NBA 2K13

Pros

• Great graphics
• Real teams & players
• Some international franchises

Cons

• High system requirements for a game of its age
• Complex controls

NBA 2K13 is an officially licensed basketball game that includes real players, teams and coaches from the 2013 season. It includes all valid trades and signings up through 2012, though players can take the job of a front office representative and make their own transactions if they so choose.

Players are free to use the control scheme from previous versions of the NBA 2K series, but a number of advanced new features were included to make passing and dribbling an easier affair. You may want to take advantage of these if you like to set up screens and steal on a regular basis.

Those who just want to sit back and watch the action can direct two computer controlled teams to face off against each other or act more in a coaching capacity as they set strategies and measure their match-ups against other professional squads. Those who want to expand their simulated organization can use the in-game virtual currency system, which allows them to purchase additional players and even take their teams out onto the blacktop for pickup games.

Especially skilled gamers can challenge the 1992 and 2012 US national teams if they prefer. They're also free to modify their arena and even clone real NBA players so that they can field a team full of copies of their favorites. While you might think that a player wouldn't be able to adjust to a new position, clones perform almost equally well on any part of the court so you're free to reassign them all around the net if you prefer.

This kind of flexibility can make for some very exciting gameplay.

Pros

• Great graphics
• Real teams & players
• Some international franchises

Cons

• High system requirements for a game of its age
• Complex controls