How was franchise mode in Live '08?

[the_future420]

I haven't bought a Live game since '05 on Xbox but with how things are looking this year, they may have won back a customer. One thing I was curious about though is how good has the franchise mode been on the next-gen consoles?

How is the offseason? How is the trade logic? Salaries handled well? Any sort of in-season specific stuff, (awards, stat analysis, chants, atmosphere?) Do Marv and Steve call the names of the rookies? Do they have real faces or just black pictures (that was one of the things that bothered me the most about past NBA Live franchise modes--I really started to feel detached from my players)

I figure with EA hyping up the DNA feature this year, we arent gonna get much if any info on franchise mode. I know there are alot of other people who are giving Live a serious look this year for the first time in awhile, so I thought this was a good topic for people who have played past Live's to chime in.

[the_future420]

Re: How was franchise mode in Live '08?

Bueller?

[mobiuseinz]

Re: How was franchise mode in Live '08?

The franchise mode was ok. Nothing spectacular. The only thing that really made me mad was the fact when you can do a draft re-do, they added all these other created players into the mix, and they were all picked ahead of Oden and Durant... which was just weird. I hope they fixed that aspect of the game cos it is a cool feature to have.

[ChaseB]

Re: How was franchise mode in Live '08?

Hmmmmm let me find the Dynasty portion to my Live 08 review:

Gameplay issues aside, the Dynasty Mode exhibits the same type of hit and miss elements.

After hiring your stuff at the beginning of Dynasty Mode you will control various coaches who balance the team based on your settings. So for example an assistant head coach plans events, which involve team events (can build up team passing and defensive AWR), press events (increase team's ability to focus, boost team's FT and Dunk ratings), team practice (increase team awareness ratings, but decrease hardiness and fatigue), and day off (increases hardiness and fatigue ratings).

Those settings are all balanced on a 100% scale and you can have the schedule planned for however many weeks you want. Also assistants spend time with one player to improve his virtual game or research rumors around the league.

Scouting is done in a similar fashion. You hire scout(s) at the beginning of the year and then send them to scout potential draftees or future opponents. How much money you spend on scouts will affect how accurate their results end up being. So the choice boils down to either hiring the stud scout so your draft picks will be safe bets, or using the money on great assistants to train the players already on the squad. Most of the choices and interactions with players and prospects is just menu based though; therefore, in the future it would be great to at least take part in some mini-games where you work out prospects or help train current players.

Beyond the personnel choices, the Trade AI is a mixed bag in Dynasty Mode -- a norm in sports games. The trade AI between human and CPU is actually quite solid, but CPU to CPU trades are rather out of hand. Witnessing a Kevin Durant for LeBron James trade will be a norm as superstars seem to be flipped between computer controlled teams far too often.

The off-season is straight forward: sign, re-sign, and draft. But the free agent aspect has a sort of guess and hope element. You will garner interest from free agents by guessing the talking points that will interest the free agent. Once you intrigue the free agent, signing the player to a deal he likes is the next step. Now if you try and lowball the player he will lose interest in your team and never sign with you.

None of those things are entirely compelling but playing a lengthy season in Dynasty Mode will be enjoyable in large part due to the spot on arenas and commentary. The authentic arenas were in Live 07, but they are no less impressive in Live 08 -- though it would be nice if the arenas were lit a bit better so they could be seen more clearly.

Furthermore, the commentary stirred up between Steve Kerr and Marv Albert is the finest to date in video game sports. They are always talking back and forth and rarely does the dialogue between the two of them feel canned. There is also an abundant amount of player and situation specific commentary. If you are down 3-1 in a best of 7 series they will discuss that fact and also explain coming back from the 3-1 deficit is not impossible.

[jrich730]

Re: How was franchise mode in Live '08?

I haven't had a good franchise in any game on 360 yet... the thing i hated most about live 08 franchise i had a 79 limited potential center average 30pts because all he did was shoot 3s and the fact that year 5 on kevin durant won every mvp

[ChaseB]

Re: How was franchise mode in Live '08?

I haven't had a good franchise in any game on 360 yet... the thing i hated most about live 08 franchise i had a 79 limited potential center average 30pts because all he did was shoot 3s and the fact that year 5 on kevin durant won every mvp

Was he even on Seattle anymore at that point?

[jrich730]

Re: How was franchise mode in Live '08?

No i think they traded him straight up for lebron my first season

[the_future420]

Re: How was franchise mode in Live '08?

Lebron for Durant straight up?

Ugh.

I hope they tighten up that CPU trade AI for this year edition, though I doubt it.