

First off, I'm ONLY comparing it to NBA Live 08, as that's what is MOST important in my opinion. You guys know me from all the editing


First thing I noticed was the amount of playable content compared to last years NBA Live. Along with the usual dynasty/franchise modes there is a sorely needed practice gym now along with drills etc in the form of an Acadamy mode. can't say enough how cool it is to see here. This game is finally feeling like it's a full package.
Where to begin? Ok I was able to get a few games in and then get some evalution gameplay in. problem was I was still having a lot of fun playing when i was trying to be serious with it LOL. That should be a common theme when NBA live 09 is talked about. that it's FUN. aside all the sim stuff all the roster stuff I wanna just play a an overall good game of basketball. Which NBA Live 09 is this year without tweaks. many have asked if it's changed or been improved since the demo? Most definitely YES and on some occasions sadly not. it wasn't gonna be ALL roses right? But it's not detrimental in ANY way. just kinda like something that can be attributed to POSSIBLE user control(meaning that you have to "get down" the controls or change the "way" you play more).
fun factor aside. does it play a realistic game of basketball? Well yes. I mean the accuracy of the roster updates the accuracy of ratings being able to be downloaded at the drop of a dime and the ability to play "just like you team" with their playbooks etc that it does do a great job at making it already realistic situationally.
gameplay wise it does such a better job than NBA Live 08 handling the game of basketball that i feel that NBA Live 09 is as big of a jump as was Fifa 07 back when it completely redid their game.
Some would call that praise, some wouldn't though...
I usually have hard time with NOT tweaking something when i see it being overly odd or immediately off putting. say for example game speed. I'm one of those that was NEVER happy with in 07 or 08. in 09 I'm content with it. Animations are pretty much smooth(apart from the crowds which STILL have a hitch) and transitionally the frame rate is good between things. Theres the obvious things like fouls etc that are never really THAT right only because you have to take into account the "other buying public" you know the non-hardcore. So seriously any type of gameplay tweak is subjective to be honest. i'll fess up and say that i'm pretty much happy that NBA Live 09 is on the right track in many areas that i myself over the years saw it always lacking in.
I want to quickly go into animations a bit more. there's a TON! a lot more plus more shot variations. Everything from player movement in and around and off the basket is better than last years NBA Live. Dunking(wooh!) layup( yeah!) and dribbling all have a much better feel to them then anything that was in NBA Live 08. You're seriously getting another game this year. and by "another" i mean something else way better.
Control wise it's mixed bag. BUT i can't help but notice that many of my initial problems are user based. meaning i need a bit of Camp CZAR! LOL. It's true as Pastapadre said that the players do not instantly put there hands up when you input them to (a problem I noticed in NCAA 09 and mentioned to developers BUT was still better than what i am seeing here in NBA Live 09. So i will say that in NCAA 09 it IS fixed compared to what we see in NBA Live 09's final build). Any user control of defensive moves is pretty good howver if they are not THAT responsive I wonder what a tweak to certain sliders would do?(ohh there i go again!

Overall I am very enthusiastic in what i'm seeing. already a better package than any next gen NBA Live ever was and instatly a playable version out of the box. I'll be playing much more(because it's fun)and i'll answer some of the questions in this thread once i can answer them with a better understanding of the game.
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