NBA Live 09 (Xbox 360) Review

Posted by Chris Lansdell on 11.03.2008

Time to see if the game can live up to all the hype.



Gameplay

I've owned every NBA Live game since 1995, and they've all had their bugs. With that in mind, and knowing how annoying it was last year, the first thing I did was try a substitution during an FMV sequence to make sure last year's bug has gone. It has. They've also cleaned up the annoying “step out of bounds for no good reason”, “try to shoot through the backboard” and “AI team-mates foul a lot” bugs. In fact in just under a week of solid play, I have yet to come across a real bug.

When I wrote the preview for this game, I mentioned that EA Sports had come across a revolutionary game engine. For those readers who don't know me and haven't read me before, I do not toss around superlatives lightly. The NBA Live 365 system and player DNA truly did seem like they could totally revolutionise sports video games. Having had a few days to play with the full system, I can tell you that although they stop a little short of what I thought they could do, both systems deliver and bring you a truly immersive gaming experience with an unprecedented level of detail.

My concern going into this game was that the plethora of options, stats and plays would overwhelm the casual gamer who just wants a basketball game so he can play as LeBron. Fortunately, the developers have made a couple of trade-offs to make the game more accessible in other ways. Pressing Y while on offence will call a play for you, and then you can simply follow the icons on-screen to execute the play. This will annoy some out-and-out purists, but they can find solace in tinkering with plays and the editable DNA to make Chris Paul prefer the UTEP two-step going left of a Chandler screen while Peterson cuts to the right pocket for the draw and kick.

This game is loaded with play modes and options. One minor disappointment is that at the time of writing there are no current-season NBA Rewind games. Rewind is supposed to allow you to replay the previous night's game with the tendencies and hot/cold streaks of the players who were in it. Obviously this wasn't going to be available until after the season started, but we're 3 games in for most teams and as yet, no Toronto games are available. This might be a weekly thing, along with hot/cold streaks, but the promised daily roster updates also don't seem to be happening. Nathan Jawai, for example, is listed as active for the Raptors, despite being out indefinitely. The online mode is vastly expanded, but to take advantage of most of the new stuff you need to have friends with the game. I tend to limit my online gaming to people I already know, and none of them has NBA Live. Still, the games I played were a refreshing change from last year's run-and-gun mentality games.


Stained glass windows in a practice gym? Swank!

Graphics

The graphics and presentation on this game are for the most part right in line with today's lofty standards. You can't fault the player faces, the shot mechanics, the crowd reactions and even the mascots. The players on the bench change depending on who is in the game. There are, again, a couple of minor annoyances: when a team-mate is called for a foul, one player (the one on the far side near the 3-point arc) always kicks his foot in disgust. Every time. There is also some slowdown when switching between practice courts. They also haven't done anything with the Dynasty screen.


Umm...he's number 6 now. Needs more 365 updates!

Sound

My prayers have been answered! The soundtrack is varied far more than ever before. Sure there's your garden-variety hip hop, but there's more besides. However, that's about it for good sound. The commentary doesn't seem to have changed at all from last year, the sound effects from things like the ball hitting the rim have actually got worse, and my ESPN Radio that plays every so often in-game hasn't updated since Wednesday. Apparently the Phillies and Rays are resuming game 5 tonight!



Fun Factor

It's tough for me to explain that this game is fun, because I am a basketball addict and it completely immerses me. I'm the guy who plays 12 minute quarters and won't use the inevitable tactics that work all the time because it's not realistic. The thing is, the game tailors to the geeks like me and the more casual crowd as well. You've got the slam dunk and three-point contest, the ability to play as a number of all-star and all-time teams, and the quick-pick mode, which lets you pick 2 teams of any 12 players to find out who picks the best team. Of course there's also the online modes and the Play Now feature. There's a ton of fun to be had here.



Lasting Appeal

How long you enjoy playing this game really depends on how you play this game. If you enjoy playing the Dynasty mode, then you're going to be playing this until Live 2010 comes out. Really, that's a problem with these games: if you don't have 10 hours a day to play this, you'll have issues finishing it before it's out of date. Even if you're not into the in-depth stuff, the fact that the game is constantly updating and the ability to replay both classic games and games you watched a week ago will keep you coming back all season. And really, that's exactly what EA wants.

The 411

NBA Live 09 is not an easy game by any definition of the word. By the time I traded it in, I was playing 08 on the highest level and winning by 40. I am having trouble beating the second-highest level on 09. They've fixed so many of the things that used to work, and made the game that much more realistic, that at times it can get frustrating. Once I got the hang of what I was doing wrong (cross-court passes don't work!) it became far more enjoyable.

Graphics	8.3	The quibbles I had with the graphics were enough to knock this down.
Gameplay	9.1	It would get higher had I been able to try out Rewind with this season's games. What I was able to do was very well executed.
Sound	7.0	Varied soundtrack aside, the game falls a bit flat here.
Lasting Appeal	8.7	Too much can be a less-than-good thing.
Fun Factor	8.8	The difficulty curve reduces this score somewhat, but otherwise very good.
Overall	8.9   [ Very Good ]

Screenshots
All 10 NBA LIVE 09 Screenshots