I'll follow the format of someone else, sort of, anyway:
Graphics:
The graphics could be better, but the PS2 is definately starting to show its age. I'm dying to see it on my Geforce4 (I'm getting it for PC for patching purposes...gotta kill time somehow). However, the animations are smooth, the lighting great, and the arenas are wonderful...I finally noticed the reflection of the jumbotron on the floor, along with the roof, banners, and so on, on the floor tonight as I was playing.
Frontend:
The frontend's good, but it could definately be better. I'm a hardcore NCAA 2004 player (I got to be a level 31 EA Sports gamer on that game alone), and I love the fact that after you play a game, it automatically saves everything - profile, dynasty, settings, and so on - if you want. It's a pain in the ass to go to the saved game thing, retype your saved game title everytime (or profile), and then save it.
Speaking of the typing, it sucks. Again, EA Canada should take a cue from the Tiburon team and implement the same keyboard element in their game. I mean, come on, who wants to go down to "back" when there's like 8 buttons they're not using? I suppose it's a good sign for PC users, as it's more at us, but then again, maybe they just assume everyone who has a PS2 dropped the $100 or whatever for a mouse and keyboard for it...
The menus are generally easy to use, if you're used to PS2 games, so that's not a problem. I wish they had done something like NCAA did with Sports Illustrated (I saw "Inside Stuff" when I started my dynastay, why not keep it up?). Other than that, the frontend is much improved.
Music:
I adore the music. I mean, they sprung for Outkast, Jermaine Dupri, Chingy (even though he sucks), Twista, Mobb Deep, and so on. Great!
Controls:
The controls were good, very smooth, although it took me a second to get used to the two shooting buttons. The running is really strange as well, but again, you can get used to it, so it's minor. It'd be nice to have a bit more control over the freestyle, as you may mean to do a crossover of some sort (up and left), and you end up doing a spin move out of bounds. Other than that, the control is intuitive and smart. Oh, and you can DIVE for balls...I don't think anyone's mentioned that. Don't ask me how, I figured it out once and then forgot.
Sliders:
The sliders are what makes the game great. I can change everything to my liking (although, I can't seem to make the computer call blocks more than charges :/), and I run the game at about 35 for speed...the pace seems the most realistic. When I move up to the next level, it WILL be perfect...I'm blowing out the computer right now, but I still get spanked on the next level. However, in the games where I got my shit rocked, it was probably incredibly realistic to NBA style. The computer had more points than it should, but that's because of the way I was playing the game - not the computer.
Dynasty Mode:
Contrary to what others are saying, I like the dynasty mode quite a bit. Injuries occur ingame,and that's a great change. They're minor injuries, too, so it's a lot more realistic...a guy will love for a quarter, a half quarter, 5 minutes, whatever, and then come back. A strange thing I noticed, and it was mentioned in another post, is that there is no starting lineup in the dynsaty games...there is in the 'play now' mode, but not in the dynasty. They focus on one player, then show that player ripping shit up on the other team (even though they haven't played?)...it just doesn't make sense. I suppose it could be like previous footage against the other team, but that's a strange assumption for EA to make, that we would pick up on that. *shrug*
I haven't tried trading yet, so I can't comment on that. I'm going to try to move some of the worthless players on my team for another point guard, maybe like Kirk Hinrich or something. Someone was complaining about draft picks, I remember, but really, how often do teams get draft picks? They are generally packaged in blockbuster deals to even them out. I also haven't gone to the offseason.
It may have been just me, but I had signed Kenny Anderson (he's still in the FA pool) to backup Alvin, and then he was outplaying Alvin, so I benched him and Jerome Williams for Kenny and Chris Bosh...the next few games, it seemed like Alvin and Jerome were playing better. JYD had a couple double doubles off the bench, and Alvin was a huge scoring lift. Murray over Peterson is a no-brainer...I moved VC to guard. Anyway, I digress...
My NBA Live:
I know some people have complained, but I really like this feature (partly cause I got 1000 pts because of NCAA football
) It encourages you to play every game, not just a few, simming, and then the playoffs. If you get bored, you can just go for the goals; for instance, shooting 100% for the game (min. 20 shots), making four threes in a quarter, scoring 20 pts, 30 pts, 40 pts, 50 pts, and so on. When you earn those, you get points to unlock stuff. It's a clever way to get replay value out of something. That's just me, though.
Create-a-Player:
Create-a-player sucks hard this year. While the hair styles are better and are actually named, the faces are horrible, and you can't modify the headshape. There's only like 30 faces, so that'll be a problem for people making rosters. You can only use headbands you unlock, which is kind of silly, but whatever. The shoes are decent, I still think they're the same texture size, as they look as blurry as last year. They use high-res ones in the NBA Store, and they look pretty damned good, but they look shitty ingame. Hopefully this is just because of the constraints of the PS2, and we'll be able to up the resolution so we can tell what the shoes actually are.
I'm gonna split the gameplay up into offense and defense.
Offense:
This is much improved. The players react ten times better to defensive pressure, and if you're doubled, they generally make pretty good decisions about cutting to the hoop or running to an open spot. The jump-stop can be over-used, but if you jump-stop into traffic, the odds are pretty good you'll be stopped and then be doubled and forced to pass out, or you'll just miss the layup or dunk because of all the contact and pressure.
You can change your shot in midair, apparently, if you double tap the dunk/layup button...a double clutch. Also, you can draw contact and go to the free throw line, which I love. In the past, it's been incredibly difficult to get to the line. Against Houston, I shot 12 freethrows with Carter alone - in the FIRST QUARTER. I'm loving it! Speaking of freethrows, the new free-throw meter is the same, but it's new and much cooler. Just a small touch to make the game more fun. Oh, in the game against Houston, I got HAMMERED every time I went into the lane when Eddie Griffin and Yao were there. Yao swatted for of A. D's shots, and I had a great deal of trouble scoring on him.
Midrange jumpers can be made, but they're more difficult because of quick defensive rotation on the part of the computer - just like real life. Mid-ranges can only really be made when you're open, but the star players can make them with a hand in their face, which is also realistic. Three pointers are the same....pretty much money when you're open with anyone with an above average rating, not so much with a hand in your face. You really have to learn to pass out of double teams, but the computer generally doesn't leave the open man too open and can get a hand up.
The computer offense needs some work. I played the Lakers, and GP and Karl Malone had the most points. Shaq only took like 8 shots, and Kobe finished with only 18, partly because he got in foul trouble, partly because he wasn't active in the offense. The shot distribution is junk, obviously. Houston was the one team I've played that the star players (Ming and Francis) were the one's who stepped it up. Ming was dominating me when he had the ball, and Francis was whooping my ass. I was up by 15 at the half, and they tied it late in the third, and then I was able to pull away for a 20 point win.
Their spacing and ball movement is good, however. The only real problems with the computer offense is that they don't utilize their best players. I held Spree to 4 points....on 2/4 shooting. Sam Cassell had 20 some points in 20 some shots, and KG only had 17, but he almost pulled a triple double. And no, it wasn't Sam jacking up threes, it was him getting the ball on the fast break from KG and then driving to the hoop. They beat me...
A complaint of mine on offense is that if the ball gets stripped, the offensive players just stand there and the guy who lost the ball seems to be stunned. It kinda sucks...
Defense:
I'll start with the computer D. It's not too good on the level I'm playing, as I can drive into the lane fairly easily. However, on the two games I played on a higher level, it was hard as hell to score. They do rotate well to the ball, and they double team at appropriate times. The computer never really gets called for reaches, but then again, neither do I. The computer's fairly physical, bumping me and denying position. I'm not that good at posting up (haven't gotten used to the controls quite yet), so I can't tell you how good the post defense is. A double usually comes over when I pass it into the low block, which is pretty realistic and makes it harder to score.
As for the human D, I've never had so much fun playing defense. The animations are great; if the defensive player bumps into the offensive player they put their hands up. The analog stick makes it super easy to stay in front of your player, denying them position. The double teams are a blast to pull off, as most of the time you just force the pass, and it comes in handy as hell to set a double on say, T-Mac, as the rest of his team isn't that offensively proficient: make his teammates beat you. The double's aren't overly effective, though, which is good...steals are very rare, and when they happen, it's usually when a guard and a big man double a big man, or when a point guard strips the ball from the other point when they do something careless. It's really, really realistic when it comes to steals.
As for blocks...well...blocks are hard for the human, but the computer blocks quite a few shots...like 6 a game against me, which definately isn't bad, except for the fact that they're generally layups and dunks. However, I'm going to give the game the benefit of the doubt and just leave it at the fact that I still suck hard at this game.
All in all, this is a MUCH better game than Live 2003. While there may be some glitches in the dynasty, those can be overlooked for the quality of the actual gameplay. If you want to just be a GM, get a game that lets you just be a GM, or buy the PC version, which might be patched. I can't really comment on the dynasty mode, as I haven't tried everything, but once I do, I'll add to the post.
Dynasty
I really hate to say this, but the dynasty mode in Live this year is horrible, probably one of the worst of its kind, if not the worst. Where do I begin?
The dynasty mode feels incomplete. From the Inside Stuff magazine covers (but no content, ala NCAA 2004) to the free agent bug to the totally FUCKED UP stats to the ability to save your Bio after each game, but not your dynasty, and it's an incredibly disappointing experience.
First things first, the preseason training. What does this do? The only "results" I've had was 0's all the way across the board on offense, defense, and shooting, and then NEGATIVE results on the conditioning; my players actually got worse! I mean, what does this training do? And then the cutscenes...wooooo....cutscenes....if you're going to put a training thing in, you should do it like Madden's and actually have your ability at the game have something to do the results of the training...
The Inside Stuff magazine could have been implemented like Sports Illustrated in NCAA and have you be able to see who's tearing up the league, who the top MVP candidates are, and so on, as opposed to a random cover three times over the course of a season. If it serves no purpose, why the hell is it there? Oooo, a magazine cover...
As for the GM's desk, if you're the GM, shouldn't the roster stuff be in that section, as opposed to separate? It doesn't really make sense. Just an observation...
I played about 30 games, then I decided to try trading and simming. I couldn't get any teams to take any trades I offered, with and without draft picks, but I did get Brad Miller from Sacramento for Mo Pete. Pretty good deal, as I was playing him off the bench. Anyway, so I had Brad Miller, didn't make the playoffs because of an absurd amount of injuries to about everyone, so I went to the offseason and drafted a rookie.
Which brings me, yet again, to the cutscenes. I mean, they have the guy you draft by himself in like auditorium seating...have they ever seen the draft? They sit at tables, not in rows...anyway, he doesn't even go up on the stage, and it's the same no matter who you draft, there's no variety. So what was the point?
They should have scouting points and results from pre-draft camps, not the crap they've had for what, the last five years? Add some depth, then add cut scenes...
Now on to the free agent signing. If you go to it, then push start to move on, and then go to the next season, it STILL doesn't matter; you can just go to the free agent pool and sign any free agent for the minimum. Tracy McGrady was available, so I signed him, along with Brent Barry, Richard Jefferson, and Stephen Jackson. My lineup was this:
C - Miller
PF- Bosh
SF- TMac
SG- VC
PG- Willie Hains
SF/PF R. Jefferson
PF/SF S. Jackson
SG/PG B. Barry
PG/SG A. Williams
C Moiso
Alright, I played a game with this team and the stats were something like VC 25 4 6, TMac 23 7 5, Bosh 21 11 2bs, Miller 14 8, Hains 12 12 2st - all very realistic stats (for a normal game, this was 8 min. quarters on All-Star...haven't moved up to Superstar yet). If that team was assembled, the stats could very well be that way. My bench didn't score much, I think Jefferson had six points and the rest that played had maybe a basket.
Now, I simulated the rest of the season and only won 42 games. I had a couple major injuries to Hains, but that should matter as I had Williams and Barry to step in. The reason, I'm thinking, for this to happen is because Vince Carter averaged 19ppg and 8rpg (!), Brad Miller had 17ppg, and TMac had 15ppg. What the fuck.
I made it to the playoffs, of course, and went out in the second round because TMac broke his foot (simming). I noticed something strange about the playoffs....the Lakers weren't htere, and they still had GP, Kobe, and Shaq. So after I went through the offseason, I went and checked their stats. Kobe averaged 15 ppg, and he's the highest rated player in the game. What the fuck. I went through other superstars, to see if it was similar. Allen Iverson averaged 12ppg and Glen Robinson 19ppg! What the fuck?! The guy who lead the league in scoring only scored 23ppg, and the second place was 18ppg. Oh yeah, and did I mention that I sim stats for 12 minute quarters?
The stats are trash.
Hopefully they'll fix some of the crap for the dynasty for hte PC version, but I kind of doubt it. The dynasty has lots of promise, but it was completely rushed and left unfinished. Thank god this game plays like a dream and is a ton of fun, otherwise I'd want to shove my copy the gamestop clerk's ass...
