NBA Live 10 Review Page 2

08 Oct 2009 at 18:34:49 by John Robertson
Systems used to review this title: (360)

Despite the improvements to gameplay, the biggest leaps forward have been made in the on-court presentation department.  Everything looks and sounds as if you’re watching a game on TV, complete with team introductions, highlight reels during stoppages in play and signature pre-game showboating (Lebron James’ chalk dust trick, for example).

The real gem of the package however is the quality of the crowd.  While a bugbear for most sports games (here’s looking at you, Madden!), the spectators on display here get involved in the game as much as they possibly can; jeering when the home team falls behind, cheering when they retake the lead and looking on in stunned silence as their heroes lose by a point due to a last second miracle shot.  It’s also rather pleasing to be able to look across the hordes of fans and not see the exact same character model every other seat.  There are, of course, a set number of different types of fan but whatever the number may be, it’s high enough that it prevents you from cringing every time you glance towards the stands.

Unfortunately, the same praise cannot be levelled at the commentary, which, just as in previous Live titles, is average at best.  While the actual lines of dialogue are generally interesting and add a bit of extra spice to the action, the frequency at which they repeat themselves is ridiculous.  If you continually experiment with new teams the problem isn’t so bad, but after a few games playing as the same club you’ll have heard certain, player-specific dialogue enough to be able to recite it word for word.

While Live 10 has an abundance of game modes to get stuck into (Dynasty Mode, online leagues, playoffs et al), there are only two new ones to test out - ‘Dynamic Season’ and ‘Adidas Live Run’.  Dynamic Season allows you to play along with the 2009-2010 NBA season, complete with the Dynamic DNA feature first seen last year that updates each player’s stats on a daily basis in line with their recent performances.  Interestingly, rather than selecting a single team to play as, you can play any number of games that are scheduled for that day.  The results of those games are then merged with the real-life results of the games you didn’t play to create a league that is unique to you, based partly on fantasy and partly on reality in varying degrees depending on how many games you want to play yourself.  It’s an interesting idea that, due to the NBA season not starting until the 28th of October, we weren’t able to put to the test but the feature is interesting enough in itself to warrant an honourable mention.

Adidas Live Run is much the same as FIFA and NHL’s ‘Be A Pro’ online modes, in that you join a club with your friends and take control of a single player throughout the game.  Your club is ranked against others in a simple league system, allowing you to compare your skills against the rest of the world.  If you can form a club of decent, selfless players then there’s a lot of enjoyment to be had from Live Run, but join a squad made up of ball-hogs and personal stat builders and the whole thing becomes just too frustrating to stick with.

In comparison to recent years, NBA Live 10 is a much-improved product.  For a genre in which you often struggle to pick out the differences from year to the next, the team have done a wonderful job in overhauling the whole thing and delivering a much more enjoyable and authentic basketball experience.  It’s still not quite all there, and it’ll be interesting to see how it compares to the latest addition in the all-powerful NBA 2K series, but Live is finally back on the right track and readying itself for a shot at the title.

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