NBA Live 10 (Xbox 360) Review
Posted by Sean Garmer on 11.11.2009
Can NBA Live finally take over the NBA crown?
NBA Live has been around for a long time and the development team still hasn't adjusted to the current generation of consoles. As far as those games, they've taken a fall from grace the last couple of years, while the competition has risen above them. EA Canada looks to make dent in that with the new improvements this year in NBA Live 10.
Title: NBA Live 10
Publisher: EA Sports
Developer: EA Canada
Genre: Basketball Simulation
Players: 1-4 (1-2 Online)
Rated: E for Everyone
Graphics:
The team at EA Canada have gotten the facial models on the players down and also worked out the issues with clothing to make them not look so fleshy and look like a big long dress on the players. Though the crowds still have issues in certain spots, the arenas have never looked better. You can instantly recognize the big players this time around and they move around more realistically because you won't see players just blazing down the court like they used to in years past. The animations of the players is a lot more smooth this year too. The realistic momentum which I will explain later, helps add to the smooth animations as well. The presentation is a lot better this year too, especially in the playoffs. I like the spotlights on certain players or the whole team during the game. It really makes it seem like you are there while playing. I will say this is really the first time I could turn this on and someone else could think I'm watching a basketball game because the presentation is much better.
Gameplay:
In past years the developers of NBA Live would have been fine with their arcade style quick Basketball. This year they bring in one of the guys that worked on the NBA 2K series and make their best attempt ever at making the NBA Live series into a realistic experience. The players are now a lot smarter at defending and rebounding, especially in the paint. This takes away the game from being the dunk fest of year's past and makes people have to think about taking shots. Thankfully they moved everything with shooting to one button.You will have to use the better pick and roll controls to generate screens for your ball handler. Players have to judge how long they hold down the shot button because certain players shoot better with certain releases. The new direct passing is something very welcoming. You can now take complete control of one off-the-ball player and decide where you want him to receive the ball. It is great to take one player and create your own play or cut to the basket. Also free-throw shooting is back to being the simple thing it should be. Now depending on free-throw shooting ability, a black bar will show up above the player with 1, 2, 3, or 4 blue lines on the right side of the bar. Then you have to hold down the shot button until the red line gets on top or right next to these blue lines. If you hold it down too long or release too early you'll miss the free-throw.
There are two problems with these new controls however. For one, making people hold turbo and the shot button down to do a dunk can cause unwanted shots. Especially because now players have realistic momentum. So instead of just running and then seeing a player stop to take their shot. If you don't release turbo with enough time your player will take a moving shot. So when running at the hole to do a dunk, more often than not you'll probably see the player miss the dunk or keep running and just lose the ball because he ran into three other players on the way to the hoop. Actually pretty much unless the lane is wide open, you'll learn pretty quickly not to even press turbo in the paint because you'll lose the ball. This also includes trying to get by a defender because running into him will cause a foul or a steal. The freestyle passing is neat, but it takes some time to learn because it doesn't always go to the player you want it to. Most of the time for me it just ended up as a wild pass. Its really a novelty feature that I didn't use that often.
For the most part, I had fun adjusting to the new gameplay enhancements and though at first I was frustrated with the upgrade in difficulty. Once I adjusted the way I played the game and started to pay attention to cuts my A.I. made, calling plays, using pick & roll, and looking for open players for jumpers I was able to start winning games. I did have issues with the way they make A.I. do cuts to the basket. Since players have this momentum now, it puzzled me why players will receive the ball on the run, stop completely, and then the game has to wait for you to press the shot button again. Usually because it takes so long to run the second shot animation you will get your shot blocked or miss the shot because a defender is now around you. In real basketball they don't take forever to put up a shot that's received like that. You should be allowed to press the shot button as your player is receiving the ball to allow him to receive the ball and immediately go for the lay-up, dunk, or shot. It almost seems like the game punishes the A.I. for making a run, instead of rewarding them like what happens in the real game.
While the defending has improved, on offense it seems the A.I. doesn't always pay too much attention to what's going on. Defenders still have the ability to guide offensive players out of bounds when they are around the basket. Players are sometimes careless when receiving passes and it goes off their hands or a defender steals it. The most annoying thing and it happened to me at least once in every game I played, offensive players will just appear out of bounds. Then to add to that, amusingly its like the game knows this happens. Every time I accidentally passed the ball to the player that was out of bounds, Marv Albert will say "he was out of bounds, he was out of bounds" in a shocked tone. Like I said, it only happens maybe once a game but its still not supposed to happen.
The biggest issue with the game is its lack of modes to play. You still have dynasty mode and the FIBA World Championship (that now has 24 teams in it.) But they haven't changed very much. They've now added a separate mode to allow people to setup their own playoffs without having to play through dynasty mode first. Online play is the same, except now you can setup your own club with four other online players and you play games of 21 against other clubs. Playing full games with this feature would be a nice idea for next year. The only really new mode is the pretty cool Dynamic Season. As someone that really loves sports, I like to keep things as realistic as possible. When we didn't have Dynamic DNA I used to go to NBA.com every day and look at the roster moves that had been done for the day and make those in my NBA Live game. One thing I always wanted was the ability to add these updates as I went along in my season. Now Dynamic DNA does that for you with Dynamic Season.
The game will load games that are to be played that day and allows you to play them with up to date Dynamic DNA. It is very similar to the Interactive Leagues in FIFA if anyone needs a reference. It also allows you to go back and play any game you want earlier in the season with the Dynamic DNA used in that game. So if the star player for the team you select was injured in real life before that game against The LA Lakers, guess what you'll be without him when you play the game too. Then the game will compare the real life stats with yours.
While this is a great idea, you don't have control over any team specifically so its pretty much like playing exhibition matches with a dynasty mode covering.
I'd like to see Dynamic DNA used in a one year season mode where you do get to control a team. I don't think its too much of a stretch either. It won't affect injuries, but let's say your team makes a trade in real life or signs someone. I think they should give players the option to allow Dynamic DNA to update team rosters and player tendencies as you play through the season with that one team. Players can then decide to either stick with what they are doing, or go along with what's going on with their team in real life.
Sound:
I have to commend the folks at EA Canada because I think besides the NHL series, they've got crowd reaction and crowd reaction done right. This year there are three settings for crowd noise, Season, Playoffs, or NBA Finals. The crowd noticeably changes reactions depending on which setting you have it on. Even on the Season mode, you really do feel like you are inside an arena playing a game of basketball. The crowd cheers loudly, they boo if something bad happens, and you'll even hear random comments too.
The commentary however is a bit disjointed. Marv Albert is always his excited self and he pays a little attention to the action. Steve Kerr almost sounds bored doing his analysis and rarely makes points that seem interesting. The commentary is just kinda there this year, there isn't too much said about ongoing action mixed-in with some ok analysis. Adding to the ambience of the "I'm there" feeling you can turn the commentary off.
Lasting Appeal
As I said before, unless you really like playing games online against other people there isn't much to keep you here. The dynasty mode is virtually the same. The Dynamic Season is a neat feature that may make it a buy for many folks. I will say I've never had so much fun playing a game of NBA Live before, and that in itself is a testament to the team this year. If you are looking for modes to keep you playing maybe you won't play this long, but if you just enjoy playing this to play games of basketball you will enjoy it.
Fun Factor:
The gameplay itself is much improved to make it a more realistic experience. And that alone will keep people playing this game much more than in past years. Especially if you have friends to play with locally or like kicking butt online. I really liked the Dynamic Season instituted this year and think it can add some length for single-players that don't like Dynasty Mode.
The 411: NBA Live is fun and the gameplay has been improved to provide a better experience. Dynamic Season shows people how to correctly use continual roster updates and how to integrate a game with real life. The Club thing is a neat idea but needs to be flushed out better. Is this as good as NBA 2K as far as the best representation of the game? Not yet, but this year they have made their best attempt at taking the crown.
Graphics
9.0
The players look great, the arenas do too, and the presentation is the best its ever been
Gameplay
8.5
The defense has been greatly improved, shooting is back to one button, but there still are a few little issues that keep this from being perfect
Sound
8.5
The crowd ambience is awesome it really makes you feel like you are at the game, but the commentary is rather boring
Lasting Appeal
7.5
The Dynamic Season is going to help the single (non online) players, dynasty mode is the same though. The lack of modes could make some turn this in early
Fun Factor
8.5
The game is very fun and the improvements keep NBA Live true to itself but more realistic to the game of Basketball
