First NLSC Review for those interested

[Goldenstatewarrior]

Thank you Andrew! I will now buy the game because of your excellent review. Really appreciate it.

[SHAFT23]

Okay here are some things i disagree on with Andrew. The rest is pretty accurate to what i think about the game.

Gameplay

As I mentioned earlier NBA Live 06 does play very well out of the box, better than NBA Live 2005 in my opinion, but I still feel that some slider tweaks will be needed to turn up the realism. I personally had to change almost every slider to make it realistic. The sliders i haven't changed yet are the sliders that i don't notice having a lot of effect or i don't understand what their effects will be. But it played like shit out of the box in my opinion. I wouldn't even be playing it now if the sliders weren't adjustable. I first tried NBA Live 06 out on Starter difficulty as even though I'm a seasoned NBA Live player, I've found that advancements in Freestyle Control and the 10-Man Freestyle concept have required a bit of an adjustment. Such was the case with NBA Live 06 but it didn't take too long. So I cranked it up to All-Star.

....

Freestyle Superstars...where to begin? It's hardly just a marketing gimmick yet it doesn't necessarily dominate the game. Players with the Freestyle Superstars abilities are very tough but with the right strategies needn't be unstoppable forces. The CPU doesn't abuse the moves and you'll quickly find that on the harder difficulty levels you won't be able to abuse them either. The moves are great, but some freestyle moves have no sense at all and some are too easy. Playmaker doesn't have any advantage other than the fact that it looks good. I guess if the pass is given correctly the recieving guy makes the shot more often, that would make more sense, but i haven't tried to see if that is the case. that shit is pretty hard to do on a regular basis. The risk/reward factor mentioned in the previews is certainly apparent. There are a few of the "Scorer" moves that are practically unstoppable though, which is a bit disappointing. But it's nowhere near as bad as I had feared which I was quite relieved to discover. The main things I would change next year would be to tone it down just a tad and add the ability to mix and match Superstar moves for multi-talented players. Other than that, Freestyle Superstars works quite well in its first incarnation.

...

It's now possible to better elude defenders as well as make jumpshots, which is a welcome change. However, the downside of this change is that the CPU can also do so rather easily. It takes quite some effort to prevent a CPU player from slicing into the lane and scoring though it's not impossible. Rebounding is a mixed bag. Offensive rebounds are a little too commonplace but not to the extent of NBA Live 2001 and NBA Live 2002. You have to time your jump a lot better since more shots bounce on the rim a couple of times rather than falling straight into your hands. The Offensive rebounds are ridicilous. i have payed attention that the defensive players can just walk on and over the ball after a player is bumped , while the offensive players just can grapb and dunk the ball. The sliders have to bee at 100 for defensive rebounds and 0 for offensive rebounds and then still there will be too much offensive rebounds. The balll bounces, but that is not it. there is just a mistake in the developement in my opinion. I mean.......come on if you have to tweak the sliders to such an extent , there has to be a flaw somewhere and a big one at that. Blocks are fine, even with the default sliders. Steals and interceptions are a tad too numerous by default but as a frequency issue can be toned down with the sliders. It does force you to really take care of the ball though.

......


The best way I could sum up NBA Live 06's gameplay is that it feels like a combination of NBA Live 2005, NBA Live 2004 and NBA Live 2000, with a couple of improvements on top of that. It's not perfect and I'll need to play with the sliders a bit more before I'm completely satisfied, but I have a feeling I'm really going to enjoy this game. My advice to EA would be to avoid making huge overhauls at this point, instead opting for tweaks and fixes.>>>>>>EXactly!

Flaws in gameplay I noticed.....
You haven't talked about the fact that players go in for easy lay ups or dunks......they get bumped and they go out of bounds. This happens once or twice in a real game TOPS, but each game i play it happens 10 to 15 times and also on the break. That is pretty frustrating, but the CPU does it too and the CPU even just walks out of bounds in some cases. Weird shit!. Another weird thing i noticed, was that whenever i call a play for a shooting guard or Forward to go to the hoop or to go to the top of the key and make a jumper, one of my men just stands in the lane for three seconds and gets a turnover. Wtf?????? in Live 2005 the players automatically walked in and out of the Key to avoid three second violations.
The fastbreak one-on-one is very limited if a player isn't a fast outside scorer with a high dribbling rating. i can't get by my man while the CPU point guard just back my man down and makes a jumper in the lane, that i should block , but because of some msterious and magical occurance goes right through my center or power forwards hands. Literally. Does this make sense? HELL NO!! Last year there were too much blocks on jumpers, this year you couldn't find one if your life depended on it. I get some inside, but only if some dumbass CPU pointguard decides to take on Adonal Foyle, Troy Murphy, Biedrins and J-Rich. Then either he gets blocked or he misses, but then some gayass player that never dunks in a game in real life picks up the ball and jams it over everyone. Stupid shit, but it'll make you laugh eventually. In this case it was that skinnyass Livingston with a big funny afro so i didn't care that much.
Also it seems that a lot of players do the same dunks over and over again. I know i should take off from different positions in the key, but almost all the players do that two leg two handed hammer dunk or that two leg leaner withthe ball almost hitting the heel of the shoes....even players that can't even do those dunks. Nate robinson dunked from standstill from under the basket between 2 players. The dunk packages are pretty stupid this year too.

That was what i felt you were mild about. The rest of your review was on the money.

[Matt]

Great read, an issue I came across today is where I get stuck to the opposing team's player. So, if I'm helping out on defense and the player I'm defending passes the ball to the player I'm supposed to be defending, I'll briefly be stuck to the other player before I can run to gaurd my own player.

me too, but when the CPU runs a play i just switch players so it doesn't end up affecting me.

Given I play with player lock & the PG position

hmm, never really tried player lock....is it any good, i mean like for running plays and such.

But I must say, the Highflyer and Power superstar moves are way too overpowering

highflyers are a bit annoying but power players aren't since the CPU plays a guards game. Today i played the T'Wolves and Hoiberg and Carter scored more 45% of the teams points. I also managed to hold the CPU to 10OR's, while myself getting only 11.

[lafce]

Nate robinson dunked from standstill from under the basket between 2 players.

That happened to me 3 times in one half (12 min. qtr).

[Jackal]

hmm, never really tried player lock....is it any good, i mean like for running plays and such.

I like it, whenever I call plays the CPU players try to execute it as best possible. Sometimes it doesn't work out & my pass will result in a turnover but on other occasions when the play is completed, it just feels all tingley.

[Matt]

haha, that's too much info

I tried playing with player lock but i didnt really like it that much. I didnt like what the CPU was doing, I felt kind of inactive.

[Andrew]

I personally had to change almost every slider to make it realistic. The sliders i haven't changed yet are the sliders that i don't notice having a lot of effect or i don't understand what their effects will be. But it played like shit out of the box in my opinion. I wouldn't even be playing it now if the sliders weren't adjustable.

Fair enough. I personally thought it was better than NBA Live 2005, though I admit it has been a while since I played 2005 without any slider tweaks.

The moves are great, but some freestyle moves have no sense at all and some are too easy. Playmaker doesn't have any advantage other than the fact that it looks good. I guess if the pass is given correctly the recieving guy makes the shot more often, that would make more sense, but i haven't tried to see if that is the case. that shit is pretty hard to do on a regular basis.

I'd agree there, but on the whole I feel it was a worthwhile addition, not perfectly implemented but not all overpowering as I feared it might be.

At any rate, thanks for your responses, good to hear your opinions on the game.

[Kieran]

This was quite a good review I thought. Very thorough in describing all the aspects of the game (except multiplayer, which I don't care about either). Even better seeings that I agreed with most of the things that were said except maybe the bit about adpating to the more 'console' type of menu layout. I personally hate having to scroll all over the place and would rather have a view of more stats at once, much like was seen in NBA Live 98 for PC.
The 'more than just a patch' statement is one I agree with also and am glad that this was a first and foremost point of the review. Good job.

[Andrew]

Thanks Kieran. Don't get me wrong though. Just because I've adapted doesn't mean I prefer the console-orientated UI.

[Matt]

all of the games biggest flaws this year are on the defensive end, which make the game seem as though the offense is overpowering