Not the best I've seen out of NBA live, but still a nice effort
User Rating: 8.8 | NBA Live 2004 PS2
Another year means another game for the makers of EA sports which brings you a variety of sports games, but let's focus on this one. Last year when NBA Live introduced the freestyle stick, it became an instant hit and suprisingly sold more than it's rival from the 2k sega sports series. NBA live does it again here, improving on the freestyle stick and using a separate button for shooting. Square for dunking and O for shooting. It takes a while to get used to, but you'll dominate almost every match when you use this effectively. NBA Live 2004 also introduces the Pro Hop, which just like the NBA players, is a jump stop that'll get you through those holes in the paint before the opponent collapses on you and go in for the easy bucket. The commentary does a great job with analyzing the game and compliments you for the sweet moves or plays you did, whether it's from dunking on someone or making the three. However, there are some problems that degrade from the experience. The pro hop is too effective when pulling off a move on someone and rarely do you ever get the ball stolen, even at the high levels. Freestyle stick is too easy to shake up your defender, that you can get by him so quickly that he doesn't react to the after effect of you crossing or shaking and baking him up. Nonetheless, it's a nice effort by the people from EA sports to put together a game you'll enjoy whenever it's multiplayer or you're just playing by yourself.
