There is now a huge influx of basketball games with the turn of a new year. With the review of 2K6 behind us all, let’s lace up our sneakers once more and take to the courts with NBA Live 06. Similar to the Madden games, the NBA Live series always puts in a new feature every year or improves on the physics, features, or game play of the last year. Will it hold up against 2K6, though? Seeing that they were both released simultaneously it’s going to be a tough call, but we will find out in this review.
Gameplay:
The most important feature in any sports game is how long it will hold your attention before it all gets too old. It’s hard to say which game is taking after which; 2k6 and Live 06 both have the same idea with the dribbling stick. Yet there are some subtle differences in the game play after digging deeper past the presentation and game modes.
It’s very easy to get started. From the beginning there is the option to simply ‘Play now’ or dive in deeper and check out the Dynasty Mode, NBA All-Star weekend, Freestyle Challenge, One-on-One, Slam Dunk Skill and Online. While the modes each have their own unique styles of play, the lack of a mode like 2K6‘s 24/7 leaves a little to be desired. The best stand-ins for the 24/7 Mode are the One-on-One or Dynasty Modes. With One-on-One, players simply take on everyone. It’s very fun to test and compare skills to different players throughout the NBA roster and gain the ultimate bragging rights as well. The dynasty mode is also a worthy contender for the hardcore players.
The year round calendar keeps you busy with a multitude of duties, hiring staff, training camp, roster management. Next to all this, there’s also the sim intervention during the dynasty. It’s as simple as it sounds. During a game you can simply take over with time off the clock to make a come back or hold onto a strong lead.
Aside from the actual intervention, the dynasty mode really plays out like a season on television. Towards the end, there’s an opportunity to recap on the past, make any improvements to training or players chosen, and start a new season. The Dynasty Mode is NBA Live‘s own personal touch to customization in a sports game giving a different view on the life of not just the player, but the manager and the team.
Teamwork plays a vital role in the game, aside from the additional player specifics of 2K6. Live offers a lot of the same abilities and then some. With a directional setup similar to the dribbling stick, a player can perform the usual crossovers, increase dribbling, or other moves. In combination with off-screen plays and calls to fellow teammates, this feature makes it a bit easier, if not intuitive, to make plays flow.
For example, holding the left analog stick to move the player and the right to dribble takes a bit of getting used to. Taking this concept, play on the court moves very quickly and smoothly. In addition to the dribble stick there is the slam dunk system. Quite similar to its brother title, NBA Street, taking a player to the hole for a dunk has never been any more natural.
As you reach the hole, or dunk zone the player can get some air and with a few button taps you can perform hawks, spins, give and go’s and tons of other moves. It’s very fun and the different dunks give the game a wide variety of new things to try and see. Along with a colorful roster, a deep dribbling system and plenty of modes, Live‘s gameplay seems to have the court covered.
That move’ll break some ankles… literally.
Control:
Obviously, control plays a huge role in the game with the use of both analog sticks during game play. The flow of the game follows along with the familiarity that comes with much practice. Moving down the court will have its snags along the way but the initial directional control of your character (minus the dribble stick) is highly responsive.
Not only is it important to control your own player but also any other player on the court in different ways. Although every player comes with his own set of ‘superstar’ moves and plays, it turns slightly arcade. It flows down in a difference of character styles. High fliers and power superstars do exactly as you would guess; break through the defense and usually take off when within range of the rim. Shooters obviously take the 3-pointers and shots with or without a hand in their face and usually make it. With those things in mind, taking a highly offensive player within range of the rim then passing it off to one of your shooters or scorers would be beneficial. Although EA has tried, the game’s controls are a bit too arcade for most heavy sim players at heart.
The only negative of the controls is the lack of flair. There is the initial intuition of each player and their type. With their overall type, (again shooters, high flyers and power superstars) comes a basic amount of moves. More moves come with practice and to chain them together takes practice but that’s where the controls fall flat. In the middle of a set of dribbling moves one wrong button press can often stop it all abruptly. Also, there was some difficulty setting some moves and moving down the court without jerky moves or misplacements during an offensive or defensive move.
This can really be a pain during one crucial game for your player to lock up or completely mess up a move and the computer takes advantage. The lack of control of other players doesn’t help much either, given you can call some plays and set up for a few game-breaking moves. It’s a bit hard for the A.I on your team to catch up with an opposing opponent or not even cover an open man.
Aside from the slight shortcomings, there is also a slight annoyance in getting used to the dunking capabilities of most players. Getting to dunk right off the bat is frustrating. Obviously a quick pass or lay up to an A.I controlled teammate will guarantee a flashy move it takes some getting used too. Positioning your player underneath or near the basket can get a bit awkward as you mostly don’t even know where you are when having approached the basket.
Most of these draw backs can be remedied with a lot of practice. Others will have to be overlooked. In the end the control is lacking in the concept that the moves to be performed are hard. It is hard to make the best button presses and in the end we can say that not every button masher will make this game one of there own.
Graphics:
This has to be the most impressive for a basketball simulation; a lot like 2k6 the graphics take one of the biggest upgrades seen on both the Xbox and other consoles. As mentioned before, the controls are intuitive and show up in the movements on screen, players dribble and trick with the flashy presentation that is expected of an EA game.
From the opening scenes and in game play, everything is crisp and new. It felt like stepping into the driver’s seat of a brand new car. Although it is true that graphics or looks can’t carry a game completely, it really involves a lot more. With NBA Live, this might be one exception. If anything, the graphics have made the game to be an interesting copy to expectations in real life. The players are all life size and carry their own moves that flow exceptionally well.
If there are any flaws in the graphics that could be mentioned, or at least compared to 2K6, it would be the actual dribbling when not moving or at all interacting with the dribble stick. With this stick you control a lot of the ball movement, but in the end the players often lack further animation in the movement department when simply moving from one end of the court to the other. In the game there isn’t enough movement to make the players seem real, not in the faces or movements but simply idling.
Another interesting flaw during game play was the characters palming the ball then running with it. Of course the rules wouldn’t allow traveling (taking the ball in hand and moving more then two steps) but it seemed more like a glitch of sorts. In the end, NBA Live is plagued with a few drawbacks that most sports games often fall short on. Any further attention to detail in the end would have taken NBA Live straight to T.V and a lot of NBA players would be put out of a job.
Instead of playing ‘D’ against Wade, most defenders choose to praise him.
The movements, jerks and slam dunks are close to Street without the announcer. In the end, the graphics aren’t terrible. There are a few things that made the game a bit odd to play at times, but it’s still a remarkable step into the newest in ISO motion capturing as well as face mapping. As with NBA 2K6, you’ll always know exactly who is playing on the court. There is a lot of fun to be had in the different motions and realistic plays throughout the game play. It definitely sizes up in comparison to most other games. Graphically, this game is beautiful.
Sound:
Obviously there’s a lot of music in the game that refelcts the genre. A lot of rap, which made me feel I was playing a big league version of NBA Street. The versatility of the music is quite knowledgeable, although it’s hard to feel anything theatrical in a basketball game.
It’s very hard to base the music on one specific name, but in the end, the music does a lot for it that we’ve seen in many of the Madden series.
There’s a lot to be appreciated in voices that are in the game, since you’ll hear a lot from the announcers in the game. It adds a lot more than the usual generic blend of bull on each and every play. In the end, the music gets a tad repetitive, though it does blend a decent amount of variety that makes it an enjoyable game.
Overall:
There’s a lot to expect from two titles with the same game play, same graphics and same ideas (see the dribble stick). Unfortunately, it imitates the features in 2K6 a great deal.
In the end, the replay value is all that matters. NBA Live gives the essential ‘alive’ feeling that most sports games have. The players and controls are very intuitive and the plethora of game modes make this a very interesting title, even more so for tournaments. In the long run NBA Live unfortunately doesn’t stack up with the amounts of moves and 24/7 mode that takes a good portion of 2k6. Still, it is not a terrible game, and it’s definitely worth checking out.
