2003 vs. 2004

[AllanNYK20]

Is it just me or the players in 2004 look very... cartoonish? I actually like the player graphic design in 2003 better, they look taller, leaner, and more like basketball players.

I love the improvement EA made about defense, but what happened to the offense??? You can't even move around freely no more, let alone driving. Maybe it's just me, but the defender would just keep pushing me off. And why would a player face his defender with his back at all time once he crosses halfcourt? I don't get it, there is just no offensive flow whatsoever in 2004's halfcourt game. I miss T-Mac taking his defender off the dribble to set up a buzzer-beater...

Hehe maybe what EA should do is just develop one NBA Live framework, and simply make patches (graphics, roster, ranking, etc) every year, and let gamers like us decide which version of Live they like the most.

[Sweetlou]

No. It is not just you. I am completely frustrated when I dribble CLOSE to a defender and my man bounces off him and dribbles completely in the other direction. Kinda kills the flow. And where all these hook passes come from I don't know. It seems that the game is a little too scripted. Like they built the gameplay around their animations instead of the animations around the gameplay. And why are the graphics worse this year? Or maybe it looks good on a PS2 and not on my PC.

[JL2]

Your complaints about the flow of the game are precisely the same as mine. It sucks that you can't take a guy off the dribble no matter what your sliders are set at.

Even the start-game video (which is supposed to showcase the best moves of the animated players) is terrible compared to 2003. True, defense has improved. But I'm seriously beginning to think that it wasn't the defense that improved - they just removed the offense.

[MCalca1706]

I was one of the most verbal critics of NBA Live 2003 for bcoming NBA Jam. 2004 is much improved over 2003 but there are still some problems.

The computer is now too good on defense, to the point, that it is very difficult just to get to the basket. The computer players seem to be evreywhere at the same time. You seem to bounce off of them like there is a force field blocking your path to the basket. Even teams that are not good defensive teams are all over you like a cheap suit. If you don't get back on defense the computer players will fast break or pass to the other end of the court and get easy baskets repeatedly. They seem to run twice as fast as your players.

Another complaint I have is that the ratings don't seem to have much to do with how a player actually performs. Players with very low ratings seem to fly around your players.

The graphics do not seem as good as 2003's but the player movements are much more realistic.

In my opinion, Despite it's flaws, it's much better and more realistic than Live 2003.
Happy New Year
M. Calcagno