From significant changes to how stamina affects shooting to a City filled with a variety of ways to improve your MyPlayer character, 2K22 feels like a breath of fresh air. However, as a long-time player, certain aspects of developer Visual Concepts' latest installment have already piqued my interest.

Improved gameplay isn't worth much if you don't have good places to put it to use. Fortunately, Visual Concepts appears to have provided plenty of things to do throughout its selection of modes so far. I've spent the majority of my early time playing in 2K22 MT and MyCareer, and they're both chock-full of options, such as the new multiplayer options in MyTeam and the increased variety of off-court activities in MyCareer. 

NBA 2K22 has made some significant changes to the on-court action that help it play more realistically, most notably in the way it handles stamina loss while dribbling. In 2K21, it was simple to run at a defender on the perimeter, hit a Curry slide, and drain a three-pointer without breaking a sweat. That tactic was nearly indefensible against the CPU, particularly in MyTeam, where player cards were quickly made ridiculously overpowered. 

As your player becomes more fatigued, their shot meter will decrease, making it more difficult to hit shots. As a result, the game appears to be slower at first glance when compared to NBA 2K21 – but if you play with more control and don't just hold down the sprint button, you'll actually have an easier time putting the ball in the basket due to your larger shot meter. It may not appear to be a significant change at first glance, but it results in a gameplay experience that feels more realistic than 2K21 ever did.

When everything is working properly, how to buy MT 2K has some of the best gameplay in sports video game history. However, this has been the case for several years, and despite the fact that this year's iteration improves on a few things, most notably the aimed shooting mechanic, there hasn't been much progress. At the same time, it's a shame that 2K's emphasis isn't on the enjoyment you can have on the court, but rather on the money that can be extracted from your wallet off the court in the MyCareer and MyTeam modes, which are simply not enjoyable to grind through without paying. Perhaps the new generation of consoles on the horizon will herald a new beginning for the NBA 2K franchise, but for the time being, I am more pessimistic than ever about the series' long-term viability.

On top of that, I've noticed that some of the more problematic legacy issues aren't popping up as frequently. Things like bump steals aren't completely gone, but I haven't seen them as frequently as I did last year. All of this could, of course, change as players become more familiar with 2K22, but for the time being, I'm pleased to see Visual Concepts taking steps to eliminate some of the more irritating tactics. There are still quite a few instances of bizarre animations that took me out of the experience, but they are far fewer than in previous years.

The game MyTeam, in particular, provides numerous options for those seeking to build their dream team, whether it be by competing against the world's best current NBA superstars or legendary players from the past. Unfortunately, the game's lackluster multiplayer options do not reflect this. With 2K22, you can still use such tactics, but the stamina loss you suffer from sprinting and performing dribble moves is made much more significant in order to balance out the effectiveness of the tactic.