The NBA’s Greatest is about to take it to the streets in Times Square.
2K Sports has finally announced the known Legend’s Showcase DLC, which consists of five new game modes: HORSE, Two-on-Two Teammate Challenge, Three-on-Three Era Challenge, 21 and Pick-Up. You will also be able to take the NBA’s Greatest teams into online quick play. Another key point that was mentioned, was the roster sharing between current and classic teams, allowing you to place legends on current teams and take them into Association. However, unlike what most gamers were hoping, Crew is not part of the content.
“One of the biggest things I want to stress about the DLC project is that we’ve been working on it since the early stages of 2K12’s development, so we aren’t just trying to throw something together to charge people money,” said Ben Bishop, 2K Sports producer. “As the game finished up, the 2K12 team sent us the final version to help us put the finishing touches on the DLC.”
One thing Bishop really wanted to let gamers know was that his team really wanted the DLC to stand apart from the retail version. The DLC’s graphics have a cel-shaded look to them, giving gamers a whole new 2K experience.
In HORSE, you can re create **** battles just as MJ and Bird battled it out for a Big Mac in the old ’93 commercial. The shots you can take range from a simple dunk or jump shot, to trick shots, like standing on top of a building or interacting with your surroundings.
The Two-on-Two Teammate Challenge is similar to the old school NBA JAM ladder system. There are 15 duos that you will take on in the challenge. Starting from top to bottom, you must find a way to topple each and every team. Teams include the obvious of Jordan/Pippen and Bird/McHale, but even branch into the less popular tandems of Payton/Kemp, Mullen/Hardaway and Mourning/Johnson.
The big prize for completing the ladder is the ability to take any of the players on the NBA Greatest rosters into the Creating A Legend mode.
“One of our big focuses in the content was to incorporate the legends,” said Bishop. “We wanted to find another way to feature them in ways we haven’t done before. The NBA’s Greatest is focused on who is the best team of all time, but the Legends Showcase gives you the opportunity to find out who is the best player of all time.”
The Three-on-Three Era Challenge allows you to take the best threesomes from each era and pit them against each other. You’ll be facing teams like the Celtics form the 60s, the Lakers from the 80s and the Bulls from the 90s. Once this mode is complete, you will be able to combine any current and classic players onto a team and form ultimate domination.
Pick-Up is the mode that gives you the most freedom. From anything to a one-on-one match up to a full on five-on-five scrimmage, Pick-Up will let you create the most random rosters from a pool of over 300 players, half current and half classic.
Included in the classic roster will be players that aren’t even in the retail game. You’ll see the likes of Kevin Johnson, Bob Pettit, George Mikan and Rick Barry to name a few. The list of new legends will slowly be revealed between now and the unannounced release date. Also to be noted is that players in the Legend’s Showcase DLC will be re created to be at the peak of their careers. For example, Bill Walton appears in NBA’s Greatest as his career is dwindling down on the 1985-’86 Celtics, but in the DLC he will appear on the ’78 Blazers. Current players like Jason Kidd, Tim Duncan and Grant Hill will also be re rated so you can use them at the peak of their careers. Disappointingly, though, the jerseys and players that are added to the DLC will not be available anywhere in the retail game.
Last, but most definitely not least, you will have the ability to take your My Player into Pick-Up, HORSE and 21.
“If you haven’t built up you’re My Player, it’s going be tough,” said Bishop. You can’t beat MJ, Bird or Magic one-on-one if you’re rated 85.”
All in all it sounds like the DLC, with the $10 price tag, will be a solid addition to NBA 2K12.
“This is something we’ve wanted to do from the get-go,” said Bishop. “We saw how 2K12 was taking shape and wanted to extend it even further. We knew there was a lot more we could do with the legends, so we went with this. It definitely stands as its own product.”
