The franchise mode in NBA Live 2004 is adequate to the task. You've got options to sign, trade, and release players. You can set the length of the season and the format of the playoffs, and you can draft new rookies into the league. You're even able to import draft classes from EA's upcoming college basketball game, but you can always just have a class generated for you. You're also able to use earned dynasty points to buy extra coaching and training sessions for your team. You can even purchase a new team plane or locker room. All of these items for purchase can enhance your players' performances on the court. The mechanics of managing your team remains largely the same as last year's version. Basically, players are each assigned a point value that represents the value of their contracts. You need to stay under a collective point cap to sign and trade additional players and free agents.

While the development team has added some extra cutscenes to illustrate major team milestones or transactions, there could have been a lot more improvement in franchise mode, which still feels somewhat thin. The rookie draft, for example, is one of the most exciting and interesting aspects of the real-life NBA. However, in NBA Live 2004, you're given very little information about any of the rookies that you would need to make an informed decision on whom to draft. Aside from position, size, and some vague ratings for players as either first- or second-round caliber, you're given no specific clues about any player's abilities, like shooting, defending, speed, and/or other relevant skills.

Jump passing happens a little too often.

NBA Live 2004 has a handful of other shortcomings, most of which involve the passing game. If you try to throw an outlet pass after a defensive rebound, you'll often find that the receiving player will stop, turn around, and jump to receive the ball instead of trying to take the pass in stride. This can be frustrating, as it basically stops many fast breaks from occurring. Another strange thing is that much of the passing you do in the half-court offense can look awkward. This happens because the ballhandler will always turn his body toward a defender to protect the dribble, which, in itself, is OK. The problem is that it can be hard to force your man to face up the basket. As a result, you'll see many awkward-looking post-entry passes where your player jumps in the air, spins, and throws an overhead pass.

Another problem lies with the animations. While we certainly appreciated the added flavor of the 10-man motion capturing and the variety it brings to the half-court set, some of the other basic individual animations weren't quite as good as they could have been. Players dribbling or driving to the basket still suffer from a bit of ice-skating syndrome. Also, if you try to string together a lot of special moves, the animations can sometimes snap awkwardly from one to the next. This is especially noticeable in the post when you try to spin to the basket and use the power dribble button while there's a crowd around you.

The PS2 version of NBA Live 2004 offers an online play mode, and it has a feature set similar to EA's other sports games. You can set up your own tournaments, or you can just compete against other players in a ranked ladder. Unfortunately, your options in ranked matches--which appear to be the only matches that anyone playing the game online are interested in at this point--are limited, as far as game settings go. There doesn't seem to be any way to turn on options, like fatigue, nor can you change the length of quarters or adjust slider bars for other game settings. When you create a match, everything is set to simulation defaults, with AI fixed at the All-Star level. This means that there's no way for you to change anything, aside from the camera angle you wish to use.

As far as latency goes, the games we played over a high-speed connection were very smooth, while the games we played over a DSL connection felt laggy. Specifically, gameplay over our DSL connection was very slightly, but noticeably, delayed. Furthermore, EA has neglected to include any sort of pause timer. In fact, during one online competition, in which we were up by a sizeable margin in the waning seconds of the game, our opponent paused the game and (presumably) disconnected. After waiting a few minutes before canceling the wait, the server presented us with a message which indicated that our opponent had disconnected and that we would be awarded a victory. Unfortunately, when we returned to the lobby, we found that our account reflected a loss and a disconnect rather than the win that we were promised. Overall, if you're looking for very basic online play, NBA Live 2004 delivers, but there are obviously several kinks to be worked out as of this writing.

Individual animations can look a little goofy at times.

Despite these miscues, NBA Live 2004 delivers an excellent offline basketball experience. Hardcore players will appreciate the added control brought by the new features, like off-the-ball control and the jump stop. The separation of the dunk and shoot buttons is an especially great move that, we think, will be copied by many other games in time. Those who found last year's version to be too much of a track meet will appreciate the toned-down pace of Live 2004. They'll also appreciate the tweaks made to the defensive side of the ball, which add a lot more depth to the game. While it will mostly appeal to those who want a game with an arcade slant, NBA Live 2004 makes a worthy addition to any basketball fan's collection.