It’s that time of year again, when Electronic
Arts roll out the latest updates to every
one of their incredibly successful EA Sports titles.
New stats, features, and graphical touches litter
the bunch as they each stride a little closer to
perfection. Or at least, that’s the plan.
And while mistakes can and often are made,
the NBA Live series has always remained the star
of the pack, implementing the most ambitious of
features first, before they are ultimately thrown
to the rest of the once-yearly gang for general
sporting consumption.
By now you know the drill, and know much of
what to expect. Updated stats, perhaps the odd
extra feature (like Madden’s rewind function) and
a bundle of new sweat beads running down each
character’s face. To the core player, little seems to
change. Basketball is basketball.
This year, EA has taken things to another level,
by introducing NBA Live 365 and Dynamic DNA.
Sure they sound fancy, and with each feature
name announcement it kinda feels less like we’re
playing a basketball game and more like some
cheap sci-fi shooter (we still miss the simple days
of NBA Jam here in the office), but it’s with these
very features that NBA Live 09 takes some bold
new steps, in a hope to revolutionise the genre.
If you’ve ever felt the frustration of purchasing
the latest update of your favourite sports title,
only to get it home and discover the rosters
and team data is already out of date, rest
easy. No more sleepless nights painstakingly
matching up your custom teams to their real-life counterparts, EA’ll do it for you with the aid of
NBA Live 365. By synching up via Xbox Live to
EA’s servers, Live 09 automatically receives the
most up-to-date rosters, injuries sustained and
trade developments for the entire league as you
play. As if that wasn’t enough, through a deal
with Synergy Sports Technologies (a company
that provides analytical information to over 20
NBA teams), 365 implements dynamic DNA for
all of your players in every aspect of the game
across all modes of play, making subtle changes
accordingly and evolving the experience in terms
of accuracy and realism. Data such as player hot
and cold streaks and individual characteristics like
whether they prefer to drive left or right, shoot
for three-pointers or just play things safe are all
tracked and implemented.
This Dynamic DNA also lends its hand to
another of Live 09’s standout features, and one
that’s sure to cause a storm over here when
it’s finally rolled out into the FIFA series – NBA
Rewind. Forget Madden’s rewind function, which
simply allowed players to rewind mistakes á la
Prince of Persia; this is something altogether larger
and much more impressive. NBA Rewind enables
you to play any game that has taken place over
the previous year’s real life season – as well as the
upcoming season’s matches – with player stats
matching exactly how each star was performing
at the time. This includes any injuries sustained
during play. Can you do better than each team’s
real life counterparts when faced with the exact
situation? Live 09 lets you find out.
Obviously, with so much NBA data flying down
the internet pipes direct to your machine, an Xbox
Live connection is essential in getting the most
out of your game. Those unfortunate enough to
be without one don’t go away empty-handed,
however, as EA is keen to point out it has included
all of 2007 and 2008’s playoff information on the
disc itself, so some Rewind action can be had by
all on some level.
On the screen things are much as you’d expect
from an EA Sports title. This is gorgeous to look
at and slick as ever. Player animations have
been ramped up significantly, including facial
expressions and emotions clearly depicting the disgruntled look of a man who just missed that
all important three-pointer at the buzzer, or the
joy of slamming an impressive dunk against all
odds. Audio commentary is solid, if a little sparse
in terms of actual dialogue, but rarely repeats
itself to any degree of annoyance. If anything, it’s
the biggest let down (especially after Madden 09
rocked out with its full and varied discussions),
but we’ll forgive such a minor shortfall.
On the court, play is fluid and EA has taken
the time to address some of the series’ previous
niggles, such as being unfairly forced offside by
inescapable player animations, and the precise
nature in which NBA 08’s playcalling had to be
implemented. Playcalling has been given a
lot of attention in the update, and no longer
involves displaying masses of HUD art over
the court. Instead, recipients of a pass show a
button overhead that lights up when the time is
right to receive the ball. Gone is the clutter, and
the whole process is fast and painless without interrupting the game or leaving you open to
interception. Each team can call up to eight plays
on the fly, all of which are of course consistent with
the strategies used by their real life counterparts.
Add to the mix all-new five-on-five online play,
allowing ten players, across ten machines to take
to the court over Xbox Live – and the introduction
of NBA Academy giving you the room to practice
every single aspect of your game before having
a stab at the expanded Franchise mode – and
you’ve got an NBA Live title on a streak so hot it’ll
keep you warm and fuzzy all the way up until the
next year… and then some.
