NBA 2K18, which came out Sep. 15, the newest installment in the 2K Games’ basketball gaming franchise, does a phenomenal job adding new content and innovating in a field where many games feel like carbon copies of their predecessors.

NBA 2K18, at it’s core is a basketball simulator. It allows you to pick a basketball team, and control the players as while playing against a computer or a friend. Basketball simulators can add lots of exciting game modes, like running a franchise over years at a time, creating a custom team through completing challenges, and even emulating a career in the NBA as an undrafted rookie.But if the gameplay is below standard, none of that really matters.

Fortunately for NBA 2K18, this is not the case. The game improves off of the already stellar gameplay that the franchise is known for without alienating longtime players and forcing them to change their style. The game also remodeled its shot feedback for free throws, showing the percentage upon release. Free throws were a bit easier in this game than past years.

They also cleaned up the game on defense. Steals and intercepted passes looked more organic. Gone are the days of balls glitching through the defense’s hands. Blocks are more common. Layups in close won’t go in if they are properly contested. Ultimately games were more on the low-scoring side, thanks to 2K Games’ improvement there.

The game play itself does however succumb to a pressure to add bells and whistles. While it’s nice to see stats flash on screen every once and awhile, and having the commentators makes the game feel more realistic, that should be all of the commentary included.. Instead, thefull fledged TNT analysis before games, at halftime, and more disrupts the flow of the game, and is made difficult to skip.

Outside of the gameplay itself, NBA 2K18 added plenty of brand new features to keep the game exciting. A fresh, exciting addition was All-Time teams. NBA 2K18 already boasts a wide variety of teams to play with, including all 30 current NBA Teams, Euroleague teams, and even throwback teams who dominated the game long ago. Now, the people at 2K Games took the time to scour each NBA teams history and create a lineup of their best players. Not only is it fun to play with star studded rosters, but it also helps friends settle debates about which team was really better.

Another ultimately cool feature added this year was the Neighborhood, an interactive, open world area where you can create a player, customize their look, train to improve their skills, and eventually compete against others. This links to an NBA career mode, combining community involvement with classic single player gameplay. This is a new, never before seen feature for a sports game.

However, where the game made strides in its career mode, it also fell flat. After years of allowing players to go through the draft combine, and a high school and college career even added in the past, they opted to go a different route this year. The story follows an undrafted free agent, who chose music over basketball and then magically gets a chance to try out for an NBA team, because he was good at pick-up basketball. The cast of characters is equally cliche, with a bumbling agent and a generic, not-so-funny sidekick. While a basketball game is not necessarily known or defined by its plot, this one would have been better without one altogether, a surprise for a franchise that has a reputation for building good story.

The game makes up for its small faults with tons of options all across the board. It’s impossible to run out of things to do. Gamers can head to MyTeam mode, and open packs filled with players to use for their teams. They can also customize their stadiums, logo and jersey, which has been around for a few years but never gets old. Then they can play against other players worldwide.

The game also features many long term modes, such as MyLeague and MyGM. These allow players to explore the manager and owner sides of the game, and offer deep customization on making an NBA to one’s liking.

At a time when sports games are usually similar to their predecessors, NBA 2K18, gives basketball fans a reason to get in the game with tons of brand new features and improvements on old ones.