Each year I buy both ESPN and NBA Live, and end up playing the better of the 2 for the rest of the year...
User Rating: 8.5 | NBA Live 2005 XBOX
Reading user reviews on NBA Live and ESPN b-ball is like the election debates I see on the ESPN NBA message board... everyone seem to have already made up their mind on which one they want liked and will do say just about anything to bash the other one. Come on, the game has only been out a few days, playing a few exhibition games means you haven't had the chance to see all the little things EA did fix this year around. I'm a huge b-ball game fan... I'm one of those people who's bought Live since 95 and ESPN since it first came out on the Dreamcast (when it was just NBA2K). I even buy the X-box/PS2 version of live, then buy the PC version when it comes out half a month later... so lets just say I play these games to death. I play alone against the AI about 80% of the time (because my brother would not touch a b-ball game), and I prefer the hardcore sim games over arcade dunkfests. To me the most important aspect of a b-ball game is the 5-on-5 sim, so the all-star weekend, the association mode etc are all nice additions, but does not play a mojor role when I rate the games. On to the positives: Compared to last year the game is a lot more difficult and more realistic. I'm very impressed how EA's able to retool the game so that their is less of the players bumping into each other's "force field" but still give the defense a chance at staying in front of the dribbler... and at the same time keep the speed of the game at a fairly realistic pace. The AI is also march smarter, even at the veteran level. The CPU will double team Shaq or McGrady, but when I try to post up Jeff Foster, they will leave him with single coverage while staying home on Reggie Miller and Ron Artest. Another thing that was fixed was the hop step...now you can only use it when there's a clear path to the basket, using it while a defender is in position will most likely result in a turnover. The CPU also made significant improvements in the rebounding department, where they do a great job of boxing out and keep me off the offensivive boards. In 2004, I was able to sneak in with my big man regularly and end up with putbacks all day... now I'd be lucky to get 10 offensive boards all game (and I go after the offensive board every time the shot goes up!). On the graphics side, the player models are slight improvements over last year... but the biggest improvement has to be the animations. I began to notice as I play more that star players seem to have animations such as shot releases modeled after their real life counter part... Reggie Miller has that 2 hand wrist snap, while Dirk shoots over his head with knees bent. These are the little touches that makes me smile and think "its about time EA added these." The difficulty level has been raised a notch... where in Live 2004 I was able to beat the CPU at Superstar regularly with a weaker team.. now in 2005 I'm winning about half my games at the veteran level, and what makes this impressive is I don't feel like the CPU is cheating! They are beating me with smarter basketball! Double team their star player and the guy I left will move to an open spot for a uncontested jumper, go for a steal and Nash will turbo all the way to the basket for a lay in... Oh and I think free style works wonderfully, so in response to another user's review, I have no problem leaving Shaq behind for a lay in if he's guarding AI on the perimeter. What I think is that many ESPN players just don't put enough effort into learning how to play Live before deciding whether it's any good. On to the negatives: sound is the same as always... lots of lines are recycled. The dunks don't sound exciting enough.. not enough Oomph. Fast break still a problem... players often stop to catch the ball. All the other stuff that may seem unrealistic like too many blocks and steals can be adjusted via the sliders so it's not really a problem. Oveall I think this years live is a nice improvement and worth the 40 bucks. We'll see how it stacks up with ESPN once ESPN's released.
