The metaphorical storm being NBA Live 16 as a real competitor in the basketball scene this year. That said, I grew up playing NBA Action, NBA Live, NBA 2K, Jordan vs. Bird, Tecmo NBA, and many other basketball games. I use to relish in playing different developers vision of the sport. The differing takes on how to shoot, how to dribble, player ratings.
Kobe Bryant with the YAM in NBA 2K for Dreamcast!
Bulls vs. Lakers for NES, back when Jordan gave his license like every other player.
Konami NBA In The Zone! A personal favorite game that was underrated.
That era died years ago, and the nail in it’s coffin was Jesus’ Bynums NBA Elite. That debacle of a game ended EA’s basketball run and it has taken years for them to recover. During that down time NBA 2K has been defining and redefining the genre in incredible ways throughout the years. EA started over with NBA Live 14 and it was absolute trash. That is the nicest thing I can say about it. It’s so bad they gave away Live 15 instead of Live 14 on EA Access so people wouldn’t play it.
All of that said NBA Live 15 came out last year and I really enjoyed it. NBA Live 16 has brought the life back to EA. This game is a return to form for EA in a big way.
Before I get into the videogame stuff I have to talk about my favorite aspect of this game, play calling! The over lay for running plays is incredible. It does 2 things that make it great and usable; 1) The over lay discreetly tells you the next 2 moves coming up (if you need to dribble towards a screen then pass, they inform you of that pass while your dribbling). This is huge because because the hardest thing about running plays in basketball games is that rarely does a player (at least me) look at the play in its entirety before entering the game. That requires memorization of both the play and the name. That’s a lot to ask, but by showing you where the play is going you can move accordingly instead of waiting to see what’s next.
2) They run motion offenses. They ran a flex style offense and it never stopped. I have seen my offense run Princeton style offense as well. Impressive stuff, especially because I rarely deviate from running the pick and roll.
The graphics- The graphics look very smooth and crisp. Last year looked a little sterile, but this year the stadiums are full of life and the player models are more realistic than last year. The biggest thing that Live has struggled with are animations and clipping. Players would have wonky animations (quick impossible lay up scoop shots, weird defensive blocks, etc) and they would clip through each other during steals and blocks. This issue has been toned back hugely this year. I compared blocks shots and steals from this year to 2K and neither was clipping in a major way. The arms, the ball, and the air all took up space in a meaningful way. I love the dunk animations in live. There are still too many hook shot animations in the game though, most players can hit a baby hook and it’s a move rarely seen in the NBA outside of the Grizzlies big men. I love how colorful NBA Live 16 is. The reflections off the court look amazing. I’d say the graphics are very impressive this year and dare i say look “next gen”.
The gameplay- The best compliment I can give the game this year is that Live 16 has put enough work into the A.I. that it feels like a game of basketball is being played. Adjustments are made on the fly, players are constantly running plays and moving. Last year, if plays weren’t called players would be standing around. This year players are doing their own thing to try and help the team. It makes a huge difference. The ball handling controls are tight as ever. The right stick controls moves like a fighting game. Momentum is more realistic this year so players aren’t sliding back court or out of bounds this year.
The Modes
Pro Am- This is my dream mode, it’s P v P or P v E basketball. You can do progression through the P v E either alone or with people. And P v P is 5 on 5 goodness with bots if needed. My only issue with this mode is that not a lot of people own Live. What separates Pro Am from other games is the progression of your character. There are a lot of clothing and show unlocks as well as the ability to unlock NBA player animations for your person. My player Jax Briggs is currently decked out in some nice J’s, camo shorts, and a Melo jersey. Very much me.
Ultimate Team- Ultimate team this year is a mixed bag. I love it, it’s cards. But I really wish these modes would have a way to actually play with the cards….think bud bowl with NBA Cards.
Seriously though, it’s a tough progression. The rookie challenges are a breeze but everything after that is on Superstar difficulty and frankly the rewards have not been worth the grind. In Madden, you get lots of Elite cards for single player grinding. In Live not so much yet. I get that in basketball 1 great card can make a team so I get why they are frugal but it puts too much pressure on getting lucky in a pack. That said it provides tons of content and they added specialist players. For example, Eric Gordon is rated 92 for 3’s. His 3-point specialist card is a 97. Much like in Madden, these specialist cards are required for certain challenges.
The comparison- It’s the elephant in the room, how does this game stack up with NBA 2k16? The biggest thing I can say as a plus for NBA Live 16 is that they communicate information in an incredible way. They communicate info better than 2K does on every level. Miss a shot in Live 16? They tell you 12% (he’s not a good shooter). Hitting the back of the rim on your shots? The shot meter shows you a hoop and you can aim for the front or back of the basket via the meter. Let’s say you are having trouble defending the paint ( a big complaint for the game), the game communicates that you are successfully defending a lay-up by vibrating your controller.
They show and vibrate countdowns when you are crossing half court or throwing the ball inbounds. It’s amazing. In my opinion it replicates the info a player has looking at a shot clock or hearing the coach yell at you. 2K has a shot meter at players feet. It works but staring at Melo’s feet is dumb.
All of that said, 2k16 is a better game. The Spike Lee Joint that is the MyPlayer mode blows NBA Live’s equivalent out of the water. The lay up animations are much more consistent in NBA 2K every miss feels fair. I think graphically, Live is better but 2K has an art style and realism that is fantastic. I think 2K is a little slow but the precise controls this year are fantastic. Also, the worst feature of the series for me has always been the servers and this year they have been great on PC.
In summary, the biggest compliment I can give NBA Live 16 is that I am not embarrassed to say I like it. Operation Sports had good thing to say about it, and it has been getting fair reviews. my only frustration is 1) Game journalist refusal to take sports games seriously 2) People’s immediate dismissal of the series due to NBA Elite 11. Live 16 is good and EA does a great job updating their games.
Thanks for Reading. Peace!
J3Blackgamer 