Another PC review of NBA Live 07

[sonic_313]

First of all excuse my poor english.

I've had the game for a few days now and since it seems most of the people are still haveing their doubts about buying the game I thought I'd write a review of the game.

I'm a big basketball fan and I've been playing Live for almost 7 years now. I got my first computer in 2000 and the first game I installed fas Live 98. I've also played 2000, 2001, 2005 and 06. I'd also like to mention that I'm a gameplay before graphics player so realism is more important to me than signature jumshots. So let's get to the review.



Interface

The new menu color looks good. In the main menu you have a NBA player and a video of him running in the up-right corner. The first thing I did when i installed the game was to explore the menus. Everything from last year is still there plus some new things. EA SPORTS EXTRAS for example consists of CREDITS, PLAYER HIGHLIGHTS, MADDEN NFL 07 TRAILER, TIGER WOODS PGA TOUR 07 TRAILER and MOCAP WITH PAO GASOL.

The PLAYER HIGHLIGHTS consists of hi-quality fullscreen videos of Tracy McCrady, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Dwayne Wade, Allen Iverson, Dirk Nowitzki and Gilbert Arenas. All the videos differ in lenght but are atleast 30 seconds long.

There is also a deep help system that explains all the new and old features of the game. WHAT'S NEW for example has four tutorial videos explaining how the TOTAL FREESTYLE, X-FACTOR and some other stuff works. These videos are very usefull as they also show you how to pull of different moves highlighting the buttons needed to do them on a picture of a gamepad. You also have Marv and Steve voice acting in the videos.

The Dynasty menus have also changed a bit. The core remains the same with a calender and all the games on it. The PDA looks different and is a lot more better and easier to use than in the preavious Live's.

All in all the menu system has been improved, makeing navigation alot easier.


Dynasty Mode

The Dynasty Mode has gone though some small changes. It is true that you can only play an 82 game season. This doesn't bother me that much since it makes the game even more realitic but alot of people are into 29 game seasons so an option to change the lenght of the season should be there. You can also choose to start your dynasty with the 2006 draft if you wan't.

STAFF

This year you have to hire atleast 4 staff members:
* Assistant head coach
* Assitant coach
* Trainer
* Scout

The Assistant head coach will take care of event scheduling and rumors.
In the event scheduling you can choose how much free time will be spent on team events, press events and team practiceing. Team events will increase your players relationships between eachother while press events will incrase your overall team chemistry. You can also choose how much days off the players get. This is importaint because there is a new feature called team fatigue. Players need days off to rest or they will be fatigued all the time.
ESPN Rumor Central is a very usefull thing. There are tons of rumors there and you can order your assistant head coach to reshearch them. His answers depend strongly on his ratings. So haveing a good assistant coach is a must to keep your team chemistry high and to know exactly whats going on in the league.


Player rotations

You can set the percentage of how much everyone plays and also the percentage of how much everyone starts (starting five). You can assign a maximum of three players per position. This is a nice feature to have if your simulating alot.


Gameplay

Finally we get to the most importaint part of the game.
Gameplay has been changed and is alot better than in Live 06. There are alot of new animations this year that make the game feel more realistic. Sliding has been almost removed and the players do not stick to eachother any more.
Total freestyle control is good but will take some time to master. The ability to change FSS types and X-Factor players make the game better.
A team may have more than one X-Factor player but only one is chosen for every game. For example the Nuggets have Boykins and NENE as X-Factors.
The game is more physical than ever before. As mentioned before players seem to have some sort of weight. Alot of adjusted shots when contested.
The PG domination is not a problem for me because with some defence and slider tweaking that will not happen. I think it's logical that the PG will drive to the basket if there in an opening.
The AI will not catch up on fast brakes. Boykins has 99 in speed and quickness and this time is really faster than someone with lower ratings. Didn't happen in Live 06.
The game is harder on Superstar level witch is good.
The commentary is better than in Live 06. A lot of new lines with some from 06.
The fact that the CPU team doesn't sub is the biggest and most annoying bug for me. I always sub my players manually so it isn't that hard to sub players for the CPU but still.
There is a momentub bar and if you get the momentum your players will hit shots more easily.


I think i missed alot of things in the review but I'm tired of writeing it so if you have any questiones just ask.

[Fitzy]

great review, what exactly is the x-factor thingy?

[POLISH_BOY]

very good review

[sonic_313]

great review, what exactly is the x-factor thingy?

X-Factor player is a someone who doesn't have FSS abilities by default but but is able to unlock them for a period of time. He has an X in his player icon and if you keep him involved in the offence he gets a chance to unlock the FSS abilitie. So for example Earl Boykins will get the shooters FSS abilitie.

[carlogz]

i love the x-factor!! i think it's the best new addition to the game.

Im a Raptors fan so obviously, I use the Raptors for my franchise. And comes to playoffs, Bargnani, Peterson, Calderon, and Parker, are my usual X-Factors and they actually help a lot.

Sadly in the game, No Garbajosa and Slokar!!!!! WHY EA WHY!!!!!

[grimstar]

Definetely agree about the PG NOT dominating with proper defense. Played 8 minute quarters All-Star difficulty. San Antonio (me) vs. New Jersey (cpu). at the end of the game Kidd had 24 points, 9 assists and 5 rebounds. He didn't dominate. He just had a good game. I'll try to post some boxscore screenies next time.

Btw... I'm new to the boards. Well I registered some time ago but I've just been lurking So Hey all!

[Little_Big_Man]

There are a few new features as mentioned that are pretty cool. All in all it feels like last years game as far as gameplay. I only got this for PC so I can see if I wanted to resume patching. AllStar Weekend isn't the same without Kenny, Greg Anthony doesn't bring it to life like before. Graphics look ok, again it feels like last years game. Bynum didn't have his face in 06 so I assumed it would be there in 07, wrong. Current Gen gaming won't face any new overhauls due to its limits. Plus no widescreen support. I gave away my CRT and got a 32" LCD for PC gaming and my new Xbox 360. I sure hope Live 07 on the next gen is leaps above this. I'm waiting on Blockbuster to get the game in so I can rent it.

[Jackie Kong]

Player rotations

You can set the percentage of how much everyone plays and also the percentage of how much everyone starts (starting five). You can assign a maximum of three players per position. This is a nice feature to have if your simulating alot.

That only works for dinasty mode or you can also use it in season?

[Blacksmurf313]

Good review: At least it is positive.............However, you sound like an EA Rep; never the less good post.

[Jackie Kong]

Player rotations

You can set the percentage of how much everyone plays and also the percentage of how much everyone starts (starting five). You can assign a maximum of three players per position. This is a nice feature to have if your simulating alot.

That only works for dinasty mode or you can also use it in season?

?

[sonic_313]

Only for dynasty mode. But I just found out that if start a single season you can play 29,58 or 82 game season. I dynasty mode you can only play 82 games.

[wicked waway]

is it only me or are the camera angles really bad this year? plus the graphics/textures of '05 and '06 are better..

i like the pace of the game though