Player Hater: NBA Live 2005
Can EA's new baller convert this Sega lover?
http://xbox.ign.com/articles/550/550443p1.html
September 23, 2004 - I am in disbelief.
NBA Live 2005 is good, real good. And what's more, it's a great sim. Yes, EA has made a great basketball sim and I am suffering from symptoms of shock. You see, I haven't cared for any version of
NBA Live this millennium. Yes, the old school
Live games from the Genesis era were great, but the arcade-posing-as-sim versions of
Live on the current generation of consoles just haven't been my thing at all. To be fair,
Live 2004 took some solid steps towards leaving the fast-paced arcade feel of previous
Live games, but I just couldn't be sold. Not last year. Now, with so many cool touches, good AI, and solid game mechanics,
Live 2005 has my attention. If you're a hater, perhaps I can convince you to give
NBA Live 2005 a chance.
The State of Basketball Games
In the early 2000s, my basketball dimes were spent on Sega's
NBA 2K series. But the past two years, I really haven't had a true basketball sim I could enjoy. Sorry Sega, but I just ran out of
2K steam two years ago. Last year I didn't even play a franchise mode, I just spent my time on
NBA Street 2 and
ESPN NBA Basketball's 24/7 mode.
Live, which I'd long thought of as
NBA Jam without the flair, never had a chance. I'd pretty much given up hope for a good sim basketball game to play over the holidays. That hope has been revived.
Live Wise
NBA Live 2005's a smart game. That's what I like about it most. The AI on both offense and defense act like a real NBA team. They'll push it inside, try and collapse the post and then kick it to the open man on the perimeter. Shaq is instantly double-teamed and even hacked when he has the ball in the post. Kobe and KG are physical, pushing and bumping, trying to keep good shooters from feeling comfortable on the court. Sure, there's a bit of arcade flair with great dunks, sky-high alley-oops, and violent shot blocks, but you have to earn every bit of it. Sometimes you can a clear lane and drive to the hoop, just as in the NBA, but often lanes close off -- especially against good defensive teams. You'll need good ball movement to get open looks and on the higher difficulties you will need every last second of the shot clock. Passing can't be nonchalant either, as the defense -- even schlubs like the Warriors -- will swat or even steal ill-advised passes. Fortunately, you have plenty of control on offense.
Get Offensive
Freestyle control returns, with the Right Thumbstick allowing for a variety of offensive and defensive moves based on taps and fireball motions. However, it seems that the offensive freestyle has been toned down just a tad to make it a little more realistic. You have to be aware of who you use as well, since Shaq has no business performing a 360 crossover. Try it and the Big Aristotle will be skipping the rock right into an opponent's mitts.
Break your defender down, blow past him and go for the dunk. Should someone step in front to contest the shot, switch to a layup and even double clutch to try and avoid the massive swat. As with
NBA 2K5, you'll have a hop step, though
Live's is a bit more realistic in purpose and execution and it doesn't instantly equal an easy layup. Lord, never thought I'd be giving
Live props over
2K for realism. What the hell is happening to the
video game sports world?
A nice addition this year is the ability to alter how you tackle offensive rebounds. When the ball clanks off the iron, you can choose to go for a normal, safe rebound and bring the ball down for redistribution or you can go for a tip-in or an emphatic jam off the rebound. Your success depends in part on player ratings, but as with much of
Live 2005, is just as much about player positioning and smart physics. My favorite thing on offense, though, is the ability to move players on the court while inbounding the ball. This is a great help when the defense is putting full court pressure and you want to free your man for the inbounds. I've also hit the game winner thanks to this. Think Derek Fisher and you'll get the idea, though I did have more time (two seconds) on the clock. I took control of my created player, General Lee, swung to my favorite perimeter spot, and called for the inbounds pass from K-Mart. Nothing but net as time expired. That's a beautiful thing.
Defender of the Paint
There's a lot of freedom on offense, but just as much on defense. Once again you can use the Right Thumbstick to offer extra control on defense. Raise your hands to make it tougher on a passer, fight for position, or try and poke at the ball for the steal. The Right Thumbstick, which has been in use with
Live since the
2003 version and it's still a great invention. When I play
Live 2005, I feel involved in defense constantly. It's not about tapping a button in hopes of a steal, I really am trying to box out Yao.
It is a little easy to get steals and block shots, at least on Pro, but I'll take playing D on
Live 2005 over any other game in the past few years. No, it's not perfect -- in fact
NBA Live overall is nowhere near a perfect game -- but it's fun, smart, and involving.
A True All-Star
Beyond the Dynasty Mode, which loses the cut-scene drama in favor of deeper features,
NBA Live 2005 offers some great mini-game extras. All-Star weekend is fully realized with the Rookie game, 3-Point Shootout, and Slam Dunk Contest, to go along with the All-Star game.
The 3-Point Shootout works just like the real deal, with your chosen player moving around the perimeter, shooting balls, and even dropping the money ball for extra points. It's fun, but a mere distraction compared to the Slam Dunk Contest. The Dunk Contest is, quite honestly, better than anything else
NBA 2K5 or
NBA Live 2005 have to offer. The most innovative sports mini-game I've ever seen, you truly get full control to create as many interesting dunks as possible. Toss the ball off the scoreboard and snatch it as you finish with a windmill dunk of launch from the freethrow line and slam it down like 'Nique. You'll get scored by five professionals as you battle for victory. The only thing missing is allowing for an AI partner to throw the ball to you. Perhaps for next year EA?
EA Renaissance
A few years back, many EA
sports games weren't viewed with very high esteem. Sure,
Madden sold through the roof, but it was becoming a derivative series heading into the new century.
Triple Play was, well, total crap the last few years of its existence. Though sales were ridiculously high, the quality of EA's sports games a few years back was passable, but no longer brilliant. Over the past few years EA has made a major effort to improve all of its sports franchises. It began in earnest with
NCAA Football 2003 and continued with the first
MVP Baseball and major improvements to
Madden. This year, along with
Madden's brilliant defensive approach,
NBA Live 2005 cements EA as the premier developer for true sim sports games.
Argue if you want, I know many still love Sega. Hell, I still love Sega.
NFL 2K5 is a great game, but Sega has begun to incorporate more arcade elements into their games. The two companies are slowly switching roles, which is bizarre, but may result in some of the greatest sports games ever made over the next few years from both publishers. EA has the benefit of huge dollars, which allows for an evolution of its games, where Sega is more of, well, just struggling to keep its head above water.
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