Review of NBA Live 07 PC

[conlintolv04]

My Name: Todd
Background: Played every version of NBA Live since NBA Live 95.
Review PC: Dual-Core Pentium 3.2 GHz, 1 Gb Ram, 256 Mb Video ATIx600 PCI-E

Overall Rating: 8/10 Why?

The Good: Better game than 06. Better simulation of NBA basketball--slower pace of play, better AI, crowd is into the game. Offensive rebounding problem gone from last year. Better graphics and more animations. Best NBA Live game out there folks.

The Bad: The PG takes most of the shots again (like an earlier version of Live). I played 1 half of the Pistons vs Timberwolves; Mike James (pg) lit me up for 24 points in one half and took more than half of his teams shots. Also, fatigue factor is good, but the CPU players, even though they have no stamina left are rarely substituted.

The Ugly: No signature shots at all! I tried S. Marion, S. Nash, and L. James--similiar jump shots like last years version. I am very upset with EA Sports for false advertising on their web site about the PC version!

The good news:
1. crowd yells "Three!!" when home team attempts wide open 3-pointer.
2. crowd reacts in with noise, cheers realistically
3. announcers sound more like a telecast.. not the same old lines.
4. Graphics are better! But, not something to brag about.
5. The in-game stats viewer is like a Newspaper Boxscore
6. The new gameplay functions (includes a nice in-game tutorial) look very nice-- like the ability to pass different ways, do a tip pass, etc.

By the way, I downloaded the game off the EA site ( it took 2 hours total to download and install).

I hope this review was helpful! Please let me know what you think and if you have any questions for me... I would like to post an updated Player Roster as I think this game, if tweaked properly, could be 9/10

[bigh0rt]

Nice review.

[joejam999]

Nice strait forward review welcome to the boards.

[[L3]1101]

ike James (pg) lit me up for 24 points in one half and took more than half of his teams shots

NO WAY!! Mike James taking all the shots and not passing it to the best player on the team??!! i would've never thought...

Good review by the way. I feel a little better now that something is saying something positive about this game.

[Qmx323]

does a deflected pass still = a turn over? that bug pissed me off, i had AI avging 34-5-8 and not even in MVP voting cuz he had like 7 turnovers a game from deflections

[Gundy]

Also, fatigue factor is good, but the CPU players, even though they have no stamina left are rarely substituted.

I read on the forums that there was no fatigue factor and players were only substituted when they got in foul trouble. Could someone explain?

The Ugly: No signature shots at all! I tried S. Marion, S. Nash, and L. James--similiar jump shots like last years version. I am very upset with EA Sports for false advertising on their web site about the PC version!

I completely agree. How could those fuckers just lie about it?

[bigh0rt]

Also, fatigue factor is good, but the CPU players, even though they have no stamina left are rarely substituted.

I read on the forums that there was no fatigue factor and players were only substituted when they got in foul trouble. Could someone explain?

The Ugly: No signature shots at all! I tried S. Marion, S. Nash, and L. James--similiar jump shots like last years version. I am very upset with EA Sports for false advertising on their web site about the PC version!

I completely agree. How could those fuckers just lie about it?

There is fatigue. There is no slider for fatigue. And the CPU doesn't seem to substitute when their players are tired -- only when they are in foul trouble.

I imagine people will work on patching at least the last thing there.

[joejam999]

Maybe they ment freethrows only? I were kinda trying to hide it to get everyone to buy the game? O well not that big of a deal. As long as they fix the little gameplay issues everything will be cool.

[Qmx323]

im pretty pissed.

seriously. the whole signature shot shit really made me hyped up cuz of guys like marion and webber and shit.

and the whole "detailed" jersey thing too, makes me think EA got smarter.

and from things ive read, the PC version has neither.

[---]

Nice review man

[joejam999]

What about a "ESPN mock draft"? Is that in the game?

[-Young Buck-]

What about a "ESPN mock draft"? Is that in the game?

yeah, but its more or less just a list of who they think will be drafted. i tried to do a dynasty really fast, with the 2006 nba draft.

[joejam999]

OK thats good cuz some people at the EA forum's were saying the only ESPN stuff in the game was a stat screen. So there is no radio or video's? Remember back in the day when Live '99 had a scores ticker?

[---]

I have a question...

Do the players in the Dunk Contest look the right height?

In past versions they all looked the same hieght.. nate robinson was the same sze as everyone else.

[Crystallas]

I guess EA is so advanced these days, that they have developed artificial programmers, and simulate title releases. They turned patch notifications off, and delete all mesages from their AI handheld email device without reading them.

I dont get it. EA's titles on PC made them famous. Why would you risk losing the backbone to your success?
Its not PC gaming that is failing, its the developers that are failing PC gamers.

BTW. I was playing the game, but instead Live is quitting to my desktop everytime I finish a game. I should add that I've been PC gaming for 20+ years, built more computers in my life than Dell sells in one day(as its part of my career.) Its pretty frustrating when your allready a PC gamer(patient person to configure and install the whole kabob) and you're still in limbo.

I've been reading forums and sites for 4 hours looking for things to do. It seems as if there are a LOT of other people doing just like me. Im usually not this negative about anything, but wow. PLEASE EA, do something.

[BigKaboom2]

ike James (pg) lit me up for 24 points in one half and took more than half of his teams shots

NO WAY!! Mike James taking all the shots and not passing it to the best player on the team??!! i would've never thought...

Haha, you beat me to it.

[ignatu]

Please folks, stop posting false info about the substitution. The computer does not substitute for the computer controlled team, or for the human controlled team even though that team does have a slider for sub frequency.

Unless you substitute for the human controlled team manually, there are no subs there.

[Gundy]

/\/\ Not even if a player gets in foul trouble?

[zfod]

Glad to hear you were able to get it via download, I'm attempting for the 4th time to download/install it now.

If you read the the EULA they have some weird shit in there about downloading 99% of the game on preload, etc which I'm sure causes a lot of issues ( legalese enforcing whack technical requirements, and probably whack technical folks to boot ).

Great to hear a review though! Thanks!

[conlintolv04]

After sleeping on it, I have come up with a list of items that EA or this sites programmers / contributors could fix:

1. CPU substitutions needs fixed
2. PG dominance needs to fixed
3. Add some signature jump shots - Come on EA (this web site and its loyal NBA Live gamers deserve this!)
4. Add missing players not on the rosters (mostly 12 men and IR players)
5. Update the rosters moving players on the Free Agent pool to a team
6. Where is the ESPN presentation? Please incorporate more of a TV style broadcast.
7. Tweak the player ratings... they are slightly off.

[scrub]

Is there as many blocks and steals in gameplay than last year?

[cyanide]

Other than the apparent major bugs, I'm really happy with the more realistic gameplay and better weight use. Unless they come out with a fix, I'm still not buying this game.

[SHEED36]

Nice review... The ugly stuff is too UGLY for good stuff

[Matt]

nice....perhaps a Dynasty review?

[conlintolv04]

Is there as many blocks and steals in gameplay than last year?

Blocks and Steals occur less than last years version.