NBA Live 2004 review

Protecting the ball to wait for a passing lane.

NBA Live 2004 is the latest instalment of the EA Sports basketball franchise. This franchise is no different to any of the other EA Sports series - in that it gets released every year without fail, with minor graphical and gameplay improvements. This means that each year’s version is very similar to the one from the previous year. However, this hides the progress that these franchises really make, as any comparison between versions more than a couple of years apart would show. This year’s incarnation is, amazingly, bigger and better than last year’s in terms of both graphics and gameplay.

Spit and Polish

Slamming it home.

The graphics have been beefed up from last year in the expected areas, with more detailed player models and recognizable faces with more detail than last year. There are new animations this year, as well which hook in to new controls. There is the “pro-hop” which allows you to end a dribble with a jump forwards allowing you to clear some space towards the hoop or break the defence momentarily to allow a clear pass. The other notable new animations are the dive and the double team. The dive allows your player to dive for a loose basketball, which can be useful when the ball is heading out of bounds or if you’ve just had the ball stripped. The double team is a neat but sometimes frustrating addition. If you get close to a ball carrier who is already marked then you often end up double teaming. This sounds fine but the problem arises when you try to move off the double team, which cannot be done until the player passes the ball.

Just like on TV

Playmaker gives you the control for fancy moves to beat the D.

The graphical improvements are complimented by flourishes such as instant replays of flashy or important baskets. This is all carried along by expert commentary that seems less repetitive than in other EA Sports titles. The commentary on a title such as John Madden suffers because of the long pauses in the action which need to be filled with colourful commentary, but faster sports such as basketball and ice hockey don’t have this problem. The commentary is made up largely of the repetition of player names with actions such as passes or shoots. Even so the commentary does start to become tedious before in the end, if you always have it on. The on-court sound effects are well done with players shouting out plays and calling for picks. The coach can also be heard to comment from time to time, calling for defensive pressure. The TV presentation helps to give NBA Live an arcade feel, whilst still providing enough depth and accuracy to qualify as a simulation.

Court Side Tickets

Beating the D with some fancy footwork

In line with other EA Sports releases of recent years NBA Live 2004 includes a “dynasty mode” alongside the franchise, season, play off, one-on-one and one-off game options. The dynasty mode is the focus of the single player game and is essentially a multi-season franchise. This allows you to control training where you select which skills the team should practice and are then shown a cut scene of them practicing. You also can purchase branded items like Nike trainers, which marginally improve in game performance. The franchise allows you to take a team through the playoffs season after season in complete control of trades, training, coaching and playing. This level of control can be reduced using the other game modes and the computer can automate trades.

If it’s in the game

Preparing to pass to the open man under the basket.

The latest feature making its way into EA Sports titles is the playmaker control. This is activated by pushing the right thumbstick into the appropriate position. This feature has been toned down from last year, making it less effective and the available moves are essentially the same as before. For those new to playmaker control, it is used to take a lower level of control over the action and can be used on either offence or defence. The defensive use is more limited and basic, with the left and right positions swapping in for the attempt to strip the ball button. The up and down directions are a bit more useful on defence, as they put your hands up or down to restrict shooting and passing respectively. On offence you have the ability to perform evasive manoeuvres. These vary depending on the player you are controlling, but essentially they include spins and dribbling the ball between the players’ legs to try and evade the defence. This can be extremely effective, especially when making a breakaway with one defender to beat. Another new control has been added to Live 2004, which gives the player the ability to control whether to shoot a lay-up/dunk or take a jump shot. This can be pretty confusing in the early stages with lay-ups being attempted from the three point line, but once you get the hang of it you can force a lay-up from an awkward angle or distance where the computer would otherwise have forced a jump-shot.

A Balancing act

The defender tries to oppose the inevitable dunk

NBA Live 2004 is just what you would expect from EA Sports – a slightly polished version of last year’s game, with some heed paid to criticisms of the previous version. This has the result that hardcore fans will rush out to buy it on release day, but those who bought last year’s version will need to consider how badly they need these tweaks. If you don’t own an NBA Live game and you are a basketball fan then this is definitely an enjoyable game. The AI is smart, both on your team and on the computer teams, making them tough to beat, except on the easiest difficulty mode. The presentation helps to give the game an edge towards arcade fun rather than simulation, but it does strike a happy medium - remaining fun without going all the way to an NBA Jam style game. All in all this is a good, fun title not without its flaws but then, no sports game has ever been seen by everyone as perfect.