From the point to the paint, Live's ready to run the show.
May 08, 2003 - Control. Janet Jackson sang about it, everyone strives for it, and it's the reason the NBA Live series made the leap from pretender to contender last season to run all competitors out of the gym. They call it Freestyle Control to be exact, and it was one of the biggest innovations to hit the hardwood in years. This season, EA Sports returns, jersey already hanging in the rafters, with even more focus on control. Get ready to break some ankles.
Freestyle Control enables ball handlers to juke, jive, and jab step defenders out of their kicks using the right analog stick. Add to that the fact that this season you'll be able to call plays from the point guard position with the press of one button, and you see what we're talking about when it comes to ultimate control. Take John Stockton for instance. You're dribbling the ball up court using the future Hall of Famer and a defender is all up on you trying to steal the rock. What's an old white boy to do? Simply hit the right analog stick to fake your defender into looking like a fool, then with one button call for the pick and roll and deliver a sweet pass to the Mailman cutting toward the hoop. That's Jazz basketball, and that's exactly the same scenario you'll find in NBA Live 2004.
New this season, you'll also find a variety of gameplay sliders that enable gamers to customize different game options, as well as all new animations, player graphics (down to the mesh in team jerseys), and an all new announce team featuring the voices of Marv Albert and Mike Fratello. In addition, EA promises an enhanced AI with more focus on rebound battles and defense. How this will be implemented, however, is still yet to be seen.
But EA's not stopping with just additional gameplay elements, they're running the floor with a variety of cool features as well including historic teams like the Laker and Celtic championship squads of the eighties featuring realism all the way down to the parquet floor of the old Boston Garden. Speaking of stadium detail, every arena will be represented in fully rendered form and will even sport championship banners and retired jerseys in the arena rafters. Referees and courtside photographers have also been added to bump up the courtside realism to unprecedented heights. If that isn't enough, Live's Dynasty mode has also been revamped, enabling gamers to import college players from March Madness 2004.
Online play also looks to have been improved by adding one-on-one play as well as a deeper set of stat tracking. The innovative EA Sports Bio will also be implemented in the game to keep further track of your record and stats, rewarding you with plenty of unlockables across all of the participating EA Sports game titles.
It's still extremely early, but EA Sports once again looks like a top prospect. By adding even more control to an already incredible package, it could be Live that's in control of the sales charts for another year. IGN will have more on this title next week from the E3 show floor.
OH MY GOD they finally have the real arenas!!!!
....Why they just can't improve the basket. It's not that difficult to make some new models.
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