Is 2005 better than 2004?

[jolu]

I thought 2004 was complete crap! CPU players would stick to you like glue, layup animations were so slow that cpu players would come from half court and block a layup before your guy finished it off! Blocked shots like they were going outta style!

The layup/dunk button resulted in a missed shot 75% of the time even if your man was wide open. I just don't want to spend my money for something that may resemble 2004.

[Donatello]

um.......wow i can't believe you felt that badly about 2004. 2004 was by far the best in the series in my opinion.

2005 is basically a slight upgrade on 2004, with some nice new features (all star weekend), and a greatly improved dynasty mode.

some features are missing, such as save stats option...and the menus are awkward at first, but i'd say 2005 is definitely better than 2005. but...if you hated 2004, i doubt you'll enjoy 2005.

[cyanide]

but...if you hated 2004, i doubt you'll enjoy 2005.

For sure.. I don't have as many gripes in 2004 as in 2005.

[babouisi]

Although 2005 has some issues, I feel it's better than 2004.

Maybe due to my style of play, I'm not suffering most of the gameplay bugs people mention (like too many blocks, I don't know how do you play guys, but I'm getting only 4-6 blocks per game, both CPU and me -set your sliders to zero and play realistic paced, passing game until you get an open shooter, you'll have a nice shot and it won't be blocked-).

I hate the unresponsive controls and the strange ball speed when passing, those are the only major flaws I suffer when playing.

Most of the bugs are menu-related (like the lack of contract lenght in trade screen, absence of MPG in stats, unability to see the stats in subs screen and some minor others). I think EA would easily fix them if they want, same as unability of saving stats which will affect the online leagues.

However, the more I play, the more I enjoy. Overall, I think Live 2005 is the best of the Live series so far.

[Matthew]

Rent it first, and if you dont like it, try espn, it is only 20 bucks. But I'm loving live alot atm.. you might like the slam dunk and revamped dynasty modes.. give it a shot

[jolu]

Ok, I'll admit that maybe I just suck at the game. I don't think I do to bad though. Let me ask this. Did anyone experience any of the following or see any of the following in 2004 version.

1. The layup/dunk button doesn't seem to work that well. I mean even when my guy has the basket to himself players would miss an unreasonable amount of layups per game. The button might as well not be even be there. I had Sam Cassel miss 7 layups in one game with the hoop all to himself. Before you talk about timing my release I've played the game long enough that I've got that down pretty well.

2. Way to many blocked shots.

3. CPU defenders would stick to my offensive players like freak'n glue.

Can anyone tell me what sliders would I change to remedy these things?

Thanks for the responses.

[Donatello]

I didn't have that layup problem. Inside Scoring slider should take care of your layup issues.


The blocking thing is about the same (honestly, maybe worse) in 2005. Everyone seems to have their block slider at 0.....and they still block Dirk with Earl Boykins.


It's much easier to shake defenders this year (2005). Freestyle fakeouts actually make your defender go the wrong way and stumble. I'm not sure if there is still a Freestyle Effectiveness slider in 2005 or not, but if so, that's the one.

[oboeguy]

Despite my complaints, I think this is a better game. The animations around the basket alone almost make it worth it. How cool is it to try a lazy turnaround J only to have the ball slaped from your hands before you get it up over your head? How cool is it to see a guy contort his body to lay it up between two defenders? That part of the game is pure gold. Some of the jumpshot animations are still weird, and there's still the "stand still after getting blocked etc" cheat used by the game, but I guess you can't have it all.

I've finally found comfortable sliders for myself. I try to seek a balance where it seems the fouls are called about the same, blocks are about the same, etc. I'm pretty happy with my sliders, finally. There's still some stuff that makes me scream "BS!!!" but the coolness factor has gotten high enough to usually balance it out.

[antwainbarbour]

Despite my complaints, I think this is a better game. The animations around the basket alone almost make it worth it. How cool is it to try a lazy turnaround J only to have the ball slaped from your hands before you get it up over your head? How cool is it to see a guy contort his body to lay it up between two defenders? That part of the game is pure gold. Some of the jumpshot animations are still weird, and there's still the "stand still after getting blocked etc" cheat used by the game, but I guess you can't have it all.

I've finally found comfortable sliders for myself. I try to seek a balance where it seems the fouls are called about the same, blocks are about the same, etc. I'm pretty happy with my sliders, finally. There's still some stuff that makes me scream "BS!!!" but the coolness factor has gotten high enough to usually balance it out.

The only thing holding me back from buying this game is the talk of too many blocked shots. It seemed if your defender was as tall (or taller) as the guy shooting the ball, it would get smacked back in his face every single time whenever I boke down, pulled up and shot over my man. For instance, it didn't matter if I was Kobe Bryant or Mark Bryant, whenever I did a two-dribble pull-up J, the defender would almost always recover and block my mid-ranger J.

Does this problem still exist in this game? Or is it just too many blocks around the hoop? I could deal with that, but honestly, how many jump shots do you see blocked in a game? I should be able to create space with the T-Macs and Bryants.

[Donatello]

jump shots are blocked pretty often, but if you really consider this.....how many of us actually take a realistic amount of time to free up and prepare a shot? the high number of blocked shots might just be because WE play unrealistically. If we all could commit to playing longer quarters and setting up plays more realistically, and making better decisions in terms of shot selection, I'm sure there wouldn't be an unrealistic amount of blocks at all.

so if you are an arcade gamer (like me, basically), yes, there are ALOT of blocks. but if you commit to playing TRUE NBA STYLE, i think you'd be just fine.

[oboeguy]

I think it's somewhere between bad game balance and what Donatello said. I tend to try to play a realistic game, moving the ball around, hitting the cutter with the pass, etc, i.e. how I like to play in RL, but with a little more arcadishness. However, when crap like what I posted in the another thread (see the video I put up) happens, I have to blame bad game balance.

[Alcoholic]

jump shots are blocked pretty often, but if you really consider this.....how many of us actually take a realistic amount of time to free up and prepare a shot? the high number of blocked shots might just be because WE play unrealistically. If we all could commit to playing longer quarters and setting up plays more realistically, and making better decisions in terms of shot selection, I'm sure there wouldn't be an unrealistic amount of blocks at all.

so if you are an arcade gamer (like me, basically), yes, there are ALOT of blocks. but if you commit to playing TRUE NBA STYLE, i think you'd be just fine.

I play more like true nba style, maybe that's why I don't get blocked a lot.

[jolu]

Thanks for the insight everyone! There are alot of good comments here. One more question. Is the little 1 hop and shoot move still in the 2005 version (if that makes sense)?

[Donatello]

"prohop" is in 2005, but it's been toned down to a more realistic level. no more can you just prohop past the defenders for an easy score. 99% of the time, you get your ass knocked down and the ball is stolen, or you get an offensive foul called on you.

[Wormy10]

Yea I like how they changed it up
It was too easy in 04'

[Andrew]

I still plan on doing a full review but to quickly sum up my feelings: yes, it is better, though there are a few issues that bother me, specifically some missing features in the frontend, the number of blocks, and the fact that the CPU still "cheats" for certain stretches on the higher difficulty levels. I was initially a little disappointed by the gameplay, but with some slider tweaks I've found that for me, it's simply a matter of toning down things like the blocks and game speed, and getting used to the fact that the pro hop has to be used really sparingly. You also have to shoot more midrange jumpers, which is nice.

Dynasty Mode is light years ahead of NBA Live 2004, it's the aspect of the game that has undergone the most improvement. I feel that it's better, but it does feel somewhat different to NBA Live 2005. For those people who aren't quite sure, I too would recommend hiring the game first. As far as extras go, All-Star Weekend is awesome - that's about all I need to say in a condensed review.

[Donatello]

"hiring" the game? lol....i'm guessing that's aussie for "renting"?

[Andrew]

That's right, just another word for "renting".

[Mahoney_jr]

I love this new simulation feature in dynasty mode. I tend to simulate all games of my team till end of 3rd quarter and take over control for the final 12 minutes. That saves time, gives me more realistic statistics and I can enjoy the real exiting minutes of the game. And when a game seems to be over after three quarters, I still can try out my rookies or benchies. Great feature for me!

[TheBigEasy]

"prohop" is in 2005, but it's been toned down to a more realistic level. no more can you just prohop past the defenders for an easy score. 99% of the time, you get your ass knocked down and the ball is stolen, or you get an offensive foul called on you.

And thats really one of the improvements of the game. In Live '04 it was way too easy to get by your defender with a pro hop. Now like donatello said, you get kicked in the ass. So you have to think around this ...

Oh and I don't experience too many blocks ... but too many steals, which is maybe the result of me playing poorly .

TBE

P.S: Oh and Andrew ... is there a timetable for the first NSLC Roster Update for Live 05?

[Andrew]

Just released it TBE.

[TheBigEasy]

Just released it TBE.

Uh nice ... but I think I'll wait for the ratings updates .

Btw ... how do you do those rating updates anyway? Any formula or just rule of thumb?

TBE

[Andrew]

I don't use any set stats to ratings formulas (except for the free throw rating, FT%=FT Rating), but I'm familiar with the ranges of each rating eg what's good, what's bad, what's average, the simulated stats that they can produce and the way they will affect how a player performs during gameplay.

[TheBigEasy]

Ah .. ok.

And have you any timetable when the updated ratings will be released . I know I am bugging you, but I want to start my dynasty and I think it would be better with updated ratings. Rodney Rogers definitly shouldn't be rated a 67 ... and Primoz Brezec of the Bobcats is too low with 32.

TBE

[Andrew]

Most likely this weekend, but I can't set an exact time and date as I'm busy with a roster of another kind (namely my paying job), so if it will be this weekend it will likely be sometime Sunday.