There are less than two months left until 2K Sports drops NBA 2K24, and the rumor mill is already churning. Word on the street is that a certain gameplay feature, one that didn’t quite sit well with players in NBA 2K23, might be making a comeback.
According to Twitter leaker @2KIntel, the infamous adrenaline boost feature will return in the upcoming NBA 2K game. This feature stirred up quite a bit of controversy when it first appeared in the series last year, dividing players into two camps: those who embraced it as a welcomed addition to the franchise and those who felt it restricted their skill level.
For those who are not familiar with the feature, adrenaline boost was introduced in the game to keep players from excessive dribbling. The feature is made up of three bars located under the stamina meter, which serve as boosts whenever a player in possession performs a hard go or explosive sprint launch.
Each time a player uses an explosive sprint, one of those bars gets depleted, and when all three are gone, the player’s movement speed takes a hit for the rest of their possession time. This essentially limited the number of times you could use moves before a pass.
While this feature forced players to be efficient and strategic in how and when they used explosive sprints to get past an opponent, most experienced gamers felt that it restricted their ability to spam dribbles and speed past opponents (especially in Park matches). It also limited their ability to make sprints when they’re off the ball, preventing them from creating space away from defenders.
Adrenaline boost isn’t exactly a foolproof feature. Skilled players have discovered a workaround by spamming specific dribble moves, like the Russell Westbrook crossover, which offers quick acceleration and a change of direction without depleting the boost bar.
Currently, 2K Sports hasn’t shared any additional gameplay mechanics. What we do know is that the game will offer crossplay support on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, which is a major win for console gamers.
There’s also the PROPlay technology, a mysterious animation system that’s generating quite the buzz. The bummer, however, is that PC players won’t be able to enjoy either of these features. This seems like an odd move, and recently AAA studios have finally been wising up to the power high-end PCs offer.
NBA 2K24 hits the shelves on September 8, but before then, you can check out some of the leaked player ratings.
