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When EA brought NBA Live to the Xbox 360 last year, the reviews praised the striking visuals, but were generally unkind to the overall game. Most issues centered on the lackluster lineup of features and modes in the next generation offering when compared to its current gen counterparts. The Xbox Black version of the game was superior in nearly every facet of the game, and even the visuals, though lacking the “wow” factor of the 360, had more polish. Though the missing modes were a fair criticism, it was also an enormous undertaking on EA’s part to not only hit the launch window, but to rebuild the entire Live engine from scratch for the 360. As an Xbox owner I lamented the fact that I had to play glorified PS2 games on my ‘Box if I wanted to enjoy Madden or NBA, so the fact that I had to put up with a stripped down Live on its first run didn’t bother me too much. I just wanted to know that the power of the 360 was being utilized.
As the next chapter in the Live franchise prepares to arrive, EA has been hard at work not only putting into the 360 game what so many fans missed the first time around, but also adding some brand new features to the game. If you’re still 360-less, don’t worry, because EA has taken the standard Xbox Black offering to a whole new level as well. During a visit to EA Vancouver Xbox Users Group got a chance to play the game on all of the different consoles, and to see just how far EA has come with this game in the past year. Boheim has the full hands-on preview.
| NBA Live 2007 | | Electronic Arts | | Electronic Arts Vancouver | | TBA | | Sports | | Xbox Live | | 1-2 | | TBD |
Anticipation score 80%
Hands On Impressions
First off, it is clear that EA peruses the message boards and takes the feedback from NBA Live fans to heart, because they were ready for the laundry list of issues we had with the previous version of Live for the 360. Most of us in attendance at the Community Days had the same issues with the game. 
Unpolished visuals, no Dynasty, no All Star Weekend, no Superstar moves, and a lackluster online experience all were on our lists of “next generation inadequacy.” But before we could get to our issues, EA was ready with the games.
Xbox Black First up was a look at the current generation consoles, and most importantly the Xbox Black. NBA Live 07 is clearly in full stride on this generation of machines, as the graphical polish on widescreen HDTV was stellar, and at first some of us thought it on par with games we’ve seen on the 360. The animation was incredibly life-like with hiccup free transition graphics between moves, and a level of detail that is startling.
But the best change in this year’s Xbox Black game is in the gameplay. When you’ve played basketball titles in the past, and your players have interacted in the one-on-one match-ups, you might see a hand check, or a bump to the body, but for the most part the players were two separate entities on the court. Well, that is about to change. Now when you push it up the floor with Wade, and you go up against Terry, you’re going to see a realistic interaction to the two players as one tries to go forward, and the other tries to impede his progress. What happens is dependent on where you are positioned, and the players’ ratings. The conflict is ongoing, so as you push forward offensively the game is determining the outcome; all while you’re treated to two players banging away at each other with a very life-like presentation. The first time you see it in action, you really get the impression you are watching an NBA game on television.
This also means on the Xbox Black version, gone are the days of mashing the steal button as the opponent comes up on you. More important is your position, and how well you place your defender against your opponent. The game should play more realistically because of this, and force you to go for a steal only when there is a true opportunity, lest risk having Bron Bron blow by you and poster-ize your center.
For 07 the developers have put in an all-new “intensity” feature, that will be represented not only visually and aurally, but also affect how the game plays in different situations. For example, when you are in the first quarter of an early regular season game, the intensity level will be fairly low, and you will find it much easier to drive to the hoop, as the defense will be more relaxed. But in the fourth quarter of a close playoff game, expect both teams to be banging away much harder, and the traffic to be a little more congested down low when you head for the hole. You’ve seen this type of gameplay effect before, but generally it involves the dumbing down of one set of players to make the others better, such as when your team has momentum or home court advantage. Instead, think of it as a ratcheting up of everyone’s game. It won’t make your team better necessarily, but it will make the game play differently, and force you to adjust to the game much like an NBA coach would have to in a real life game.
The Xbox Black version will also return with game modes (Dynasty, etc) intact, and a more robust Superstar feature allowing players to easily rotate between the different categories. Xbox 360 The build we played on the 360 was further from completion than the current gen edition, but it was clear that the game is going to be much improved over last year’s inaugural effort.
In terms of gameplay, you will get the Superstar moves in this one, and though the controls seem a little complicated at first effort, it wasn’t long before I was pulling off some pretty nice dunks. You use the right analog stick to control the types of dunks or shots you take in Superstar, and for the most part, it works quite well. It can get a little rough when your player has four or five Superstar categories to cycle through, as on the fly it gets a bit cumbersome, but again, with a little practice it was fairly simple to get the hang of.
Though the 360 version lacks the one-on-one interaction depth that the current generation has (see above), there was still a fair amount of bumping and grinding of the players. At this stage of development the action is still too frenetic to fairly evaluate, but EA assured us that this is what they are working on over the next month prior to launch, and that it will feel more like the Xbox Black game in the end, which is a good thing.
Dynasty is back, incredibly deep (and basically the same as the Xbox Black version), and fully utilizes the ESPN license. In fact, what I found interesting was the way that EA has chosen to incorporate ESPN into their sports games. With 2K it was all about the presentation, as those games tried to recreate the feel of an ESPN style broadcast. Not so with EA, as historically, presentation was a strong suit, and the EA brand is as recognized by gamers as ESPN. So they have chosen a more “useful” approach. With Dynasty mode you will get EA’s Insider that will provide rumors and information on players around the league, making the game feel more alive than in years past. You will also find a Mock Draft and Draft Grades to help guide you through the process of building your team, and give you feedback on the job you are doing. How all of this will work we will find out soon, but my initial thoughts are that I’d rather see ESPN used in this way, as opposed to just seeing the ESPN logo over the score.
Dynasty will allow you to hire your staff, including scouts and trainers, and an Assistant Head Coach. The AHC will play a pivotal role with your team, as you can assign him to investigate rumors as to their truthfulness. There’s a rumor Portland wants to trade a point guard, and you need one? Let your AHC find out who is on the block (if it’s true), and you can make a deal. Of course you also have to pay attention to your team chemistry as well, and if your current point guard gets wind of the rumor he may not be too happy about it, and the resulting unhappiness could affect the team’s play.
Visually the game appears to be much improved. The NBA is a league, perhaps more than any other, built on the emotion of its players. In last year’s 360 game you had a bunch of great looking player models that had faces of chiseled stone. Dirk just hit the big shot to give his team the lead, and the camera zooms in to find… an expressionless face with eyes of glass. That will change in 07, but don’t expect to find over the top reactions, as one of the hurdles programmers face is keeping the integrity of the player’s facial structure intact when they are emoting. Think of it this way; you have several hundred different player faces in the game, but you can’t program a shout or a smile for each and everyone one, so you have to find the right balance in the expression so that when you program a “shout” it looks as good on Nash as it does on Shaq. Overall, it appeared the visual team found a solid middle ground and the game will, at the very least, be a more emotional one than in 06. The players also now have “procedural awareness” so expect to see them looking where they should, when they should, and following the action in a more realistic way than we’ve seen in the past.
But the most visually striking feature was the addition of distinct player animations for jump shots and free throws. Currently the game’s build has about 50-75 custom free throw animations, and even more custom jumpers. So far it looks great in motion, and you can see a huge difference between Dirk and Yao when they each put up their shot.
Speaking of the charity stripe, last year’s free throw mechanic was a complete farce. Using the right stick to make the shots was not only insanely difficult, the game provided you no way to practice, nor any feedback on missed shots. Unfortunately the right stick is still intact, and for myself, it was as hard as ever (even with a tutorial, and the game’s producer giving me pointers). Fortunately, this year you have an out-clause, as you can just use the B button to shoot simulation style free throws. It’s not as challenging, but at least I know that Dirk is going to make most of his shots, and I won’t be trying to avoid fouls for fear of my 10% accuracy on foul shots.
I’ve saved the best for last in terms of innovation. Both the current gen and next gen games feature a more fully incorporated ESPN (anytime sports tickers are awesome!), but it is the 360 that is going to blaze the trail toward the true blending of fantasy and reality with ESPN on Demand. In addition to having a real-time sports ticker running at the bottom of the screen, NBA Live will be the first EA Sports title to offer you access to ESPN Motion showing you highlights of ESPN programming from the real world. Miss Dan Patrick that day? Just click on ESPN on Demand, and listen to a recorded portion of Mr. Patrick as you play your Dynasty games. See something interesting on the ticker? Click over and check out the highlights from Sportscenter. Maybe the boys on PTI are chatting about it right now, and you can find out, as you watch PTI on your 360. Videos, articles, and radio shows will all be accessible from your 360. Having seen it in action, I can honestly say, this is going to change sports games going forward, and in the case of ESPN, you won’t find this anywhere other than EA. Conclusion The second generation of EA Sports titles on the 360 is nearly upon us, and I’m hopeful that the second effort with the next generation engine will make a huge difference. It’s clear that EA is focused on giving us the most realistic, yet fun, sports games on the market, and if they can pull it all together in the last month, NBA Live could turn out to be a champion.
Look for our full review of the game once it hits the shelves. Images that are used in this hands-on preview can be seen in full in our Gallery at the following location. Hands-On Preview by Boheim
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