NBA Live 2005 for PlayStation 2

by Electronic Arts

Product Features

• Amazing new Freestyle controls let players create their own dribble moves, highlight-reel dunks and unstoppable defensive plays
• Powerful graphics engine bring new heights of realism to your game - improved body types with higher-resolution textures used for faces, uniforms, tattoos and accessories
• Exciting new player animations give you more realistic player movement and crazy new in-air stunts
• Deeper Dyansty Mode makes General Manager/player interactions more realistic than ever
• Go online and compete with the best players from around the country

Product Details

• ASIN: B0002I9RP4
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches ; 4 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: October 5, 2004
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (70 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,313 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #16 in Video Games > PlayStation 2 > Sports > Basketball
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

The Freestyle Revolution is back with NBA Live 2005. Create new ankle-breaking dribble moves, gravity-defying highlight-reel dunks, and tenacious defensive plays that express your individual style-all with a touch of the right-analog stick.

Features

• EA Sports Freestyle Control: EA Sports Freestyle Control continues to revolutionize your ability to play simulation basketball - and, now more than ever, it's about expressing your game in flight. Become an offensive star with sweet new moves that you'll only see on the NBA hardwood, including all-new dunks, jaw-dropping alley-oops, and adjustable jump shots in mid-air. Think the Pro Hop took hoops to a new level last year? New user-controlled put-back and tip-in technologies reward players who box out, wipe the glass, and go back up for a quick bucket. On defense, take more control over shot blocking to own the paint.
• 10-man Freestyle: NBA LIVE's new iteration of revolutionary 10-man motion capture technology yields authentic plant-and-cut animations, off-ball animations that offer new spacing and eliminate on-court crowding, backdoor cut scenarios, and new in-air collisions and box out scenarios.
• All-Star Graphics: With increased resolution on player faces, jerseys, shorts, skins and tattoos, NBA Live 2005 raises the bar and offers the most visually immersive NBA game to date.
• Ball Against the Nation: EA Sports Online allows users to play online* against opponents from anywhere in North America. An online lobby area allows gamers to meet, greet, chat, set up tournaments, download roster updates, and play NBA Live 2005 head to head. Make it to the top, and then try to maintain your place as the best gamer any where, any time, any place.
• Comprehensive Dynasty Mode: Be the architect of your own unstoppable dynasty, and watch your franchise flourish for 25 seasons. Jump into games with simulation intervention, enjoy all-new free agency logic that puts your skills at negotiating contracts and managing the salary cap to the test, and use the customizable PDA to stay up to date with important league news, team information, special announcements, and more.
• Announcers: No voice says NBA basketball like Marv Albert. Teamed with on-air TV partner Mike Fratello, these two hoops veterans pair dish out the most authentic commentary available.

*Online play requires Internet Connection, Network Adaptor and Memory Card (8MB) (each sold separately).

Product Description

NBA Live 2005 delivers lightning-quick steals, monster shot blocks, and crossover dribbles that make NBA basketball great. It's definitive basketball gaming, for hardcore fans who want action from the second you hit the court!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars NBA Live 2005: Like a Jordan reverse lay-up...so sweet..., October 12, 2004

By 

D.L. "generasian" (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: NBA Live 2005 for PlayStation 2 (Video Game)

As an annual purchaser (some may say sucker) of the NBA Live and ESPN 2K series, I've found it interesting over the years how both franchises have gradually switched sides on the gaming spectrum. Once known for it's focus on arcade-like game play, NBA Live 2005 is now even more in tuned with an actual NBA game in which defense wins championships. On the other hand, ESPN 2K5 is now all about flash where highlight-reel dunks and high-scoring games are the norm. But that's for another review... However, if I'd have to choose between the two (geez, it's like choosing between Jessica Alba or Jessica Biel), I'd have to go with NBA Live 2005 over the other.

New to this year's edition is the All-Star Weekend mode which includes the Slam Dunk contest, 3-Point Shootout and the Rookie vs. Sophomores game. The Slam Dunk contest by itself is highly addicting. I have the blisters on my thumbs to prove it. Though it's quite difficult to pull off at first (thankfully there is a tutorial), once mastered, the different combination of dunks at your disposal are enormous. Some, obviously, are physically impossible such as banking the ball off the scoreboard, doing a cartwheel and catching the rock for a 360 between-the-legs jam. But it sure does looks neat. Alley-oops are by far the most difficult to accomplish because of the precise timing involved for it took me about an hour to finally pull one off.

What really sets NBA Live 2005 apart from ESPN 2K5 is it's "meat and potatoes" realism. Some prefer a more arcade-like approach where scoring is rampant, but I believe it's refreshing to have to work for a bucket. And boy do you have to work... I wouldn't say that the experience was outright frustrating, however, the AI will do you no favors. Out of the twenty or so games I've played, I have yet to score more than 62 points. Freestyle control, which is basically a set of crossover dribbles and spin moves is virtually useless because the defender will almost always recover. A new feature this year is called Freestyle Air which basically allows a you to adjust a shot in mid-air if you think it will be blocked a 'la Michael Jordan over Sam Perkins in the '92 Finals. However, it's rare that such a shot will go in the basket which really makes it more of a gimmick. Interestingly enough, the sheer amount of blocked shots in a game are astronomical. It's as if EA wanted you to utilize Freestyle Air as much as possible in order to avoid a stuff. Now if only the ball went in half the time... However, I did enjoy the newfound option to perform a tip in or a tip dunk if the ball rattles out of the basket. The hop step, which was introduced in last year's edition, is further refined this year-some may say for the worse. No longer will you be allowed to use it at will since it will most likely result in a turnover or an offensive foul. As a result, you'll hardly use it unless the lane is as wide as a freeway. But hey, that's how it is in real life. Furthermore, the defender will almost always catch up with you during a fast break on those rare occasions that your player will blow by him. And speaking of fast breaks, don't expect your teammates to help out because they ALWAYS STOP in mid-stride to catch a pass which kills whatever momentum you have towards the basket. The true way to win is to play a half court game by setting multiple picks to free your man and to memorize the money plays that will lead to an open shot. As boring as it may sound, this is how basketball is played. Obviously, the level of difficulty varies between settings. I had mine on the All-Star difficulty level as opposed to the default Starter level. However, the level of difficulty was so wide between these two settings that I felt I had no choice than to stick with the All-Star difficulty because it provided the most challenge without it being too easy.

The graphics in NBA Live 2005 are much better this year. Though it still doesn't hold a candle to the insane amount of detail in ESPN NBA 2K5, I felt the players looked more crisp and similar to their counterparts than last year's edition. EA also added some ambient lighting which looked like a fine powder of snow on the surface of the players which was rather nice. I still wished they added more cut scenes during the game other than the one during timeouts when the players are converged around the coach. It really would have added more personality to the game. Another gripe is that the game doesn't save the level of zoom from a camera angle. For instance, I play my games in the Press Box angle which, in my opinion, gives the best overall view of the action. However the default zoom level makes the players look like ants which makes it an annoyance to have to pause the game and manually adjust it every single time.

The franchise level has been tweaked a bit. The level of organization has been refined using a customizable PDA which breaks down all aspects of your franchise. Furthermore, players contracts now use real dollars rather than that ridiculous point system from past editions.

NBA Live 2005 is by far the best ever in the series. It's tough and gritty with just enough flash (NBA All-Star Weekend) to satisfy fans of new and old. Some may fault EA for ditching it's arcade roots in the series, however, I find it refreshing to have to work for a score. Kudos to EA for a great job.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Summary of the game, October 2, 2004

By 

Brian P. Kelder "Brokenhearted Cub Fan" (Plymouth, NC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: NBA Live 2005 for PlayStation 2 (Video Game)

This is a summary and my opinion of this game.

1. All-Star Weekend can be played in its entirety. The rookie game is fun, lots of freelance hoops. The dunk contest is hard to get used to, but there is a practice section in the game. This is a fun addition to the middle of the season and is very worthwhile to add.

2. Dynasty: Been revamped to be more like Madden. I especially like the rookie scouting on this. While not as comprehensive, it is an improvement. The only flaw I see is the PDA on trades. It is fun to see power rankings, e-mails, etc., but why do you have to wait for a response? Seems unnecessary.

3. The gameplay is improved. The graphics are tighter, and facial features can be made out. The "EA hands" are still there. The excessive bumping from last year is out of the game, but you need to adjust the foul settings to your liking. Also, there is some more realism involved. A player on the break will NOT get caught this year. Tony Parker will never get caught by Oostertag on the break like in 2004. I played, and he blew by Kirk Hinrich for an open layup. The quickness differential is emphasized more. Post moves are more difficult, because for some reason you can't zoom in as far, or else it could be just that the players are smaller. But, can't have everyting.

Summary: This is an improvement over previous versions of the game. I think the PDA thing should get fixed, it's a pain, but the rest lives up to NBA Live's high standards

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Revolutionary, October 11, 2004

By 

Luke Lang "Logic" (Montreal) - See all my reviews

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:3.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: NBA Live 2005 for PlayStation 2 (Video Game)

Five stars doesn't do this game justice. The gameplay is awesome as usual, and they went even further to make it realistic when you drive into traffic, when you get bumped and have to force up a prayer, and so on. The motion is a little choppy at times, but you won't even notice it with all the detail put into the rest. I haven't really played full games yet, partly because now you can sim games quarter by quarter and only play the second half if you see your team getting beaten too bad. Also, the bulk of my time has been spent on the dunk contest feature. This is what I mean by revolutionary. There are more types of dunks to do than you can begin to count. This isn't Jordan vs. Bird. Pretty much any dunk you can think of is possible in this game. And they did a good job actually making it look good, and the controls get easy fast. Kenny Smith doing the commentary is icing on the cake. The dunk contest by itself would get 5 stars. I swear it's better than the real thing. I could go on for days, but you get the idea. If you really appreciate the art that goes into a good dunk, you'll appreciate the hell our of this game.