, but for now, it's frustrating to see such a great game marred in such a way. That said, the robust feature set and attention to detail are commendable. It's just the lack of attention to the PC version (framerate issues, last year's c...

Let's face it: it's unlikely you're going to pick this up instead of FIFA 11, but as an alternative to play when football isn't on your brain, this does the job very well indeed.

Despite this, NBA 2K11 is undeniably the best game in the series yet, pushing forward just enough without leaving behind the fans who fell in love with this version of NBA in the first place. As Sports games go, NBA 2K11 is up there with the greats, a balancing act of excellently conceived controls and the undeniable style of the Basketball we see on TV. If you pick up one Sports title for this Christmas season, you really can’t go wrong with NBA 2K11.

From the very moment you slip NBA 2K11 into the disc tray, you realise that this game is all about one man. The greatest basketball player to have ever walked the Earth and visit Looney Tunes world, the one and only Michael Jordan. Bypassing the usual title screen with menus, NBA 2K11 begins by thrusting you straight into the 1991 NBA Final as the Chicago Bulls take on the LA Lakers, a battle that saw Jordan and Magic Johnson - two of basketball's all-time greats - going head to head for the ...