Customer Reviews

NBA Live 10

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I really don't know what happened this year. Reports claim that a lead game designer for NBA 2K left the company and is now with EA. That may or may not be true, but it doesn't matter...what matters is that EA got it right this year. NBA Live 10 is easily the best Live in the series, and I personally think the on-court gameplay is smoother and more exciting than the NBA 2K series...and this is coming from a HUGE fan of 2K's basketball mechanics.

There are so many great looking dunks, steals, fadeaway jumpers, etc, etc...the animations in this game are just awesome. The game is super-fluid and feels like it's running at 60FPS (not 100% sure though). I've witnessed a couple of awkward transition animations and some slight clipping here and there, but I can't recall one single framerate drop (and I notice those types of things immediately in most games). The tempo of the game feels just right, all the players movements are EXTEREMELY detailed and lifelike, the graphics are amazing, the sounds...WOW. I promise you haven't heard arena noise like this in a basketball game before. The crowd goes absolutely nuts during key moments, they explode during clutch moments when you hit a major shot, they chant "MVP, MVP" when your superstar is on a roll, they boo loudly if you attempt an ugly shot and miss, or when you on the receiving end of an ugly foul.

NBA 2K might have more player-specific animations, but I think Live is catching up quickly, plus Live's animations LOOK better in my opinion. The presentation is great, too. The pre-game warmups are all there, the highlights are slick and they're presented at the right times, the crowd and sideline animations are nearly as good as 2K's, the arenas are incredibly detailed, the players (for the most part) look like their real-life counterparts, and they even included the TNT Playoffs/Finals music. The game keeps you immersed the entire time and makes you feel like you're truly watching an NBA broadcast. The soundtrack is decent, just typical EA basketball stuff with some random forgettable hip-hop tracks.

The AI is actually pretty smart IMO, I see my AI teammates consistently running good plays, setting up nice picks, getting open when they need to, passing to the open man, etc on both ends of the court. That was one of my biggest problems w/ 2K basketball; many times the AI would just stand there until you actually called a specific play, instead of rotating positions and/or trying to get open. My only gripe is that CPU-controlled players will still randomly step out of bounds, but it only happens occasionally and it effects your team and the CPU, so it doesn't necessarily put you at a disadvantage. I'm also not a huge fan of Live's free throw shooting, since you have to hold down X until a meter fills and release it at the right time. It's okay, just not as cool as 2K's "signature shot" mechanics.

The typical EA modes are included, like dynasty, season, etc. There's actually a mode called Dynamic Season this year where you can literally play along w/ the real NBA season and update scores, team stats, etc. Also the Dynamic DNA is back so the individual player stats and tendencies will be updated daily throughout the season. It's basically a virtual NBA that you are controlling, and it has me pretty stoked. NBA 2K10 still has Live beat as far as game modes and options are concerned, especially since Live doesn't have a mode similar to 2K's "My Player", where you can create a new baller, enter the draft, join the pros and continue your path to greatness. I haven't tried Live 10's online yet, so I can't comment on that.

I bought NBA 2K games exclusively from 2K6 to 2K9. I haven't bought Live since Live 05, because I thought 2K nailed the look and feel of real basketball. I'm not saying 2K's game is bad at all this year, because it's still brilliantly designed and well executed. I'm just growing tired of NBA 2K in general, it's starting to become the next "Madden"...basically the same game every year w/ a few more polygons, new menus, some new animations, maybe a new career mode or season mode, etc.

This year I played both demos numerous times, and only one of them was making me jump to my feet, scream out loud, and pump my fist in excitement... in other words, this year's edition of Live had me totally immersed. It looks and feels like a brand new hoops game, and 2K10 felt like more of the same, just slightly more polished and refined. Some people will be totally fine with that, but I was looking for something different after becoming bored w/ 2K9 last year. For me, Live 10 delivered in a big way, so I bought it on release day and have no regrets. The game isn't perfect and some hardcore fans might still prefer 2K's style, but Live definitely took major steps in the right direction this year and unless 2K does something amazing with NBA 2K11, then I might have found my new basketball franchise.

Most of you maybe never got to play Live back in the glory days of the SNES and Genesis, but I was one of those guys who was with Live back in the beginning. (yeah, i'm old, lol). I started out with Lakers VS Celtics then one day, they started calling the game NBA Live then the legend was born. Live was the definition of fun and when I wanted my basketball fix, I played Live. What else was there? Shootout? NBA In the Zone? Nahh. Live all the way.

However, When things evolved to the 360 and PS3, something went horribly wrong for the series, then 2K picked up the pieces and left Live in the dust. But when I thought all was lost, E.A. strutted out NBA Live 09. While NBA Live 09 didn't mesmerize me, it did one thing right,, E.A.made Live fun again. Live 09 set the stage for Live 10. And man oh man, what a year can do for a game.

Live 10 is really a sick game. IGN's review of 8.2 while good for them, is still not an accurate statement. The key for any game is fun factor, and I have not had so much fun playing basketball for a good long time. NBA Live 10 does just about everything right. Spot on presentation, incredible, and I mean incredible graphics, sick disgustingly smooth animations, realistic gameplay (when you want it to be depending on your difficulty level) and the audio dept is nearly flawless.

Graphics: Okay, the players might be shiny, but why don't we just call it sweat and quit talking about it like it's a problem? Who really notices it when you see Kobe doing a windmill dunk in Dwight Howard's face? I don't care what anyone says, the graphics on Live are monumentally better than last years. Faces are animated, and the facial mapping alone is a sight to behold, especially when you see these guys up close and on replays. But what good is awesome looking player models if they don't look right? Well never fear, the animations are bar none the best I've ever seen. Its about transition from one animation to the next, and you won't see a guy on the floor magically get up with a cheap quick animation, I can't count the new animations I've seen, but you won't be able to either. Bar none, best stadiums I've ever seen. Bright, crisp, colorful and vibrant. The fans are animated nicely, and you'll be hard to find any gripes. Cheerleaders, camera man, assistant coaches, vending guys, mascots. So much to love and so much to enjoy. Graphics are nearly flawless.

Gameplay: Now I do miss the run and gun days of Live. But ya know, we've evolved and I think E.A. finally evolved the game to a nice standard that anyone can enjoy. Live can be played on any difficulty level. If you're casual, just leave it on rookie and you can be run and gun again, but if you're a fan of just NBA in general and want a realistic game, beef up that difficulty and prepare for a difficult but enjoyable experience. NBA Live 10 plays brilliantly as it looks. The computer A.I. is truly relentless and will give the most veteran fans of the series and monumental challenge for their season. NBA Live requires some pretty smart peeps at the helm to get a big win. Play calling, continuous subbing and moving the ball around is a requirement in NBA Live 10. I noticed fatigue plays a tremendous role this year and yes, guys get tired pretty fast if you leave it a the default level. You'll be taking your big name guys like Kobe and Howard quite frequently.

I love the knew quick strike controls, it took me about 5 game in the demo to get this new contorl scheme down, but it feels wonderful once you really practice at it. And while having one shoot button seems lame on paper, it's amazing when you know how to utilize it. One button does so much, it just all depends on the situation and how you're pressing on the control stick. Putting it mildly, but shoot button can do about a million things depending where you are, where you're pressing the stick, who's guarding you, and who you're controlling.

I had the most difficult time with passing and turnovers. Icon passing seems occasionally inconsistent, I'd have icon passing activated, I'd press a button and nothing would happen. I might be doing something wrong, but icon passing might need to be patched.

Defensively, Live 10 thrives with the amazing help defense when you play guys who continue to attack the paint and hte basket. The computer lockon button is still there, but the ability how your computer A.I. defense converges on the offensive guys driving is good for guys who live and die by defense. Again though, you got to call plays in Live 10 and be on your toes, as the computer A.I. is quite amazing in Live. I actually had to lower the CPU sliders about 10% on all-star difficulty and I found a good foundation on realism and challenge. The free throws are still too easy, even on higher difficulty levels, so make sure you alter that in the sliders to make it more difficult or you'll be swishing shots with shaq at the line consistently.

Sound: Marv and Kerr still repeat alot of the same stuff from last year, but nobody can deny they still make the game feel warm and cuddly. Marv and Kerr have as lot of new stuff to say this year and I love how they mesh well with the action. At times their comments don't make sense, but overall, I think these two guys are still the best in the business.

Not much else is wrong in the audio dept. Still solid sound effects, player chatter and the P.A. announcer is great. Fans of the series will notice the classic Live announcer they've had for years is gone, go back to Live 03-09 and you'll know. But the new P.A. guy sounds more realistic, sounds like the Laker P.A. guy, but it would have been nice to have different P.A. guys depending on the venues. Incredible crowd noise, music, chants of MVP on star players and boo's for the guys they hate. Everything meshes wonderfully.

Presention: Still no ESPN implimentation and no halftime show, just the usual, player hightlights and game halftime stats. It's better, but still lacking in this dept. But ya know what, the game plays so great, they can let the halftime show stink, doesn't really bother me. Stat screens are indept and fun to check out. But man, I'm sick of the micro text, people with small Tv's and no HD will be annoyed by how hard it is to read.

Final Call: Glory days have returned, no doubt about it. If you have any doubts about NBA Live this year, forget about it, this is the most complete basketball game I've ever played and I will be playing it until probaby NBA Live 11. This game is sick and well worth your 60 bucks this year. I don't care if there is another game on the shelf, you need to play NBA Live 10 and you will be hooked from the start. Thank you E.A., i'm back to your game and plan on staying. Thanks for keeping the couch all warm and cozy for me, I"ll be here for quite some time...

Graphics 9.2
Gameplay 9.0
Sound 9.5
Presentation 7.9
Final Call 9.0 Cha Ching! Live is back baby! Who says you can't teach an old dawg new tricks?

First off, this is finally a great game by EA! The atmosphere drags you in. Seriously, the crowd and the players react to everytyhing. After clutch made shots your player will taunt down the court and the crowd will go CRAZY! Not to say that the feature doesnt have its down falls. I was in an online match and Dirk Nowitzki hit a shot and taunted after, His man ran down the court and scored because I could not get out of that animation. Overall though, the atmosphere is great; especially in play now matches where you can choose Season, Playoffs, or Finals atmospheres.

The overall gameplay is good but there are still annoying things that will happen. When you get too close to out of bounds by the baseline. Your player will tip-toe on the line and lose the ball EVERYTIME. It really sucks. Also if you drive the lane to far inside, you will also lose the ball. It's really annoying but it can be avoided if your good enough to get inside un-avoided.

The Hangar is nothing new. It's just a place to shoot around and they'll show recent sports updates from ESPN. It is good if you need to learn timing for players shots. The Addidas Live Run is where you have 5 human players pick an NBA star and you form squads. I have only played it once but I would only play with friends seeing that you have to rely on 4 other players skills.

The Online play is very entertaining. I played alot of basketball in high school and still now, so I find myself trying to play fundamental basketball while online. IT WILL NOT WORK because people will try to cross over, run in circles or anything to get around you and get to the basket. Nobody has fundamentals and its annoying because sometimes it works for them. I have figured out how to stop it but everyone has their own things to do so. The DNA feature is also great because they update the game with real stats and tendencies of players/teams for that day. It also plays along with the DNA SEASON which you can play along with the real NBA season and play games to change the outcome to how you see fit. Its really a good feature and will probably only get better and better.

All together this is a great basketball game. Hopefully they have a patch for those quirks because there are far too many turnovers because of them. Playing this game if very fun though and NBA Live has finally gave NBA 2K solid competition. So here is my final verdict. NBA Live is fast paced and a straight to fun basketball game for anyone, but not by any means is it arcady. NBA 2K is better for basketball inthusiast's seeing that the learning curve is higher, but still great because of how realistic it is. I personally like both games but I cant speak for everyone. I bought NBA Live this year but will still purchase 2k10. Hope this review helps.

I used to be a long EA sports bball fan all the way back when they used to call their games "Lakers vs Celtics and the NBA Playoffs"...up until around 2003...then I switched to the NBA 2K series and bought their games for the past few, loved it at first, then their games started to get stale...every year I download both demos and NBA 2K would get most of my attention. This year I was blown away by NBA LIVE 10, they really stepped up their game...the full game is even better! It feels like im at a real NBA game! Great NBA atmosphere!...NBA 2K10 looked and played a lot like NBA 2K9 to me and Im not much of a fan of their new features plus there players still look stiff to me, I always had an issue with that. NBA LIVE 10 is more realistic and a really fun game. The LIVE series may pass 2K by next year unless 2K step it up!

I just read online today that since NBA Elite has been delayed indefinitely, NBA Live 10 will be given all of the current roster updates as well as the DNA enhancements for the entire 2010-2011 season! So you get a full featured basketball game for this year for under $30! Not too shabby.

Fun game, fast shipping. Been playing 2k for years, got tired of all of the same flaws showing up for the last 3 yrs in a row....wanted to try something different....was impressed by how far Live has come, extremely fun game, still has some flaws of its own, just not as frustrating as this years 2k.

I was skeptical but like many of us b-ball fans we still are willing to try what EA has failed to deliver us these past years. Having been a fan since Genesis' EA Lakers vs Celtics EA has been spotty from decent Live's to flat out garbage year in and year out. NBA Live 10 has finally got that "it" factor and has made the series fun and more realistic this year around. I'm not up on the changes going on with EA this year but it seems that the game programmers had a serious talking to about the failures of recent years of NBA Live. Playing Live 10 it seems from as little detail from the rim and net action as a brick bounces off to the way the ball swishes into the net are the closest I've seen from real life. The dunks are better and a Lebron dunk stands out from a normal dunk another mediocre player would do. Characteristics of each player seemed to have more realistic feel to them as well but this is nothing new to either 2K or EA as they've done this for years now. I play on the All-Star setting for my default and while I feel it's fair and not too difficult I still find myself winning most games. Having owned recent b-ball games like 2K which has been king of b-ball games, I know that adjusting the setting to higher difficulty level only brings me frustration and a proper butt whooping on the cpu's end. I'm not the best b-ball gamer out there but I know what I enjoy when I play it. NBA 2K10 is a very good game don't get me wrong. I had my time with 2K8 and 2K9 which I still own but had to make a no brainer decision after comparing the demo of both titles. NBA Live 09 was fail and the changes to this year's Live 10 is like night and day. I like the sports updates on the big screens while you shoot around. Has a nice touch to it. Yes their are still some elements of the game that feel arcade but Live 10 feel is slightly mixed in giving it the best of both worlds imo. Conclusion? I put my money on NBA Live 10 over 2K10 but this is my personal preference. NBA Live 10 has made many more changes that are worth a change to play this year. 2K10 seems to be really good again but you might find yourself asking yourself, "hey didn't I just play this?" It feels too much like 2K9. If it ain't broke why fix it but at the same time changes can be a good thing too! Both are equally very good games. Even the clerk at Gamestop had to ask me if I was really sure I wanted EA and not 2K but yes.....make no mistake about it. NBA Live 10 is where it's at! Recommended. Can't wait for Forza 3 and Modern Warfare 2 but that's a whole nother review :)

"Great, great game. I've been a Live veteran since Timmy Hardaway graced the cover back in 98', which was two consoles ago. Needless to say the Live franchise has had its ups and downs over the years, and once the 2K franchise arrived on the scene in 2000, it took Live's spot as the basketball simulation.

Past complaints have been that Live's been too arcade like, with no realism. Dunking was too easy, there was no defense, gameplay was all one on one. Hey, sounds like criticisms of the league itself. Well i'm here to say that along with the league, Live is back.

This years version will on first glance appear very different from previous years, and that's because it is. There's no longer two different buttons for dunks/layups and jump shots, which is a good change. Dunking is no longer a given, nor while you be able to fly through multiple defenders on your way to the basket. You will be hit, sometime hard, and you'll either score, depending on who you're controlling, miss the shot completely or be fouled and head to the line.

There's a level of realism with jump shooting that wasn't there before. No longer do you just press a button for a perfect jumper. This time around, the length of time you hold down the button will correspond to the length of time you spend in the air. So if you never release the shoot button, you'll take an off balance flawed shot that probably won't go in. Also, depending on how your left joystick is situated, you'll either take a leaner or a fade away. To get that perfect jumper you'll need to make sure your stick is straight.

Gameplay's great, graphics are fantastic, many different game modes, including "adidas run" where you can select a ten man team of any players you like to compete against another ten, online or not.

Updated rosters daily, which reflects real-life injuries, trades, etc.
This year, Live is giving 2K a run for its money! Live is BACK!! You won't be disappointed."

What's great about it? Graphics, game sound, crowd noise, gameplay, tighter controls, daily updated rosters, menus, playcalling, freestyle pass
What's not so great? silly turnovers, free throw system, streaky shooters, the lakers...

Not bad. Im still a big fan of nba live 05. This game is good. The price is right. I give it a3 stars because it's not too shappy

I bought a used game from warehouse deals. The game was much better than I expected. I haven't played in almost 8 years and my rustiness showed when the AI kicked my butt at every game. Once I downgraded to a lower difficulty, I was able to quickly get a hang of the game & jump to higher difficulty levels. Great game. Good fun