NBA Live 10 | Xbox 360 | Sports Sim | October 9th, 2009

While EA Sports has had major success with its NHL series and somewhat moderate success with the Madden franchise, the NBA license has seen less then stellar results. It’s been a bumpy ride for NBA fans flying under the NBA games, and its competitor over at 2k Sports seems to be taking the reigns. This year, EA Sports retooled NBA Live 10 to a much more streamlined experience. However, is it enough to give NBA 2k10 a run for its money?

There are a few nice additions to NBA Live 10’s game types this year but also a few familiar ones. You’ll find the usual suspects like the FIBA World Championship which lets you challenge 24 teams from around the world, and Dynasty mode which lets you choose your favorite team and follow them through the regular season. The new options include Playoff mode which allows you to jump straight into the playoffs and choose options like Crowd noise as well as a Dynamic season which lets you follow your favorite NBA team live during the real life regular season. This allows for real time player attributes and tendencies giving you a more realistic experience with the actual sport.

 Another new selling addition of the game is the Addidas Live Run, which is an online only tournament which lets you create your own team and challenge other rivals. You’ll play a set of 21 point pick up games against those rivals in a regular set of games though it would’ve been nice if it had a career progression much like NHL’s Be a Pro mode. The online modes also have you standard affairs here with you being able to create your teams, customize players and take it to the court online against other teams. You can also form a 10 player fantasy team, create and join quick matches as well as create custom matches.

 

The controls have been vastly improved and are on target to make you feel like you’re in the game. If you’re up for a challenge in the higher difficulties, don’t be surprised to see the computer pulling the guard moves and counter moves as well with ease on you. You better make sure you don’t try to pull something fancy against the computer as you’ll find yourself losing the ball more often then not. The controls themselves are quite intuitive with the left analog stick used for dribbling and the right stick used for passing and cross-over moves. The bumper buttons are fixed to be modifiers of those core controls to make things even more interesting. Shooting is configured to a single button and works with timing your release to improve your shot. With this you can easily pull off bank shots and layups using a combination of your controls.

 

Another interesting addition is momentum or in other words, “turbo”. Your players have an additional burst of speed on the court when you hold onto one of the shoulder buttons. With this, you won’t be able to just stop out of no where and take the shot. Players will shoot out of balance and thus create some entertaining animations. Players will be taking more then a few steps to get through to the basket and throw up off-balance shots. With every improvement there are also drawbacks. Team AI isn’t always aware of where the ball is forcing you to work a little harder to time your rebounds. The computer can also be forced out of bounds easily if you want to gain advantage during the play. There are plenty of customizable sliders to make your experience more authentic on both sides of the court. Despite all that the players still play realistically and teammates react to what’s going on around them as well. The crowd has been updated with a lot more sideline action going on this year. You’ll hear the crowd and your own team reacting to the heavy hitting offensive plays or the strong defensive skills throughout the game. It’s even more intensified through the playoffs and championship runs.

Realistic player models, animations, and stadium lighting all add up to a complete NBA experience that is something we haven’t seen in previous games. With the atmosphere, you’ll notice vocal and energetic crowds throughout the regular season and playoffs. The constant sideline activity is also present that intensifies during rivalries. Although you’ll still see some constant loop animations like certain crowds moving in the same direction every time, it still has enough variety to keep you interested. The vocal crowd also lends itself to the game and could easily have an impact on your play. The unfortunate side to the presentation is the commentary, which you would think is the one thing most boasted about.

 

TNT’s Marv Albert and Steve Kerr host your broadcast and try as the might unfortunately fail to present you with the real NBA broadcast. They will keep track of the score for you and that’s about all they are good for. Outside of that, there aren’t any player trivia or lines to keep up with the play. For instance, if your team is making a push for the playoffs, the commentary doesn’t take a moment to discuss but instead gets delayed in the comments on the game itself. One of the pluses however is the atmosphere of the game. You’ll hear all the crowd reactions like boos and cheers as well as DEFENSE chants and so on. You’ll also hear player chit chat from time to time calling out plays as you organize them. The soundtrack is a nice addition to keep you busy as you use one of the many customizable sliders to turn off the commentary.

 

NBA Live 10’s Addidas Live Run online mode has a lot of potential. If flushed out right it could easily become something much like NHL’s Be a Pro Mode as long as we are given career progression to keep track of our players. Outside of that, however, there isn’t much original online content to keep track. Dynamic Season is a high point considering it’s timing with the real NBA regular season and playoffs for you join in on. It helps to be able to play as any team in the NBA on any given night.

NBA Live 10 is a great addition to the license and comes packed with content to keep you busy. The new additions are certainly welcomed and are hoped that they keep on coming. The controls, AI, and atmosphere additions are appreciated and also help in creating one of the most realistic NBA broadcasts. It’s just a shame that you have to turn off the commentary in order to enjoy it. Don’t take it personal guys; a better script needs to be planned out with a bit more chemistry between you two. Overall, you won’t go wrong with NBA Live 10 and given its realistic presentation, fans should be eating it up.