Freestyle controls need to be faster and players need to be more responsive, but great presentation and graphics.
User Rating: 7.5 | NBA Live 09 X360
So I was debating which game to purchase between 2k9 and Live 09. I decided on LIVE 09 since I have always been a fan of this franchise since Live 03. I will start with the bad news first, the players move way too slow. For example when I use the right joystick to put the players arms up when I'm on defense, there is about a 1.5 second delay. When I use the joystick to perform a crossover, the player is very slow even when using a player like Kobe Bryant. When I use the R joystick to move the ball to a different hand I expect it to happen right away not 1.5 seconds later, and blocking a shot is especially difficult since there is a delay. You almost have to predict if the opponent is going to shoot and hope you get lucky. Last years game (Live 08) was a little faster with the freestyle controls so I think EA has gone a little backwards in that regard maybe because EA tried to make it so realistic they sacrificed timing and responsiveness which is very important in basketball. In fact the crossovers and ankle-breaker moves from the R joystick don't have any effect on the computer players (not even on rookie mode) thus you don't gain any advantage and the game is really spent just playing a pass and shoot stradegy. Usually I would use a crossover to change direction very quickly and get to the rim but since the crossover is so slow it won't allow that to happen, this is very frustrating!! Ok, on the positive note the graphics are amazing and it looks and sounds like a real game with great commentary, music, cheerleaders and even let's you shoot around while waiting to load. I love the free t-mobile 365 feature which updates the team on a daily basis according to what is happening in real life. I also enjoy how you actually get to hear and watch news broadcasts on sports news while you are practicing and shooting around. This is a good basketball game and I really like most of what it has to offer, I just want EA to fix the freestyle game play and also put the (take charge ) button on maybe the RB button , anywhere but on the R joystick because it's just too difficult to use that way. Overall I like playing this game and the slam dunk contest is also fun to play. I expect more from next year's game though.
