NBA Live 2004 Review

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Against my better judgment, I went out and purchased NBA Live 2004 after swearing off the franchise after last year's debacle. Though I loved the hyped Freestyle Control, I found 2003 to be incredibly frustrating for it's emphasis on arcade-like game play that allowed the opponent to score at will. But like a battered wife, I eventually found myself coming back, hoping that things would change for the better. I'm happy to say that NBA Live 2004 is light years ahead of it's predecessor.



Two major gripes I had with last year's version were the opponent's high shooting percentages and their ability to almost always snag the offensive rebound. Not only are these two issues fixed in this year's edition, the entire game play engine has been overhauled as well. Based on the "All-Star" difficulty setting, which is geared towards more experienced Live players, the opponent's defense is stingy and tough as nails. The Freestyle Control, which made it easy to breeze past defenders to the basket through a series of jukes and cross-overs, is not as effective, though it sure is pretty to watch. It's refreshing to have to work for a score. To do so, the emphasis must now be on setting picks and using motion to free a player for an open shot. Thankfully, EA has implemented a few tools that you can use at your disposal. A new feature this year allows you to control a player without the ball. Once you feel that you're open or have a clear path to the basket, you can call for the ball and go for the shot. Furthermore, EA has now implemented a control scheme in which you can either choose to go for a jump shot or a dunk. I guess they were tired of the complaints about the two foot jump shot from the basket. In addition to the new dunk and jump shot buttons, you can now alter your shot if you feel that it is about to be stuffed. For instance, say that you're driving down the lane, hell-bent on dunking the ball in your opponent's face. However, you notice that another defender has shifted over so that now you're facing a two on one challenge at the hole. By pressing the dunk button and then quickly tapping it again, your dunk now becomes a sweeping lay-up, a la Jordon around Sam Perkins in the '92 Finals. Sweet... Also, a welcomed addition to this year's game is the hop step, or traveling according to basketball purists. Regardless, by pressing the Y button when facing an opponent, your player will now "hop" towards the basket to free himself for an open jumper or a dunk. The closer you are to the basket, the better chance the move will be more effective. I also noticed that for some players, the move is much more effective than for others. While playing as the Houston Rockets, I found that it was harder for Yao Ming to pull off the hop step as opposed to Steve Franchise. Thankfully, you can't overly abuse this move since it hardly guarantees a score. It just allows you more breathing room to get a shot off.

Rebounding. This has been a thorn in the Live series for as long as I can remember. I don't know how many times when my man was about to snag a rebound when the ball magically teleported to the hands of an opposing player. It took almost a decade, but I'm glad EA has finally fixed this problem that oh, so haunted past games like the angry ghosts in Poltergeist. By pressing the jump button on defense, I'm happy to report that the ball will most likely be rebounded depending on the position on the player and the timing of the jump. I could never figure out why this concept seemed so difficult for past developers. Granted, the computer will occasionally snag the offensive rebound, but it is less often than before.

Graphically, NBA Live 2004 is visually impressive, especially on the XBOX. The colors are vibrant and the player models are smooth and detailed just enough to distinguish one from the other. However, they are still too cartoonish-looking, with large heads, hands and feet. If Sega can realistically render it's players in their upcoming ESPN NBA Basketball down to the pimple, I don't know why EA can't either. I also miss some of the in-game cut scenes that were prevalent in 2003. They captured the fun and essence of an NBA game, but are sorely absent in this year's version. So far, I've only noticed one which happened during time-outs when the players converged around the coach. Also, EA finally took the effort to model the stadiums based on their real life counterparts. Gone are those generic courts that seemed indistinguishable from the other. Unfortunately, the game suffers from serious frame rate issues from time to time. I have yet to play the game on other camera settings than the press box view so I don't know if that has an affect. If not, then EA's quality assurance team should be fired.

After NBA 2k3 unofficially won the title as best basketball game last year, the ball was in EA's court to face up to the challenge. I'm relieved to say that they have. By overhauling the game play engine, serious issues such as rampant scoring and offensive rebounding swayed towards the opponent's favor have been fixed. NBA Live 2004 now feels like a real basketball game. The flashiness has been toned down with the emphasis more on defense and basic fundamentals. One can only hope that this is the benchmark for future Live games.

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I used to LOVE the NBA Live series, until the 2001 iteration came out. Since then, it has degenerated into an overrated arcady game without much substance. Thankfully, 2004 marks the return of a more solid hoops game, but it still can't hold a candle to ESPN NBA. I have played both games this year pretty extensively, and I am not a fanboy, I just want the better game, and this isn't it.

The GOOD: Freestyle control is fun and better tuned than Sega's ESPN NBA's ISOmotion. Better defense than last year. Deep franchise mode. Good commentary. Better menus than ESPN NBA. Separate dunk and shoot buttons are a great idea.

The BAD: Control. Players feel like they're on ice, and the fact that the ballhandler automatically protects the ball and turns their back to the rim really frustrated me, especially in trying to use Freestyle. Still way to arcady. The "improved" AI ultimately translated into more computer cheating, storming back from a big deficit, never missing a shot. There is very little mid-range game in the Live 2004, meaning that while you can dunk almost at will or hit the 3 all day, the 15 foot jumper is harder to hit than ever. The computer defender shadows you like a hawk, even some 5 feet beyond the 3-point line. The pro-hop button is cool, but it makes it TOO easy to drive. Last, but not least, the graphics are HORRENDOUS. This is 2004 for God's sake! ESPN NBA is about 3 years ahead of Live in this department.

The UGLY: did I mention the graphics? Why does Madden look and play sweet while Live feels like the red-headed stepchild of the EA Sports family?

This isn't a bad game by any means, but it feels more like a fast-paced arcade game than a true b-ball simulation, so buyer beware. I can't recommend it over ESPN NBA by any stretch of the imagination, but at least it's not nearly as bad as Live 2002 or 2003.

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What in THE (long 'E' for this one) hell is wrong with EA Sports?? They FINALLY improve on a stagnant (yet somehow top-selling) franchise, and what do they follow it up with?? A game that probably should've been last year's version.

Too bad... really. I'll try to keep this review as short as possible, while still getting the obvious point across.

I have to recommend ESPN NBA Basketball over this one. (Review to come shortly surpisingly, I'm a little disappointed with that one as well... but at least it's beautiful to watch.)

Graphics: Subpar not even in the same league as their Sega counterparts. That trend has been prevalent for some time now, but it just slapped me in the face this year. Even on the XBOX, this looks like a game that would've been introduced with the next-gen systems... back in 2000.

Gameplay: Familiar, with a few new gimmicks. I'm hesitant to use the word 'new', since over half of these 'new' additions were previously availble on other basketball games even earlier 'Live' titles. (e.g. Alter your shot/dunk in mid-air: you could do that on NBA 2K3, and a half-dozen earlier b-ball games. Hey, 'Generasian'... MJ made Perkins look stupid in the '91 Finals. And it's Jordan, with an 'A'. Get it right... we take that stuff serious in tha CHI.) The defense is MUCH better than last year's game. No more 175+ point games by the computer, or those ridiculous 75-85% shooting displays by everyone on the floor. THAT was by far the biggest improvement... along with the rebounding, which was given a major overhaul. The ability to choose a dunk vs. a shot while near the basket was a welcome addition, but again, one that has been available before. The player's reactions to the game situations and each other is improving dramatically, but it's finally to the point that Sega was at in '02. Then, of course there are still many of the familiar glitches: dunking behind the backboard/hand going through the rim; dunks are HORRIBLE (no rim touching whatsoever); players feel like they're moving on ice; next-to-impossible to score any way other than a dunk/layup or a 3-pointer; etc. Those who have been faithful followers of the NBA Live series over the years particularly since it's crossover to these newer systems in 2000-2001 know what I mean by "ETC."

Franchise/Stats: Outstanding, as usual. This is EA's claim to fame. I guess I can understand why if your games offer no real upgrade from one year to the next, they need to have a franchise/dynasty mode and stat-tracking scheme that rivals reality. Makes sense...

Sound: Average, at best. Maybe I'm picky, but I don't think that I should have to wonder if a friend in the next room is playing NBA Live 2004 on the XBOX or Slam Jam Basketball on a TurboGrafix 16. It's probably just me, right? Right...

Overall: I know basketball is traditionally one of the hardest sports to accurately simulate, given the nature of the game, speed, and continuous movements by everyone on the floor. I just feel that, in 2004, we are nowhere near where we should be. NBA Live suffers from what I call 'MADDENitis... year after year, nothing new. They even go so far as to get rid of some of the very elements that you may have loved from the year before. It's a good game, but AGAIN only because it was a pretty good game last year. (There's a pattern here, I swear) I know what you're saying: Why do YOU keep buying them then? That's easy: I'm retarded. But this isn't about me. I came up with Electronic Arts. (Remember Jordan's Up-and-Under on Lakers vs. Celtics?? That was a sign of things to come from this company; the next years's version Bulls vs. Lakers was the EXACT same game, with more teams. The year after that? You got it Bulls vs. Blazers. New teams/players same game. See? I told you there was a pattern.) There was one credible excuse, more or less, for those games back then: We're talking about the Sega Genesis or Super Nintendo. 16-Bit baby machines Fine. I'll deal with that. But not on so-called 'Next-Generation' systems. Given these machines' capabilities, there's no excuse. I'm not saying it needs to be to the point where you can see the deodorant dripping from under the players' arms, but better than THIS. I'm just disappointed, I guess. (Can you tell??)

Get it together, EA Sports. Please!! (Sega, don't you go falling off now, too...)

Honest reviews on NBA Live 2004

The game was the rebirth of the NBA Live franchise for me. I had been turned off of the game in years past because of the weak game play and subpar controls.

NBA Live 2004 put EA back in front against the NBA2K games.

I'm glad to see that EA has gotten this one right again.

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I believe anyone that is a basketball fan needs to buy this game and keep for a very long time. Because it is the last basketball game that features Michael Jordan on the roster.