NBA 2K14 is out now and if you’re a fan of basketball games then this is your one-ticket into the arena!  This time around the fine folks at 2K Games gave LeBron James the spotlight on the cover and his ‘Path to Greatness‘ mode inside the game.  Having LeBron as your cover athlete is a good choice as the Miami Heat have a couple of rings now with him at the focal point and with Kobe Bryant aging and injury-prone it seems James is the current successor to the NBA throne.

We’ve played the NBA 2K games over the last few years for gameplay and review.  In the last couple of years improvements have been made on dribble control and the post-up game.  A few years ago NBA 2K showcased classic ‘throw-back’ games and more recently included the Olympic ‘Dream Team‘.  We’re not quite sure that NBA 2K14 has brought anything exceptionally outstanding to the table as for innovation or additions that the previous games had.  The developers of NBA 2K14 would like us to think that improvements and tweaks have been made on player-spacing and realism but ultimately it feels much like last year’s game all over again.

Ultimately if you are a fan of the NBA 2K universe and gameplay then you’ll be satisfied with the latest release of the game.  It comes with all the bells and whistles that has made the franchise popular – however doesn’t really offer much in the way of innovation.  The ‘Crews‘ mode is back again by popular demand and the attention to detail is here from top to bottom with the excellent play-by-play narration and hip hop music soundtrack.  As we near the end of the ‘current gen’ cycle this year it’ll be interesting to see what franchises are successful in gaining momentum and buzz moving forward as they make their way onto the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 systems in 2014.