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(More customer reviews)NBA Live has always come in second place to NBA 2K games, atleast to me. Live has always had excellent ideas, but the game has always suffered from sloppy gameplay with little details to the small things that make up a basketball game. Once again, some great ideas carried through with bad gameplay.
There is one aspect I need to discuss first. Passing is TERRIBLE. I know they want to make passing more realistic, but I had Garnett posting up on a defender, right in front of the active players face, and I pressed to pass, and Rondo BOUNCED the ball on the ground hard and it made Garnett jump for it. I mean, honestly, is there a point in that? And sometimes, when I turn on the passing icons, I'll press square or whatever other button I want to pass it to, and my player won't even pass. Sometimes, my player will just throw the ball away when I pass. It's very nervewracking.
Also, foul calling is about stupid. If you run over a defender when you're on offense, it's an automatic offensive charge. Now if the situation is switched, and you're defending, don't hold your breathe on getting a charge. Even when you press the button for a charge, and your player goes in motion, you'll get ran over, but no foul will be called. Half the time, when I get called for a reach in, I didn't even see my player's hand move towards the ball. Half the time, I don't even go for a steal.
Through games, I can't shake the feeling that I'm playing in an arcade. It just feels so fake. The graphics are fine, when I'm the Celtics, I can tell who's Ray Allen, who's Pierce, and who's Garnett, but the feeling of simulation is too strong. When you go for a rebound, the player may not even be that close to the ball, but somehow it lands in his hands. Laying-up is a bit more animated but also looks fake. How can AI lay it up over Garnett and Oden?
Despite the poor gameplay, there are redeeming extras and a deep Franchise mode. In Franchise Mode, you get to go through the NBA Draft (I landed Oden for the Celtics) and hire a coaching staff. They incorporated a new rumor central, that's kinda like a news feed but not exactly news yet. You can read and research all the speculation of signings, trades, releases, and others. You can have your assistant work on players to make them better, and have him set up practices, events, and days off to help fatigue and team chemistry. You can check what players have to say about the team to know what changes are to be made. It's the best kind of Franchise I've ever played, honestly.
There are other extras like the All-Star Weekend and Fiba World Championship. The All-Star weekend is fun, where you can play the rookie challenge, the 3-point shoot-out, the all-star game, or the celebrated Slam Dunk contest. I have to admit, the Slam Dunk contest is hard but fun. You can go to the Slam-Dunk School, but it really doesn't help you with your dunk any. The Fiba World Championship brings other countries' basketball teams in to the picture, who you can also play with in exhibition games.
Overall, the Franchise Mode and the All-Star weekend dominate this game. For me, though, I'd rather have more realistic in-game play than added features. If an NBA game added the graphics and gameplay of NBA 2K, and the Franchise Mode of Live, I would never put my controller down. But since that isn't gonna happen soon, I think I'd rather stick with NBA 2K. But if a deep Franchise mode is what you want, then go for this one. For now, I'll pass.
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NBA Live 08 PS2
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