NBA 2K27 Xbox Series X Review

Here we go B-Ball fans, it’s time to lace up those $3,000 Nike’s we purchased in The City and break ankles on the courts. NBA 2K27 is here to fulfill all your basketball-playing dreams and get you hyped for the upcoming NBA season.

Now, as a New Yorker by birth and lifelong Knicks fan, I have to say I WAS shocked! Not one version of NBA 2K27 has Mr. MVP Jalen Brunson on a single cover. For that reason, I will not mention ANY of the cover stars in this review as a protest. With that said let’s talk about this year’s offering.

Presentation

NBA 2K27 still looks and sounds amazing. From the real-world arenas for each team to the real-world crowd chants, everything feels authentic. If you have a good sound system with your big TV (I know you have one), along with all the commentary teams produces a truly immersive experience.

They have updated many players’ faces with new scans, with noticeable mentions being Dikembe Mutombo, Tim Hardaway, and Anthony Edwards. Developers Visual Concepts have said multiple times that they are always looking to improve player face scans, hell, we have a tool to add our own beautiful mugs, but it’s always great to see legends of the game and other, dare I say lower tier team players get a respectable face upgrade.

Gameplay

So, I had ZERO complaints with the jump shot mechanic from NBA 2K26. However, it appears people complained it was too easy with the wide jump bar meter, so now you have to hit the meter spot on. Of course, you can change this in the settings and difficulty options to your liking, but I really felt NBA 2K26 gameplay was one of IF NOT the best we’ve had in the franchise.

We can argue all day about how real-life players perform compared to their game stats, but at the end of the day, this is a game that tries its best to simulate these players’ abilities. With that said, is there a player from the Spurs that sinks way too many threes in the game? I would say absolutely, especially when comparing this player’s performance to last season’s playoffs. But hey, we don’t know at what point of the season the devs are basing the players’ stats on.

Thanks to PROPLAY, which converts & imports real-world footage of player movement and shooting style into the game, we can enjoy seeing LaMelo Ball’s one-motion push shot.

You can also create your own dribble style by visiting the animation editor in the MyPlayer customization menu. Unfortunately, you can’t edit real player dribbling, or at least not of the time of this review.

The City

Now I think it’s safe to say this is the most popular game mode besides playing seasons in NBA 2K27.

This year, The City is fully co-ed, which allows male & female players to play together in all the games within The City. This is a great addition that produces a more visually natural environment when roaming around. We also have a few new fun additions such as

Crew HQ – you can customize this court to your liking, want to hang your custom team logo with name/number jersey from the rafter? Go for it. You can play 1v1,2v2,3v3 and 5v5. This is a great spot to hang with friends and shoot the ish before going out into the other areas of the city

The REC Rotating Courts: we now have 5 randomized courts with their own unique aesthetics, with one being a floating court among the clouds. I’m sure as time goes on we will see more courts added, but this is another great way to freshen things up as you jump in to complete your dailies to earn that ever so valuable VC. We also have seasonal parks featuring new and old locations from the NBA 2K franchise. Again, more unique places to play is never a bad thing.

Casual Corner:  now THIS might be the highlight of all the new features since it’s designed to be a safe space for new players. Come here to practice, master your skills, and just improve without the fear or pressure that can come with jumping into a match and not wanting to let your team down because you’re new to the game.

Love it or hate it, the truth is the NBA 2K franchise produces the most authentic, content-packed basketball experience on the market. There is always going to be a give-and-take on the tweaks added to the gameplay, but the tools are there for us, the players, to adjust and make it to our own liking. NBA 2K27 is clearly made by fans for the fans. So, enough reading. Go play some ball.

This review was written based on a digital review copy of NBA 2K27 for the Xbox Series X provided by 2K.