NBA 2K26: Three things you absolutely need to know before you play

"OHHHHH S***!" I just couldn't stop myself from getting on my feet and shouting that every time I nailed the perfect counter and got a slam dunk in NBA 2K26. (My neighbours are going to love me...)

The game is now in early access and that means those who have bought the Superstar Edition or the Leave No Doubt Edition can take to the court right now.

The latest edition of the iconic basketball series boasts tweaks more than wholesale changes but those adjustments are noticeable.

The publisher kindly provided us with a review code however the servers did not go online until early access started, meaning we've been unable to fully test out the game and all of its features. We have managed to have more time on the court by checking out MyNBA and MyWNBA but MyTEAM and MyCAREER require players to be connected to the servers.

So with that in mind, here are the three key things you need to know before you play.

Angel Reese is one of the cover stars for NBA 2K26 / 2K

1. Gameplay is as good and as fluid as ever

Developers said they've made the biggest changes to how an NBA 2K game players for five years and it's really telling.

Both during my hands-on experience at 2K and since receiving the review code, it's evident movement is so much more fluid than in previous iterations while feeling more realistic. If you can move the ball quickly and spot intelligent movement from players, you're in for a treat as NBA 2K26 rewards quick reads of the court.

Counter attacks, particularly with lofted balls over the defence, feel so devastating yet precise whereas slower build-up play makes it much more difficult to create openings.

The enhanced rhythm shooting is something that yields great rewards when mastered too as shot timing and tempo actually manipulate the shooters upper body and impact how the shot looks throughout the motion.

Getting to grips with this, reading movements and when to release at just the perfect time by looking at the player's movement, as well as the timer, makes a huge difference.

Defence is improved too where player-to-player collisions have seen a marked improvement. Especially when players are screening and there's a lot of congestion in a particular area of the court.

NBA 2K26 looks better than ever on the court / 2K

2. NBA 2K26 looks stunning on the court

The on-court visuals in NBA 2K26 have taken a noticeable step forward too.

The arenas and courts themselves look so much more lifelike and each arena properly feels like the home court of that team. There are team specific features too like the Clippers' 'Wall' and Pistons' courtside lounge.

The courts have much more life and sheen to them, reflecting how they look in real life more closely. Even different grains of wood seen across some of the different courts is noticeable.

Players themselves look a lot more realistic too and have much more distinct features. Beads of sweat form when they're playing and can be seen when speaking in post-game interviews too.

There's a new skin shader that highlights more subtle features and even improved muscle definition after dunks. That's the level of detail we're talking about here.

The half-time show and activities that take place during this aren't the best visually however, with the half-time show feeling a little too scripted and some of the half-time entertainment scenes involving a guy jankily riding a motorcycle on the court, but as these are not the main event it's easy to look past this.

Player models and features are more realistic than ever too / 2K

3. Centres might be overpowered

Something that may not be as easy to overlook once the online servers open is that centres feel a bit too overpowered when playing with others.

This is based on my recent hands-on preview with NBA 2K26 where I had the chance to play two All-Star Team-Up 5v5 games but I feel with the online servers opening up, it's important to raise this again as others may also experience it.

When playing this, for the sake of time and ease, I went with a Carmelo Anthony small forward build.

I'm not sure if the teams were split unevenly or there were just that many others who picked much taller players but on my team, there was one just one really tall player playing centre when there was at least three other taller players on the opposing side.

We quickly found ourselves 17-0 down. Pretty well every shot early on was blocked with relative ease, despite most of them being fairly well timed across the board.

We eventually came back into the game and only narrowly lost the second half - but there was one instance in particular where this issue became very apparent.

A team-mate worked a pocket of space, performed a green layup shot and all three tall players performed a block at the same time, one it felt from halfway across the court.

Every single one of them would have been successful in blocking it and the shot duly was with us conceding quickly on the counter. It was almost like they could just hold their hands over the rim to stop anything at all going in.

I haven't had the chance to properly dive into The City just yet - but I can't wait to do so / 2K

Having had limited access to playing NBA 2K26 with and against others compared to the CPU, so far, the game feels like a nice step in the right direction in terms of improvements.

It remains to be seen what the full experience is like once the online servers are open and if the tweaks and adjustments made to each game mode are enough to please the fanbase.

However given how good gameplay feels and how the game looks on court, I'm excited to find out. Especially considering how good successfully reading the court, executing the perfect counter attack and getting slam dunks from them feel.

Elsewhere from indy100:

• I've played NBA 2K26 and it's almost perfect - but there's one key flaw
• 2K confirms it's 'exploring' its own college basketball game hours after EA's reveal

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