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NBA Live 15 Review thread.

J

Jimmyfenix

Member
1410653156-media.jpg


Didn't see this one lock if old.

Shacknews - 4/10

With NBA Live 15, EA Sports makes minimal progress at best, but can't seem to find a solid enough identity for its hoops sim. The gameplay is all over the place, the modes don't show enough improvement, and the visual splendor is dulled over by commentators who feel like they want to be somewhere else.

Perhaps this is a good time for EA to focus on something else in the basketball world, something that would work more in its favor. NBA Street always clicked when it was around, and even NBA Jam would be welcome in this new generation of consoles. Anything would be better than a basketball game that can't quite nail down what the feeling of basketball should be all about.
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Polygon - 6/10

Like an obstreperous child, NBA Live 15 is not bad, but it can be hard to love. Its real impact will have to be measured later, in the bar it sets for successive editions and whether they clear that. With no truly fair comparison to make, this is the last time NBA Live can claim credit for fulfilling basic obligations. But at least it no longer plays or looks like an experiment gone wrong.
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Gameinformer - 5.75/10

NBA Live 15 may not be ready to stand shoulder to shoulder with its competition, but with much improved presentation and mechanics the series is trending in the right direction. The remaining gameplay issues and lack of mode depth, however, makes it tough to recommend this particular version.
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IGN - 5.5/10

Although NBA Live 15 looks significantly better than NBA Live 14 at a glance, it still suffers from clumsy controls and stiff animations. A few nice changes and additional game modes can’t make up for poor gameplay, but there are some great ideas here that just don’t get a chance to shine, like the pick & roll and the ESPN license. All in all, NBA Live doesn’t feel as hopeless as it did a year ago, but hope doesn’t make a good basketball game. Practice those fundamentals!
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Playstation Lifestyle - 8/10

EA accepted the fact that NBA Live 14 was not a good game at launch but addressed many of the issues along its journey through that NBA season. The developer paid close attention to the complaints from the fans and took notes along the way, tweaking the game the best they could. It’s obvious that rebuilding from the ground up was not only the right thing to do, but the best thing to do for the franchise as a whole.

NBA Live 15 brings the franchise back onto the court with authority and takes the game successfully into the next generation of gaming. While the game isn’t perfect, it is clearly ready to take on all comers and creates a firm foundation for EA to build upon for years to come
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Megatron

Megatron

Member
EA's apology for this game should be coming any minute. But don't worry, next year's game will he better for sure!
 
C

Cheddahz

Banned
Good to see that improvements were made with this entry, hopefully Live 16 will be even better (cause trust me, 2K needs the competition)
 
G

GTSweet

Neo Member
I got the EA Access trial and it honestly is MUCH better than last years with potential... but the problem is the basic fundamentals of shooting and movement, which breaks the fun.

Shooting requires really odd timing (release early well before reaching peak of jump) and the movement seems just slightly off. Also, layups/dunks are impossible to stop.

Graphics are dramatic step forward and if they make the same leap forward next year... I may actually purchase it. It's much closer than people think.
 
T

Tempesta di Fuoco

Banned
Megatron said:
EA's apology for this game should be coming any minute. But don't worry, next year's game will he better for sure!
Click to expand...

I'd rather they just stop trying with the NBA Live franchise and try to fill the MLB hole on non-Sony systems.

Then again, I'm not sure if it would justify the cost considering I'm guessing baseball games are not the hottest sellers. MLB: The Show series not selling very well is probably not a very tempting thing for EA.
 
S

Sho_Nuff82

Member
Well, they managed to deliver a functioning product at least. That's almost cause for celebration itself.

A few years of tuning, it might actually be worth buying.
 
G

GTSweet

Neo Member
I don't understand the negative reaction to competition in the sporting market. Yes NBA2K is the gold standard, but competition is good and creates innovation.

I wish there was still an NFL2K to compete with Madden...
 
A

Aroll

Member
Eh, It's better than last year. That's a posistive step. Keeping trending that way and may next year or the year after, we have a worthy title.

The thing is, it's more about 2k. Madden needs a competitor but it can't have one yet. NBA2k can have one and it needs one. It needs to be kept in check. It's easy to say give up, but what if a NFL2k5 situation occurs. NBA Live 17 hits and magically it is better than NBA2k, because while Live keeps improving year to year, 2k get's stagnant?

This is why competition in sports games is good. I give PES, which is a solid game, a lot of credit for pushing FIFA games to be better. Competition is good, and since i enjoy NBA games, I'll get whichever version is better that year, That means that yes, I'll buy NBA Live on the year that it happens to be the better NBA experience. I'll buy a NFL game other than Madden if one happesn to be better when that contract expires.
 
B

BigDug13

Member
Tempesta di Fuoco said:
Why do they keep trying. WHY
Click to expand...

Let them keep trying. Like people keep saying with the Madden franchise, the lack of competition is hurting the advancement of that series. Let them keep trying with NBA Live to at least keep 2K somewhat on their toes. The 2K series will be all the better for it.
 
B

BigDug13

Member
I honestly don't know why everyone abandoned the over-the-top sports franchises like Wayne Gretzky 3D Hockey, NBA Jam/NBA Street, NFL Blitz, etc.

You'd think there's a totally open market for these over-the-top games right now.
 
N

NerdEyeBlind

Member
Yikes at the first review.

I tried playing the EA Access demo but since it was still installing it wouldn't let me past the training sections. That once that was done it was still installing so I only had the option of playing the (projected) 2015 Finals.

If I can't play the full game why not make me wait until its 100% installed??
 
G

Grover Cleveland

Member
As I expected, Live is just not there yet. As much as people want it to be step for step with 2K, it's not seasoned enough yet.

But fortunately, it appears they have a decent fundamental system in place and if they continue to build upon that, they can have a winning project in the future. They get in trouble when they take a system and scrap it completely, forcing them to start it all over and setting them years back. Like they did after Live 2010, Elite 11, and Live 13.
 
V

ViciousDS

Banned
I traded in 2k15 for Live 15 due to the VC bullshit still and how fucking terrible the Park is.........until 2K fixes there netcode....I will not buy another NBA2K..........I am actually really enjoying NBA live 15 despite its janky animations sometimes. It is by far a much better game than what we got last year....and it was good enough for me. So NBA Live for me moving foward if they keep these improvements going.
 
N

NHale

Member
Tried the demo and as much as I want to like it, there is still a lot to be fixed until this can compete with NBA 2K. Off ball movement is almost non existant even with auto motion turned on, animations are still very stiff and shooting doesn't feel good.

As someone that liked NBA Live 10 more than NBA 2K10 (Dynamic Season was the best sports feature in a while), it's a shame this series went to the gutter when EA chiefs became enamored with the Stick controls after NHL success. Mike Wang bolted as soon as EA decided to change direction, returned to VC and designed the much improved NBA 2K11. If EA had decided to keep the NBA Live 10 gameplan, today the basketball landscape would be very different...

Nirolak said:
Hey, they got the same score as NBA 2K15 on Polygon.

Mission Accomplished™
Click to expand...

That's why we should never analyze reviews looking at the score. If I remember correctly Owen Good liked NBA 2K15 gameplay a lot but docked points (and imho rightfully so) because 1vs1 is still laggy, MyPlayer was unplayable due to servers going down and MyPark was completely broken until a patch was released 2 weeks after release.

It might have gotten the same score but the text of the review tells a different story. One will be better (and got better) when the servers were fixed, the other will not get better according to Polygon.
 
J

Justified

Member
I think they would have more success just dumping the Live series , and Go all out on the Street series. It seems they are having trouble creating a Sim Basketball game.

The last Live that was good was Live 10, and thats because Mike Wang went there that year, then left and went back to 2K, Before that was Live 05 with Melo on the cover.

Develop a Streets game similar to Blitz the League, then through in a Simcade 3 on 3 mode for those who want a tone down experience. I will pick it up along with NBA2K
 
J

jergrah

Member
I enjoyed the 6 hour trial

After 2K not working last year until 3 months post launch and how EVERYTHING was tied to VC I decided not to support them this year.

Not sure if I'll ultimately get Live this year or not but I think it's promising
 
T

The Albatross

Member
Played a few games with EA Access and didn't think it was terribad. I liked that it was sped up, liked running the pick and roll, but I only played about 2 hours of it and never felt compelled to turn it back on, so take that for what it's worth. Also, disappointed that the 6 hour preview seemed locked to just two teams, Cleveland and OKC.

Edit:

The pick and roll mechanic feels fluid and given that this is like the foundation play of basketball, it's nice to see it replicated well and still balanced.
 
B

BajiBoxer

Banned
If they would just prettied up the last NBA Live game that was well regarded (9 or 10?), and gave it a reasonably interesting online component, I feel like they'd be back on track.
 
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