NBA Live 2005 – PS2 – Review

Speaking of changes, that’s
probably the best place to start, since the few fundamental changes in any
sports series is what separates it not only from the previous year’s
iteration, but also from competing games.  Probably the biggest change the
game offers is the inclusion of a full roster of activities for All-Star
weekend.  Just like the real world, the All-Star festivities revolve around
the All-Star game itself, as well as the 3-point shootout, the Slam Dunk
contest, and the Rookie challenge, which features a contest between the
current batch of rookies versus last year’s batch.  While the All-Star game
and the Rookie Challenge are pretty self-explanatory and involve merely
competing in a game just like the other 82 games you’ll play in a full season,
the other modes offer some welcomed variety.  In the 3-point shootout, you
take control of a participant as he moves around the three point arc from tray
to tray, trying to sink as many 3-pointers as possible within the sixty second
time limit.  There are five trays, with five balls each.  Each shot that you
sink is worth a single point, except for the final ball in each tray, which is
the money ball and worth two points.  While a relatively simple diversion, it
is surprisingly fun and addictive.  Truth be told, I found myself playing the
3-point shootout more than anything else in the game.  Probably had nothing to
do with me being deadly beyond the arc in High School, but I digress.

The Slam Dunk content is
a whole different beast and almost a game by itself.  This game requires
skill, timing, creativity, and a little bit of luck.  There is a seemingly
endless array of dunks that can be pulled off in the game when you take into
account the many different button combinations available to the gamer combined
with factors such as the angle of attack and the depth with which you go
airborne.  However, even the most simple of dunks in this competition are
difficult to pull off.  You begin by deciding from what direction you want to
attempt your dunk and whether or not you want to first throw balls off the
glass, off the shot clock, off the hanging monitors, or if you want to
approach the rim with a bounce pass to yourself.  From there you must then
decide how you want to leave the ground.  Do you want to leap from one foot,
both feet; do you want to jump into a 360?  The freedom is amazing, but so is
the difficulty.  Once you decide how you want to take off, you must then
monitor how long you hold the button down because it’s all about timing.  If
you are lucky enough to have timed things perfectly up to this point, then you
must decide what to do with the ball now that you have possession of it in the
air.  Do you want to twirl it around your back?  Cover your eyes?  Pass it
between your legs?  Tomahawk it?  And so on.  Once again it comes down to
timing.  How long do you dare stay suspended in the air?  Does your baller
have the hops to pull off an around the back, through the legs, 180 jam?  And
all this is for the more basic dunks. Never mind that you can cartwheel into a
dunk or kick the ball up off the ground and over your head for self addressed
alley-oop.  Did I mention this is really hard?  Not impossible, but hard.  If
you expect to pull off the most basic of dunks, you must practice.  If you
plan on even impressing the panel of five celebrity judges (featuring the
likes of Clyde Drexler and George Gervin to name a couple) just a little bit,
you must practice a lot.  Thankfully, a practice mode is offered that is
actually pretty helpful in that you not only can practice, but it will also
let you know if you are holding down buttons too long or not long enough. 
There’s a lot of depth and challenge to be had in this mode, and there is the
joyous feeling of having really accomplished something when you pull off a
dynamic dunk, but I fear most gamers will tool around with this mode for a few
minutes and give up.

Beyond these additions,
the game remains relatively unchanged from last year, save for a few minor
tweaks.  The Pro-hop (jump stop for us old fogies) makes a return, but
unfortunately its pretty useless this year.  Last year it was great for
creating space between you and a defender, now it’s great for creating a
turnover.  While I’ll admit it made things a little too easy last year,
they’ve completely neutered it this year in an attempt to balance the
gameplay.  If you dare to use it in traffic, almost without fail you’ll be
whistled for a charge or you’ll lose control of the ball.  Freestyle control
also returns, with tweaks that are actually beneficial.  Last year you could
make even the most gangly, uncoordinated ball handler look like a Harlem
Globetrotter, this year smart players will only use it with their guards,
which makes adds a degree of realism that was lacking.  The biggest addition
by far to the gameplay itself is that the gamer now has the ability to
determine how they want to respond to a missed shot on the offensive glass. 
You can either choose to outright rebound the ball, try and employ a tip-slam,
or merely just a tip-in.  The computer no longer randomly decides what to do
with the ball. 

Outside of these
aforementioned tweaks, the gameplay remains relatively unchanged from last
year.  For the most part the engine provides a very solid game of basketball,
aside from a few headaches.  The largest of these headaches is the inability
to run any sort of real fast break offense, which when you’re trying to
simulate today’s NBA game, is a glaring omission.  Off of a defensive rebound,
players stop dead in their tracks to receive passes, virtually killing any
momentum advantage you may have had, especially in light of the speed and
proficiently the opposing team gets back on defense.  But in the rare instance
you do find yourself with numbers, your running mates will not maintain their
lanes to the hoop, choosing to instead pull up on the wings, leaving you to
fend for yourself on the drive.  This is maddening.  Another headache would
have to be the ease of blocking shots and stealing the ball.  Now I know that
in most people’s eyes Ben Wallace of the Pistons is a man among boys and a
demon on defense, but I’ve got him averaging a quadruple-double.  Double digit
points, boards, blocked shots, and steals.  My final gripes aren’t quite as
grievous, but nagging nonetheless.  One is the amazing, magical disappearing
backboard.  All too often you’ll have your man trapped deep below the hoop
only for him to magically negotiate the ball through the back of the glass for
a monster jam.  Lastly it’s far too easy for a defender to nudge a ball
handler out of bounds as you try to skirt the edges of the court or the
baseline.

When it comes to the game
modes, the usual suspects are here with Dynasty, All-Star Weekend, Season,
Playoffs, 1 on 1, practice, and online.  The modes are self-explanatory and
standard to any basketball game.  However the Dynasty mode has seen some
changes made to last year’s formula.  For anyone who plays any of EA’s sports
games, you’ll know that they’ve gone PDA crazy.  The PDA here in the Dynasty
mode functions just as it does in Madden alerting you to breaking news,
injuries, emails from player agents, and so on.  You are also in more control
of the way your Dynasty develops.  As you achieve various tasks throughout a
game or season you are rewarded with points that can go towards improving your
entire team, or a single player, allowing you to choose in what areas you need
the most attention.  You are also given the ability to scout next year’s
rookie class, which is taken to the next level in NBA Live.  Instead of just
getting a generic report on players you’ve scouted like virtually every other
sports game, NBA Live gives you the opportunity to invite prospects to your
facility.  From there you can control the prospect as he takes on current
members of your squad, giving you a much better idea of what his ability and
worth is.  This is a great touch that I hope they’ll implement into their
other sports games in some manner.  Taking NBA Live online offers the same
features as EA’s other sports games with online tournaments, ranking systems,
scoreboards, and so on.  It’s becoming pretty standard, but it works.  While
playing online the game has performed flawlessly for me without any hint of
lag.  While I may have just been incredibly lucky, as some gamers complained
that they were hampered by serious lag, I never saw any sign of it.

Graphically, this is a
pretty impressive game.  The player models are realistically rendered to the
point of being almost photo realistic.  Every player is immediately
recognizable and no detail on their body or uniform has been overlooked.  The
only drawback to the player models is their hands.  They feature creepy,
massive hands that seem to always be stretched wide, without the ability to
move.  We’re talking Creature of the Black Lagoon hands.  The arenas and
courts stand as some of the best rendering of environments ever, in any game. 
The buildings are accurately modeled, with each individual board in the floor
visible.  Speaking of the floor, it is impressively shiny and reflective.  The
animation is also stellar, the players move with realistic fluidity, always
appearing eerily human in their movements.  There also seems to be a distinct
animation for every conceivable situation the players find themselves in,
which is quite a triumph in its own right.  The only drawback in the animation
is that sometimes the ball placement and movement on a jump shot is just plain
weird.  When a player goes up for jump shot, with the ball high, rather than
the ball rolling off the end of his fingertips at the apex of the jump, the
ball somehow shifts downward to his palm from where it is ejected by a hidden
spring implanted in the player’s flesh.  It’s not a big gripe, but it is
noticeable.

The sound offered in the
game continues EA’s proud tradition of top-notch sounding sports games. 
Anything you’d expect to hear in the course of an NBA game is here.  From the
cheers and boos of the crowd, to the trash talking between players, to the
squeaking of sneakers across the shiny floor, to the sound of the “swish” from
a well aimed shot, to the sound of a brick heaved from half-court, its all
here.  But where the game’s audio really shines is in the commentary.  Marv
Alberts and “The Czar” Mike Fratello call regular games, with a shocking
amount of variety.  The manner in which these two speak and call the game is
really an achievement.  You’ll rarely hear the same lines repeated and they
come across so fluid and natural that you’ll actually feel as if they are
calling the game as they watch you play.  In addition to the main
commentators, the game also features TNT’s dynamic duo of Kenny Smith and
Ernie Johnson who call the All-Star weekend festivities.  This is a great
touch and addition, which adds greatly to the overall package.

Overall NBA Live offers a
very solid, shiny basketball package.  Diehard fans of the series will find
the same game and mechanics that they know and love, with just enough tweaks
and additions to warrant the purchase of the update.  With the way that Sega’s
2K series has caught up and in some gamers’ opinions surpassed the Live
series, it would have been nice to see a bigger response from EA to the threat
with this years addition, but there is no denying its overall quality.  Casual
basketball fans, or those gamers without an allegiance to a specific series,
may want to give Live a test drive first to see if it satisfies their hoop
dreams before making their choice.

Gameplay: 8.5
For the most
part, “If it’s in the game, it’s in the game”, holds pretty true here, except
for the inability to run a fast break.  Virtually anything that you see NBA
players pull off and do on the court can be done here.  The activities of the
All-Star weekend are fun diversions, but the Slam Dunk contest is overly
difficult.  The game controls with ease to the point that beginners will have
no trouble picking up on the basics.  Overall the basketball mechanics and
gameplay are very solid.

Graphics: 9.0 
Player models and
animations are outstanding, but where the graphics really shine is in the
rendering of the arenas and courts.  Who knew basketball courts could be so
visually pleasing? 

Sound: 9.0
The commentary
from both sets of announcers are second to none.  The accuracy with which they
call the game, as well as the sheer amount of dialogue offered is unrivaled. 
This is easily the most realistic commentary yet.

Difficulty: Medium
There are various
different difficulty settings, so everyone should have no trouble finding
their comfort and challenge zone.  Unfortunately, as is the case with any
sports game, familiarity breeds simplicity.  Once you’ve invested some time
with the game even on the highest difficulty you’ll rarely find cause for
sweating.   

Concept: 6.0
The few additions
and tweaks offered, are for the most part appreciated, but more so than any of
EA’s other franchises, this feels a bit too much like last year’s game.  While
they do have a solid base with which to work with here, it would have been
nice to see some more innovation especially with the stiff competition from
Sega.

Multiplayer: 8.5

Games played against human competitors tend to be
faster paced and fun than playing against the computer, which is no different
here.  Online the game performed flawlessly each time I tried, with no
shortage of willing participants. 

Overall: 8.5
Overall NBA Live 2005 is a solid and enjoyable sports sim, with as I said
earlier, just enough new additions to warrant a purchase from last year’s
gamers.  The Dynasty mode has been expanded with new features and the
inclusion of All-Star Weekend is a really nice touch.  However, this is
probably going to be the last iteration that fans of the series will accept
the minimal changes/fresh coat of paint update, before they start considering
a change of allegiance.  Fans of the series will find everything that
originally made them fans, while newcomers and casual fans will find a game
that should satisfy their basketball needs with its depth and relatively short
learning curve.