Every year, 2K releases a new basketball game and it’s better than all the other basketball games, aside from the parts that are worse. But the men’s modes in NBA 2K games are a pay-to-win nightmare, and at this point I have to assume it’s actually elaborate performance art demonstrating how the focus on big money is eroding sports and fun in general.
However, this review isn’t about men’s basketball. This is all about the much more interesting world of women’s basketball.
A year on from the Women’s FIFA World Cup, we seem more willing to accept that not only might women be people too, but that they might also be good at sports. The W mode was first introduced into NBA 2K in 2019 and was super bare bones – it was a gesture towards the WNBA rather than fully embracing it. It was the video game equivalent of dipping your toes into a pool on a day when the weather isn’t perfect, but the holiday was expensive so you feel like you should participate anyway.
However, more people are paying attention to the WNBA now than ever before. Caitlin Clark is a phenomenon, a 3-point shooting machine set to electrify a league that deserves far more attention than it’s currently afforded. So this is the right time for developer Visual Concepts to dedicate more resources to flesh out the mode. While it’s not quite everything it could be yet, this is the best women’s basketball video game ever made, and that in itself is worth celebrating.
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Career Mode
Before I start nitpicking, I have to say that The W, the WNBA-themed mode, in NBA 2K25 is the part of the game you go to if you just love basketball and want to play a basketball campaign without any nonsense. There’s no pay to win in The W like there is in The City. There’s no paid-for cosmetics. There’s your character playing basketball, and then being utterly delightful in a short press conference.
The men’s mode has some story about creating a dynasty and balancing being too selfless with being too selfish, and being a doormat or being too aggressive. It’s poignant, in a Wattpad RPF fan fiction sort of way. The women’s story mode is just playing basketball, trying to become the greatest of all time by breaking records, and then just being really happy to be there in the press conferences. There are challenges to complete and records to break as you play out your career.
The player character in the men’s mode seems like the kind of person who leaves those fake $50 bible verses as a tip in the diner after going to church, whereas the women’s player character clearly has a deep and enduring respect for every woman who has ever put on a jersey and is pleased to contribute.
She pays her respect to the players who came before her, and she is genuinely thrilled to get to play with the women playing now. There’s no ego to her, just confidence. She seems like she was beloved in high school, and throws the best parties in her impeccably cosy apartment. I bet her wife can put together a mean cheese platter. (Note: Not all female athletes are lesbians, but the one I built absolutely is.)
I really like the writing in The W. Having the post-game press conferences is a really nice, unobtrusive way to get you to see how your career is progressing – and get a sense of your character as a person – without having to have a 20 minute cutscene with a car crash directed by Spike Lee.
Granted, the press conferences don’t always fire at the right times. In my second game I broke multiple WNBA scoring records (over 60 points, over 20 3-pointers), and the only thing that was noted in the press conference is that I was able to keep up with Caitlin Clark (who I destroyed).
In my fourth game of the campaign, I only scored 44 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and it was heralded as my first breakthrough game where I made appearances on the stat sheet. It doesn’t flow as naturally as the men’s career mode. It no longer feels like a second thought they let the intern do in their spare time, but it still has a lot of room to grow.
The commentary also feels a bit odd. You remember how in The Simpsons, when Homer created a character for Itchy and Scratchy, and he said “whenever Poochie’s not on screen, all the other characters should be asking ‘where’s Poochie’”? That’s what The W is like with Caitlin Clark. Angel Reese, who is another very promising recruit is barely mentioned. There’s certainly no mention of Australian Nyadiew Puoch who was also chosen in the first round.
I chose to play for New York Liberty, so all I got was the same four facts about the incredibly impressive Breanna Stewart, alongside constant talk about how Caitlin Clark (not the court at the time) was going to change the league. There were also such pearls of wisdom as “that’s her second shot and her second attempt. My math makes that 2 for 2”. Profound.
The gameplay was also a bit odd. At no point did I, a rookie, get subbed out. I started and finished the game with pretty consistent energy levels. It also didn’t flow as naturally as the men’s game. The motion was also really unsatisfying, it frequently felt like players were running through water, and the reaction times for movement off-ball were delayed.
Though, because there’s no individual skill customisations in The W (no VC to spend or individual skills you can improve), my character was much more well-rounded than the lopsided nonsense I did with my men’s player. That’s a double-edged sword, because players who just want to play will appreciate less interference, and players who want to build will be unsatisfied.
Even with all of my niggles, The W career mode now feels like a deliberate inclusion, rather than just an afterthought. It’s also the absolute best part of NBA 2K25. In The W there is no City to endlessly wander, there’s just basketball to be played. It gets right down to the essence of why you’d play a basketball video game.
What I wish it was
While we’re talking about the story of the career mode, let’s also talk about what could have been. The WNBA is far more ripe for interesting storytelling than the NBA. When you watch an NBA game, you’re watching a bunch of overpaid dudes playing against friends and enemies in a personal quest to become the best. It’s noble, it’s impressive, it’s whatever.
In the WNBA, though, you’re watching two exes on opposing teams trying to win with a vengeance. You’re watching fiancees play against each other. That’s on top of the friends, enemies, personal dynasty stuff. I’m not saying that none of the men in the NBA have ever dated (they absolutely have, it’s a statistical improbability to say that it’s never happened). But they’re not open about it, and NBA 2K as a franchise is not going to be brave enough to tell that story for at least a decade or two.
However, imagine a WNBA career mode which starts with you playing in college, falling in love with a teammate, having a terrible breakup, and then having to play against her in the WNBA, until she’s transferred to your team and you have to find a way to work together. Can you imagine the drama? All the love stories in the men’s career mode have either been about some girl that’s barely mentioned, or who you have to let go of to achieve greatness. But what if you could take that to the court?
This is a free suggestion to Visual Concepts, and I look forward to to gamers being totally normal about it, should it ever be included in game.
Online Play
Remember how happy I was that the women’s career mode no longer felt like an afterthought? I have bad news about the women’s online mode. It’s 3V3 in what can only be described as the ugliest forest court of all time. It just looks bad to the point that I am often distracted from play by wondering which PS2 game it was borrowed from. The least amount of effort has been put into designing that court. Also, when playing online, your stats are weird for some reason. Shots that I’d make every time in the career mode just won’t fall online. The timing is different.
This is an overall complaint about the men’s and women’s mode, but the timing for shots is just weird. The little bar showing your shot timing doesn’t come up consistently (it mainly disappears in the women’s mode), and the amount of time you have to hold it down changes arbitrarily. You can’t learn the rhythm, because the rhythm is inconsistent.
That said, given how few players seem to be participating in the online WNBA mode, Visual Concepts has either correctly predicted demand, or created a self-fulfilling prophecy. Maybe it’ll become more popular as other players realise this is the only online mode you can go to where you don’t have to pay to win.
Verdict
Overall, this is the best basketball game of all time. While, the women’s mode isn’t as accurate as the men’s, it’s the best part of the game. Sure, it’s not a constant string of dunks and alley-oops, but it’s solid basketball that isn’t pay to win.
If I was reviewing the whole game, including the men’s mode, this is when I would condemn the constant pushing to get you to buy VC, and how many menus you have to click through when the game boots up to get past the push to have you pay more (in a premium, full-priced game). The NBA side of NBA 2K25 plays like a free-to-play game, while retailing for $119.95.
But I’m not. This is all about The W, and The W is only about basketball and the love of the women’s game. It’s glorious, and I love it. There is still plenty of room to grow, but this is the kind of basketball game I’ve been missing for the past decade.
