Review at IGN.com

[J@3]

Live now has superstar which will make it somewhat more realistic.

2K has something similar now too.

[nbalive744]

why are all of you talknig about renting 2k6 when it didnt even come out!

(wait did it)??

[Malfa]

Nope, it didn't.

[Andrew]

Not a bad review.

so while the Superstar moves add the realism of individuality to the court, don't expect to play any realistic type of basketball game here. Sure, you can call plays and players act more realistically than in the past, but this is far from a basketball simulation.

I'd have to disagree there on two counts:

1. The default sliders are a bit high and allow for a lot of steals and interceptions.
2. Superstar players do stand apart but not completely unrealistically

"Far from a basketball simulation" really is a poor choice of words. It's also worth noting that every single basketball game ever made can only be realistic as the way it's played. I really have to disagree with Jon Robinson on that assertion.

As a videogame, it's extremely fun and addicting, especially playing two-players, but if you're looking for a true sim, you're looking in the wrong place.

Again, strongly disagree.

There are way too many blocks, way too many steals to mirror anything close to a real game.

Again, sliders...but it's funny, with the default blocking sliders I generally don't get too many blocks. "Way too many blocks"? Hardly...

But in the end, while the game is as close to a sim as the Live series has ever been, it's still far from the days of Inside Drive in terms of pacing and that true-to-life NBA feel.

I haven't played any of the recent ones, but the last Inside Drive was truly awful. Still, as I said he seems to have missed the mark on a couple of points.

Another drawback is the amount of missed layups and dunks. Not only will your Superstar players miss some of their Superstar shots, but there will be times when you can't make a close shot to save your polygonal life. Dunks clank off the back rim, layups roll out, and there were times playing this game where I thought a few editors were going to throw their controllers through the window. A passionate response to passionate gameplay (especially the way we talk trash), but when you have a Superstar player who goes in for a special layup and he blows that opportunity and costs you precious points, it makes you wonder why you were so happy to have that Superstar in your lineup.

So...one moment he's unhappy about the apparent lack of realism, the next he's complaining that not every shot goes in for the Superstars?

All in all not a bad review and 9's much more generous a score than I would have expected from IGN, but some of those points are a little weird and off the mark.

[kingsfanman]

2k6 is crap - that's all I have to say about it. Even after I have messed with the sliders of it, the shooting is still unrealistic... I never liked it.

EA still is the reigning best gameplay NBA game. The gameplay, shooting, is all realistic.

[Andre]

2k6 is crap - that's all I have to say about it. Even after I have messed with the sliders of it, the shooting is still unrealistic... I never liked it.

EA still is the reigning best gameplay NBA game. The gameplay, shooting, is all realistic.

you mean 2k5, right? 2k6 is not out yet.

And another thing, shooting is not unrealistic at all, this is just a cheap assertion in my opinion. Turn down the shooting sliders and you'll get realistic %. IN any case, please support your assertion, caz this is like saying that in LIVE you can dunk from 3pt line: UNTRUE.

[Jan Shane]

There was a very good post at IGN's NBA board with shrine. He made a lot of valid points and even alot of the LIVE faithfuls couldn't escape the truth. And plus I wouldn't say he's a 2k fanboy, but more of a LIVE user who has been frustrated the past few years with LIVE:

you don't have to be a fan boy, to notice that LIVE is weak, its always just better than the last LIVE, which isnt saying much because LIVE has been weak for years. I think ever since 2k came out on the dreamcast, LIVE has been feeling the pinch, first of all, the skating is the truth, never feel like you are running, and I've always said that, you can run slide from one side of the court to the other and ball only bounces 1 time, WTF?

Now I know when you playing head to head with someone its fun, I cant deny that, but then some glitch or a.i. problem always messes up the game, remember 2004 when you could just blocks two, three, shots in a row, same thing this year, and when I played the demo, the same steals and blocks were still happening, thats a two year glitch!!!! Is that code or a glitch?

And the 20 steals by Marbury is nothing compared to 18 threes I hit with Dwade, he's not even some big three pt. shooter.

So you LIVE dudes that don't care, don't reply, but to the guys that have been saying LIVE needs to step it up and they have'nt delivered, please reply.

See unlike some of the fanboys, I play both every year, and Every Year, LIVE is some fast pace, overlook the flaws game, and 2k is more of an NBA experience, the people look human and not cartoon network. Flame me, baby cuz I know what Im talking about.

THE MADDEN OF THE NBA IS 2K, not garbage, ugly looking, fake stats, bad player ratings, you have to edit everything yourself.

And when you do your own ratings re edit, you can't go online with your dream stats, so you have to play the trash EA set up, How come Shaq dunk is 98, who is he, Vince Carter, to me 98 dunk means 360, windmills, Shaq just throws it down hard, he shouldnt have 98 dunk?

what about Marbury who attacks the basket all the time, his inside scoring is 53, Inside scoring isn't just for big man, In 2k, some little guys inside scoring (close) is Higher than big men that don't score.

thats just a few examples of CAnada EA, not getting it right, the ratings are sensless (hardiness? Wtf?)

so you homies that just wanna hold on turbo and hope your star makes more threes than the bum the other guy is using, go ahead, enjoy LIVE, but I'm gonna be laughing the day it comes out and the board have people talking about returning the game.

so what if its top seller, Elton John is a top seller, I'm no fan of his. Ja Rule was a top seller too, don't make him dope.
Live sells alot, they have a BIG company, doesn't mean the game is good.

hahahhahahahaha

http://boards.ign.com/NBA_Live/b6701/99471370/?14

He makes a lot of good points...even the IGN reviewer even stated that the skating effect is still there.

[Andrew]

and I've always said that, you can run slide from one side of the court to the other and ball only bounces 1 time, WTF?

HUGE exaggeration. There's a bit of skating but nowhere near that bad.

Now I know when you playing head to head with someone its fun, I cant deny that, but then some glitch or a.i. problem always messes up the game, remember 2004 when you could just blocks two, three, shots in a row, same thing this year, and when I played the demo, the same steals and blocks were still happening, thats a two year glitch!!!! Is that code or a glitch?

Haven't noticed that.

See unlike some of the fanboys, I play both every year, and Every Year, LIVE is some fast pace, overlook the flaws game, and 2k is more of an NBA experience, the people look human and not cartoon network. Flame me, baby cuz I know what Im talking about.

I really don't know where the "cartoonish" description that keeps popping up comes from. I don't think NBA Live has ever looked cartoonish, perhaps not quite as detailed but never unrealistic or cartoonish. Less detailed would be the term I'd use, if anything. It's also funny how that "fast pace" can easily be remedied by the sliders which are never geared totally towards realism out of the box.

And when you do your own ratings re edit, you can't go online with your dream stats, so you have to play the trash EA set up, How come Shaq dunk is 98, who is he, Vince Carter, to me 98 dunk means 360, windmills, Shaq just throws it down hard, he shouldnt have 98 dunk?

Actually, the dunk rating isn't the only factor in determining which dunks a player can perform. In the true context of the rating, Shaq's dunking rating is fine.

Those opinions are certainly posted in a strong yet arrogant way but they too are somewhat off the mark; it doesn't sound like he's played the game I've got. But I suppose I'm just some "fanboy" since I don't share the same jaded opinion that seems to have been formed from either the PSP demo or perhaps some other reviews or previews; that really doesn't sound like the final version of the game that I've been enjoying.

[Jan Shane]

Yes, but you can word it to however you want Andrew, but those are still issues bothering gamers for years now on LIVE? Blocks were hurrendous in 2005...even with 0 on blocking sliders, I still average 10 blocks a game...don't teams even with a good blocker will avg around 2-5 blocks a game? And that's even in just a short string of 10-15 games and then go on a drought?

Shrine's post could have been worded better, but they do hold truth in some of them. Yeah yeah, both have their ups and down, so it's they aren't perfect, don't hang this reply over my head now.

[Andrew]

Yes, but you can word it to however you want Andrew, but those are still issues bothering gamers for years now on LIVE?

I'm not sure what you mean by that. I'm saying that I've got the game and disagree with those assertions because I haven't experienced those problems in NBA Live 06. So in my experience and opinion, his words do not hold truth in them no matter how he's arranged them, because the description of NBA Live 06 he provided does not match my observations.

[Jan Shane]

Yes, but you can word it to however you want Andrew, but those are still issues bothering gamers for years now on LIVE?

I'm not sure what you mean by that. I'm saying that I've got the game and disagree with those assertions because I haven't experienced those problems in NBA Live 06. So in my experience and opinion, his words do not hold truth in them no matter how he's arranged them, because the description of NBA Live 06 he provided does not match my observations.

Fair enough...but I might of escaped the whole meaning of his post, but I don't think he was nit-picking NBA LIVE 06 specifically, but more so flaws that happened in the past and may be a few that he saw, encountered, came up with I don't know.

And here is rather another modest post. Not overly degrading LIVE, but has a bit of fact over in it:

Man. I agree with everything shrinelife said. I mean fanboy or not, you have to see the flaws. Every game has them. But when they are top selling games, there should not be ice skating. Shoot! I'd just buy the hockey game. *lol*

And J-ROB from IGN did state that the skating issue was still there. Though not a complete bummer of the game, but just one of those details that kinda bog it down.

[Andrew]

Well, mentioning flaws in previous games hardly seems an accurate way of reviewing the current one. And I know Jon did say the skating issue was still there, but it's a lot better than it was last year. I disagree with quite a few things in that review, actually. It really seems like he's playing a different game.

[Jan Shane]

Well, mentioning flaws in previous games hardly seems an accurate way of reviewing the current one. And I know Jon did say the skating issue was still there, but it's a lot better than it was last year. I disagree with quite a few things in that review, actually. It really seems like he's playing a different game.

Yes, he mentions a lot of things that rather negates the 9.0 rating. I mean superstar setting with 20 steals on default sliders? Does that warrant a 9.0? I mean, aren't you supposed to judge gameplay from it's unaltered state? I'm sure you don't experience the same thing as he was using the show stopper super star, but wouldn't have that experience at least degraded it to about 8.5 or so?

[Andrew]

You'd think so. Like I said earlier I haven't been able to achieve 20 steals using a Freestyle Stopper even on the default sliders. I don't know what difficulty level he's playing on or whether he's abusing any cheap tricks or taking advantage of some unskilled human opponents who are doing nothing to protect the ball but it seems really odd.

[Jan Shane]

He stated on his review that he was playing on superstar on 5 min quarters. Not sure if it's against another human player (would kinda defeat the purpose of trying out the gameplay), so may be thats' why people are kind of questioning his rating.

[Ruff Ryder]

I always looked at it (especially this year with FSS) that the game is as realistic as you make it. People talk about how they just can come down the court and dunk on anybody all the time and it's unrealistic, but keep in mind, they are the ones doing it. I've only played the PS2 demo, but I can say that the CPU doesn't go overboard using FSS, they use it very conservatively, thankfully.

And it's not like NBA 2kx has no flaws either. For the last 2 years Isomotion has been a poor man's rip off of freestyle control, but Isomotion has no point. It doesn't allow you to control what crossover you're doing and which way it's going. Most of the time the CPU steps in and takes a charge which makes it useless. I'll say that NBA 2kx has a more realistic and fluid feel than Live, but I never found it to have as much of a replay value as Live.

[fgrep15]

There was a very good post at IGN's NBA board with shrine. He made a lot of valid points and even alot of the LIVE faithfuls couldn't escape the truth. And plus I wouldn't say he's a 2k fanboy, but more of a LIVE user who has been frustrated the past few years with LIVE:

you don't have to be a fan boy, to notice that LIVE is weak, its always just better than the last LIVE, which isnt saying much because LIVE has been weak for years. I think ever since 2k came out on the dreamcast, LIVE has been feeling the pinch, first of all, the skating is the truth, never feel like you are running, and I've always said that, you can run slide from one side of the court to the other and ball only bounces 1 time, WTF?

Now I know when you playing head to head with someone its fun, I cant deny that, but then some glitch or a.i. problem always messes up the game, remember 2004 when you could just blocks two, three, shots in a row, same thing this year, and when I played the demo, the same steals and blocks were still happening, thats a two year glitch!!!! Is that code or a glitch?

And the 20 steals by Marbury is nothing compared to 18 threes I hit with Dwade, he's not even some big three pt. shooter.

So you LIVE dudes that don't care, don't reply, but to the guys that have been saying LIVE needs to step it up and they have'nt delivered, please reply.

See unlike some of the fanboys, I play both every year, and Every Year, LIVE is some fast pace, overlook the flaws game, and 2k is more of an NBA experience, the people look human and not cartoon network. Flame me, baby cuz I know what Im talking about.

THE MADDEN OF THE NBA IS 2K, not garbage, ugly looking, fake stats, bad player ratings, you have to edit everything yourself.

And when you do your own ratings re edit, you can't go online with your dream stats, so you have to play the trash EA set up, How come Shaq dunk is 98, who is he, Vince Carter, to me 98 dunk means 360, windmills, Shaq just throws it down hard, he shouldnt have 98 dunk?

what about Marbury who attacks the basket all the time, his inside scoring is 53, Inside scoring isn't just for big man, In 2k, some little guys inside scoring (close) is Higher than big men that don't score.

thats just a few examples of CAnada EA, not getting it right, the ratings are sensless (hardiness? Wtf?)

so you homies that just wanna hold on turbo and hope your star makes more threes than the bum the other guy is using, go ahead, enjoy LIVE, but I'm gonna be laughing the day it comes out and the board have people talking about returning the game.

so what if its top seller, Elton John is a top seller, I'm no fan of his. Ja Rule was a top seller too, don't make him dope.
Live sells alot, they have a BIG company, doesn't mean the game is good.

hahahhahahahaha

http://boards.ign.com/NBA_Live/b6701/99471370/?14

He makes a lot of good points...even the IGN reviewer even stated that the skating effect is still there.

I'm sorry, but that was not a good rant on the game. I'm not one to support something that's not true, but 18 three's with Wade?

You'd have to either make the 3PT slider at 100, or edit Wade's ratings, their's no possible way to hit 18 three's with Wade in a game. I can't even hit 18 three's with a good 3PT shooter in a game if the sliders aren't stupid.

His post just make me think of the guys who go into a game looking for flaws. He will try and dunk everytime, and he might shoot 35% because he's trying to always dunk and getting blocked or something, but his review of the game will be that you can dunk anytime you want and it's a dunk contest. Not enjoying the game because you want it to be bad IMO is stupid. If your trying to play unrealistic, and the game plays unrealistic, then what are you complaining about?

This is the sign of a 2K "fanboy" [the beloved word everyone likes to use], someone who is trying to deliberatly find something negative about EA's games, but they don't look for negatives in 2K games. When they find negatives, they just hide them away and make excuses for them.

Let me show you some reviews from 2K fans at OS:

That's the key...5 days.

After an hour of this game I thought it was pretty much 2005 with a few gimmicks...

Two hours and I thought it was worth playing a bit more...

A few days and I really like it.

With the game pace down / sliders / getting used to the play calling...I am loving it. It's extremely realistic and reminds me a lot of ID but with a better NBA 'feel' (ID had non stop off the ball movement and no atmosphere...)

Everyone here knows how much i loved Inside Drive...but I hated that game after the first day I ever played it.

It took time.

This version of LIVE06 is a very, very good game of basketball IMO if people give it time.

Most will dismiss it as not much different to other LIVE's though and that's a shame...

Do agree guys should wait for LIVE on XB360 if they can though...on a better engine / no sliding...better camera's hopefully...the game would be sensational.

Being a huge 2K player (over Live) for the last few years, I'll tell you that it NEEDED tweaking (to zero basically) of the steal AND block sliders out of the box. Geez, the exact quote from the new Live review from IGN could be applied to 2K5. Except anyone, no matter what their rating, could get 20 steals and 10 blocks a game. Yet unlike Live 2006 (which I've had for almost a week and can confirm that after spending a massive 20 seconds to change the sliders) the 2K5 sliders in those area's did almost nothing.

And to 2K fans who attack Live on it's sliding (I was one of them doing the attacking in the past) - well you now have floating. The animations (started in 2K5) in the 2K6 video's again have a floaty look. They players' feet are not touching the ground (could be confirmed by looking at close replays in 2K5) and the ball doesn't seem to hit the ground when it's bounced. So if Live is ice hockey then 2K is walking on the moon.

Oh and hyperfast speed? Out of the box, Live 06 is much better. The pace is very good and may only need a slight tweak.

I'm not going to say quit the bashing because I know I was like that at a stage with Live, but I will say that fully giving each game some time (I will try 2K6) is worthwhile. Playing 3 full games (8 min qtrs) of Live last night was amazing. Awesome fast breaks (by me and the cpu), guys sprinting off screens for jumpers, attacking the basket (maybe a little too much) all done with the most (by FAR) and the best (by even FARTHER) animations ever in a basketball game.

Final set of impressions from me...and this is AFTER slider adjustments.

*Drum roll*...I got to say it boys, this is a seriously good basketball game this year.

I liked it before sliders...I really like it after sliders.

I'm pretty much prepared to stick my neck out here and rate it up there with the very best basketball games ever made.

I played two full games today with sliders...one was me as Dallas v the Bulls and it was one of the best games i've played, any game / any system.

Plays were run...but guys like Ben Gordon would still take me on and try and score on me in multiple ways...I felt like I could run plays for Dirk and utilize him in multiple ways + use the superstar stuff in the post...+ go to the hoop with Stack...

Drawing fouls is there...atmosphere is great...fast breaks are nice...teams are different + players are different. Stack feels different to control than Ray Allen...superstars feel much different...outside game is there, mid range game is there (not as much, but still nice) and the inside game is nice...

Best part for me anyway = I am finally using strategy in LIVE...

The balance between the one on one / superstar stuff and team play is almost perfect. Done better than any game I can recall IMO.

These are all things I've asked for...and, to their credit, EA has delivered.

After sliders...this baby is defintely a SIM type game.

This is a seriously good basketball game...easily the best LIVE ever by a long, long way IMO.

This is how the series should have been years ago...but hey, it's here now so praise where it's due.

No need to say again as Admiral has explained it already in detail...but the animations are sweeeeeet.

The one let down is the cameras...

That's it for my impressions as I've already taken up two pages of what will no doubt end up a 20 page thread. Enjoy it when you get it folks


Final note : here's my SIM style sliders...based heavily on Andrews from the NLSC with adjustments to rebounding (particulalry offensive, which was crazy) and blocking as I felt needed for LIVE06. These will change a fair bit more, but I love the game pace at 36 and rebounding and blocks feel 'right', albeit after just 2 full games.

..................

This is how I expect someone to review a game, whether it's your thing or not, just be real about it. These guys are both 2Kfans, and one was a big ID fan. No game has all good, but no game will have all bad either. Also some have played the demo and didn't like it, but I'm hearing the demo is not close to the full version, likely b/c you can't edit sliders, and some other things were unfinished.

[J@3]

I don't really trust any reviews on any game until a few months of playing it... everything is great when it's brand new out of the box.

I still remember Jowe virtually proclaiming Live 05 to be the greatest game in history... and then 8 months down the track saying he's not even going to buy 06

As far as reviews of NBA 2K6 goes, I don't really care... I've seen enough screenshots to make me excited about the game without the need of pre-pubescent Live or 2K fanboys either bagging it or calling it the best game ever.

[Jan Shane]

You're telling me, you've never messed around a game where you shot 3's with only one player? You can make 18 3's if you set quarter lenghts long enough and if he basically took a 3 pointer with wade on every possible moment. I had 23 three pointers with Carter playing in 10 minute quarters and I basically took 86 three pointers. Even though wade isn't a sniper from the arc, he's decent enough that it's not that far-fetched if he did that...but now...what about the steals?

Try as you might, you really couldn't get 20 steals in 5 minute quarters...you'll either have to turn off the reach in foul slider or be fouled out in the 2nd quarter. Which one of the two situation seems cheesier?

[fgrep15]

I don't know, whichever one the person chooses to do is cheesier. I actually have never tried the 3's thing, I normally want to win and play realistic, so I don't just shoot with on player, or even take that many three's in a game. I average like 14 three's, so I can't be making 18 lol.

The only game I remember hitting many three's was in College Hoops 2K4 [best ball game of 2004 by the way], but I hit like 21 three's with someone fron NCState, he scored 64 points in the game agaisnt my brother. I won like 70-62

[Jan Shane]

lol

yeah i've done the thing with the 3's. It's usually against my brother or if I'm just bored and want to test things out. Sometimes when I'm in a weird mood, I'd try to make one player score all the points...i think i had marshall score 79 points in a 86-77 win against the sixers. And they weren't all 3's too He's surprisingly good down low

[BIG GREEN]

Friggin 9.0 eh?..thats a high score. I'm anxious to see what gamespot has to say though...they are usually a little less forgiving.

[galvatron3000]

I have consistently averaged about 15 3's per game with the Spurs now for the lest two years atleast and that's playing 5-6 minute quarter games.

[Andrew]

Agree on the notion of giving it time and tweaking sliders. While I like what I see so far I can see steals will be a little over the top even playing the most intelligent basketball. That is one flaw that remains in the game, the harder difficulty levels still rely on the CPU being able to shoot too high a percentage. However, it really does force you to play a smart game of basketball.

I've actually had a game where I can kind of see where Jon is coming from but I think it's a bit of an exaggeration, and it's obvious he hasn't played with the sliders at all. I must admit, I do think the sliders need a little more work than I did yesterday but the improvements are clear.