The Good The Bad The Ugly

Here is my quick Live review.

I play 12 min quarters on superstar with my own sliders(fouls turned up!) I don't care about the dunk contest or 3pt shootout...not my cup of tea

The Good
1) Gameplay is solid. CPU inteligence is pretty good, end game logic solid.
2) The post play is the best ever. I love love love the post play in this years game
3) Offensive rebounding is back!
4) Box scores!
5) mid range shots, not as many CPU 3's
6) New animations are solid, lead passes, behind the back passes, defense collapsing animations...

The Bad
1) NO Playcalling by the CPU...same "dynamic" offense(note to EA-not every team in the NBA runs a free lance offense...hell I can think of 3 teams that do Phoenix, Memphis and New York, almost every other team runs a structured offense with the egotistical coach calling all the plays!)
2) No matchup or coaching aspects, substitution patterns are still terrible....same two coaching features crappy double team and pressure we have had for 6 years....Matchups are the key to the NBA and until EA implements the coaching/matchup aspect I will rant
3) Presentation sucks....little to no stat overlays, no relevant pregame, no halftime show....I would love to see a TV style presentation of the game ala Sega's NFL 2k5.

The Ugly
1) Graphics are lacking...Not to thrilled with the cyberfaces
2) menu screens are terrible to navigate through....my god it is amazing how much this frustrates me
3) create-a-player!!!! What happened to facial hair and hair styles????? URGHH!!!

In conclusion I am pretty happy with the game. Can't wait until the patchers get patching and the NBA season starts! EA fixed alot of stuff in the gameplay area and I am very pleased. It is a shame the lack of coaching/matchup logic distracts from the game so much. I am getting perfect stats with my sliders it is diffenent in how those stats are made. Instead of Charlie Ward taking 5 open three pointers from kick outs(McGrady and Yao double teamed) he takes those 5 three pointers on random pull ups without reference to an offense.

P.S. Due to the lack of facial hair features on CAP I was wondering if someone would help me out by making a cyberface for me?

Honestly this is the 2nd most realistic Live so far in the series but still not as realistic as the pre-2k5 series.

My good, bad, and ugly:

Good:
- the cyberfaces are generally well done except for a few like the Big Dog
- shooting percentages are realistic
- all-star weekend (me and my friends actually bet $$$ playing the dunk comp)
- improved freestyle
- commentary especially for the dunk contest is fun and never boring
- offensive rebounds
- new animations
- post play is challenging

Bad:
- post play is unbelievably difficult (double edge sword)
- you REALLY need a gamepad to play this for PC this year...keyboard users will suffer
- Simulation takes forever in dynasty mode
- I still don't see the ages for players...maybe somebody can point them out to me???
- legends rosters need tweaking
- steals and blocks are still to easy to collect

Ugly:
- what happen to the graphics definition? The only thing that looks defined are the player models albeit the body texture looks horrible (Live 2003 had better graphics...hopefully Live crew license the Source engine for Live 2006)...how about the courts and gear???
- when will EA allow us to change the menu resolution??? 640*480 looks 1995!
- reflections looks horrible not to mention the crowd
- Livingston in a Hawks uniform shows a rushed port

Still would love to see implemented:
- opponent playcalling
- firing and hiring head coaches (is this in the game?) who also have their own personal play sets along with generic play sets

Evaluation: Better than 2004...slightly. Gameplay not as great as Live 2000. Much more realistic than 2003 for those upgrading from 03'. I give it 8/10...far from great but worth the cash.

Honestly I HATE ports. Most ports are garbage except for a few like the incredible Knights of the Old Republic. We need a Live made specifically for PC (like in the past) but that will never happen since majority of sales go to consoles in the sporting genre. As long as Live for PC continues to be a port it's standard will be low on PCs until XBox 2 comes out and forces devs to optimize to higher tech (sorry low tech people). I guess I am spoiled by playing games like Far Cry because it makes Live 2005 look like an NES game. Hopefully EAsports license the Source engine for Live 2006.

All I gotta say...thank God for nbalive.org and their upcoming patches. Tony make MJ!!!! Also someone find a way I can use him in the dunk comp.

I could make a list but i wont.
The AI is outstanding, it rivals Farcry. The CPU is actualy playing in real time, its phenomenal. I got the game Thursday, i was off work til today, so i played about 12 hours on Friday & 8 Hours on Saturday, and im yet to find anything wrong with the game play at all. At 1st i thought there where to many steals, but then i realised i was trying to freestyle my way out of every position. Then i thought there was to may blocks, then i realised it was me trying to shoot over bigger and better player all the time. As NBA Live players we have never seen this kind AI before, and if there is anybody that doesnt see it, then ,maybe you should up your Basketball IQ

I realy like the gameplay but i really cant believe who BAD the grapichs are at maximum resolution...............

Nba live 2004 looked better........... there are also some weird shot animations

but there are also many improvements so i like 2005 better than 2004

Hey guys,

But i just got the game a week ago for my ps2...

and i cant explain myself why the grapfics are soooo bad....its just flickering...and the shimmer effect sucks totally

the dunk contest is really good...but if you play just against the computer..your opponents make almost every time 50 points...even manu ginobilli.... and even in rookie..mode..

Come on...

I cant get over the fact, that i think the creators spend their whole energy on the dunk contest..and asw and forgot about the game itself.

the same commentary..like last year...come on... that sucks

For me this game should be named NBA Slam Dunk Contest..with a special feature....the game.

in my mind you cant compare 2004 with 2005..cause...they are so different...the gameplay for 2004 and asw its only on 2005..

so i cant say,....

Maybe i will skip 2006.... in a way i-m really dissapointed with the output, but then i think..ok they have a slam dunk contest, and three point contest..
that are the only reasons which let me think i have not make a really bad deal wth the game.

What do you think?

Burner

Ive also been very disappointed so far with live 05 on the ps2.
Like everyone as already said about the graphics, how did they get so bad!!
I was messing around trying to get new shoes but the graphics are so blury that you couldnt tell wtf he was playing in anyway!!
The camera zoom is a kick in the balls.... full stop
Also the camera angles are so far out, i liked to be on "press" zoomed in but even zoomed all the way you still feel like your up in the cheap seats.
The game play is alot better than last year with the post moves and the rebounding but when i play the cpu it shoots 3's all the time!!

i Think the same with the Camera angles..

I´ve always found a certain camera angle that i like..but this year... sometimes its too near sometimes too far...

Then i thought there was to may blocks, then i realised it was me trying to shoot over bigger and better player all the time. As NBA Live players we have never seen this kind AI before, and if there is anybody that doesnt see it, then ,maybe you should up your Basketball IQ

I played an exhibition game on Friday night where Vlade Divac had 7 blocks. In replays you see arms up near the top of the white square, when his jumping rating is close to non-existent. This was in 6 minute quarters mind you. I dont care how good the AI is, Vlade Divac and 7 Blocks should NEVER be able to be used in the same sentence when referring to realistic gameplay.

its not the blocks that bug me so much, well thats to say regular blocks. wanna block my dunk or my layup? fine, whatever. block my jumper? i cant deal with that. its when my hook shot gets blocked by someone a inch shorter than me 4 times in a row(i was useing dwight howard who can jump) that really pissed me off. this is just flat out stupid. they took a few steps forward with realism imo but blocking hookshots 5-10 times a game is just stupid.

Hey Bluntman, just watched your live 05 video. Looks good.

How did you do the of the backboard dunks in 1-1 mode? And can you do those in 5-5 play?

they took a few steps forward with realism imo but blocking hookshots 5-10 times a game is just stupid.

I thought they did a great job with block animations, and blocks with layups/dunks (although the computer sometimes make way too many blocks on layups and dunks even with sliders low). The jump shot blocks are downright pathetic. It didn't happen much in 2004, and now it happens all the freaking time in 2005. I don't know what the guys down at EA were smoking, but I can't believe they chose to ignore this. In fact, I quit my current game out of sheer frustration because Rip Hamilton had a wide open, wide, wide open jumper, and out of nowhere, Chris Kaman comes and blocks him. I can't even get good looks without getting blocked anymore!

LOL... and then, after the shot was blocked, instead of going after the ball like normal players would do, he stands there and stares towards the rafters like a space cadet.

Gotta hand it to you EA, you sure know how to piss off paying customers...

yeah that really annoys me too. i get blocked and instead of instantly trying to grab the ball my guy is stuck in a lame animation forever while the cpu is running down court dunking the ball. if they wanted to make it that way, where your guy cannot recover the ball, they should have gone the realistic route and have him agrue with the ref everytime he got blocked, atleast then it would make more sense.

Hey guys,

But i just got the game a week ago for my ps2...

and i cant explain myself why the grapfics are soooo bad....its just flickering...and the shimmer effect sucks totally

the dunk contest is really good...but if you play just against the computer..your opponents make almost every time 50 points...even manu ginobilli.... and even in rookie..mode..

Come on...

I cant get over the fact, that i think the creators spend their whole energy on the dunk contest..and asw and forgot about the game itself.

the same commentary..like last year...come on... that sucks

For me this game should be named NBA Slam Dunk Contest..with a special feature....the game.

in my mind you cant compare 2004 with 2005..cause...they are so different...the gameplay for 2004 and asw its only on 2005..

so i cant say,....

Maybe i will skip 2006.... in a way i-m really dissapointed with the output, but then i think..ok they have a slam dunk contest, and three point contest..
that are the only reasons which let me think i have not make a really bad deal wth the game.

What do you think?

Burner

Sorry to say this but ur nuts how can you bash the game that much the gameplay is the best live has ever been sure the graphics arent the best but i like the lightning and heck some of the cybers are even amazing like lebrons etc. But for my review i have no gripes with it yet.

Sorry to say this but ur nuts how can you bash the game that much the gameplay is the best live has ever been sure the graphics arent the best but i like the lightning and heck some of the cybers are even amazing like lebrons etc. But for my review i have no gripes with it yet.

EWWWWW!!!!

You like your players wrapped in saran wrap? At least for me, once the edition guru's figure things out and they start releasing patches, namely better jersey and court ones, I'm turning lighting off. Ever pay attention to the back of Ben Wallace's fro? lol... Kinda looks like they applied a fresh bottle of SoulGlo (Comig to America reference ).

and i cant explain myself why the grapfics are soooo bad....its just flickering

It might be due to you tv?

Hey Bluntman, just watched your live 05 video. Looks good.

Hey man, Fraps fly s with Live this year, All my detail's where maxed at 1600x1280 resolution and Fraps recorded those clips at 15 FPS, i can believe it, last years live would be less than 1FPS.

How did you do the of the backboard dunks in 1-1 mode? And can you do those in 5-5 play?

In Practice, 1on1 & The all star weekend 5on5 games the “Off ball” control button is replaced with the “Tosstheballofthebackboardthendunkoneverybody” button,but NOT in regular 5on5 match ups. However i think with some crafty DBF editing it can be arranged for every single game, dont know how though....Yet.

I have to say if NBA 2k5 had realistic fouls I never would have picked up Live this year.

Dissapointed to say the least.......by both companies.

jr

I have to say if NBA 2k5 had realistic fouls I never would have picked up Live this year.

Dissapointed to say the least.......by both companies.

jr

and i cant explain myself why the grapfics are soooo bad....its just flickering

It might be due to you tv?

Actually, on my computer, the graphics are great with a Radeon 9800 Pro, but take a look at the LA Clippers home court. I don't know if it's my graphics card, but EA did a poor paint where there's a thin white line that "flickers" around the paint.

But for my review i have no gripes with it yet.

You're kidding, right?