Not too long ago, EA Sports’ NBA
Live franchise was fighting a losing battle against 2K’s dominant NBA 2K
basketball series. The franchise had grown stagnant and was being bested on all
fronts, from on-court plays to feature sets. However, after a rally a couple of
years ago, the NBA Live series has seen great improvements and has taken great
strides with much better on-court mechanics, great features like Dynamic DNA and
solid online mechanics. Now, the latest entry to the franchise, NBA Live 10, has
seen some more tweaks and changes to the gameplay for the better, and offers
some fluid mechanics and a focus on strategy to make for yet another solid entry
to the franchise. While there hasn’t been much added in terms of new gameplay
modes, NBA Live 10 represents the series’ most accurate portrayal of
professional hoops yet.
NBA Live 10 runs at a noticeably
slower pace than previous NBA Live games, which will be very noticeable to fans
of the franchise. Fortunately, this is a nice touch, as now players have the
ability to make more intelligent decisions on the court and hammer out
strategies on the fly, offensively or defensively. Simply making a blind run to
the basket will often be stopped by a capable defense, so reading the defensive
choices made by your opponents is essential in many situations, and hardcore
basketball fans will appreciate the change.
There are a few other minor
improvements made to the gameplay that fans of the series will pick up on.
Shooting has been changed a bit, reverting back to the system that requires you
to hold the shot button for a certain amount of time and let go at the right
moment in order to make the basket, which is a nice touch that helps add to the
game’s focus on strategy. Additionally, post play seems to be less of a focus
this year in favor of more of an emphasis on opening up the court, noticeable by
the lack of posting up. However, this isn’t really much of a big deal, since the
NBA has also generally de-emphasized this element as a whole.
Due to the focus on core gameplay
this year, NBA Live 10 doesn’t really bring much new to the table as far as
gameplay modes are concerned, but there are a couple highlights. There is the
Dynamic Season, which takes the elements of the great Dynamic DNA features
offered last year (although they have been beefed up quite a bit from NBA Live
09), and incorporates them into a season. The game’s player ranking system will
adjust depending on the real player’s performance in the actual season, and will
allow gamers to play previously played NBA games and change the outcome, or play
games that have yet to happen with realistically adjusted stats, which is a
great feature for NBA fans.
The other key addition is the adidasLiveRun, an online mode that allows
10 players to take each other on in
five-on-five matches. This mode is based upon a clan-system similar to other
online games like shooters, allowing players to keep their individual stats and
ratings as they play, and is a nice addition to the series.
However, aside from those two
features, NBA Live 10 is pretty light on new additions. While these two new
modes offer some fun new elements to the game, they are pretty light additions
compared to what yearly iterations of the series have offered in the past.
Graphically, the game features more
improvements made to the animation and player’s likenesses, and the result looks
fantastic. NBA Live 10 is the most fluid looking iteration to the series yet.
The player models look great and move even better than last year, sporting
several new animations that lend themselves well to the dynamic nature of the
gameplay.
In terms of the game’s audio, EA
Sports really stepped it up a notch for this year’s title. The crowd sounds are
more accurate and dynamic than ever, with specific chants and boos depending in
what team is playing in the arena. The developers made the effort to record
sounds from a variety of actual arenas in order to get accurate representations
of the environments, and it really shines through here. The music is pretty good
as well, but what you’d expect from the series and nothing truly major. The
commentary is also solidly done, albeit a bit repetitive.
NBA Live 10 doesn’t really offer
much as far as revolutionary game modes, but instead builds upon the series’
core mechanics to make for an even more fluid game of basketball. The dynamic
crowds and smooth gameplay make it an easy recommendation for fans of the
franchise.
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Gameplay: 8.5
While this iteration of NBA Live doesn’t bring a whole lot new to the table
as far as gameplay modes are concerned, the changes made to the core gameplay
elements are very appreciated. The new focus on strategy will definitely appeal
to fans of the sport, and the robust Dynamic DNA features have gotten a boost,
improving on one of last year’s coolest features.
Graphics: 8.9
NBA Live 10 features a host of new animations, and the fluidity that the
series has been improving upon over the years look great in this game. The
player models also look very good.
Sound: 8.5
While the music is what you’ve come to expect from the franchise and the
commentary can be redundant, the new crowd sounds are fantastic, adding to the
atmosphere and being some of the finest on offer in the sports genre.
Difficulty: Medium
Concept: 8.5
While not much has been added to the game’s modes, the core basketball
mechanics are better than they have been in years.
Multiplayer: 8.0
New this year is the adidasLiveRun, which is a fun, albeit pretty light
new mode that lets you play clan-style five-on-five matches with nine other
players.
Overall: 8.5
The game’s focus on the fluidity and feel of real basketball is a great
direction for the franchise, even at the expense of revolutionary new gameplay
modes.
