Official NBA Live 10 Impressions Thread

[Pimpton23]

Re: Official NBA Live 10 Impressions Thread

Gotta say I am enjoying the game at the minute. Teams will hurt u if u dont play decent ball.

Just a quick question, are many of you finding that the AI can get around you fairly easy and then it is alot harder for you to get past them? I just played atlanta and josh smith, bibby were getting by me and my teammates so easily, animations getting them out of tough situations. I try the same and they body me up and I cant get past! Anyone else feeling anything like this? I clearly have to work on my D but at times I reckon my D was good and then somehow the would just hop step past me or something and I would have no hope!

Use the defensive assist button to help you stay in front of your man a little better. I believe it is R1 on the PS3 version. It seems to help me out quite a bit usually.

[DGuinta1]

Re: Official NBA Live 10 Impressions Thread

Lopez for the Nets looks evil! lol

[Da_Czar]

Re: Official NBA Live 10 Impressions Thread

Gotta say I am enjoying the game at the minute. Teams will hurt u if u dont play decent ball.

Just a quick question, are many of you finding that the AI can get around you fairly easy and then it is alot harder for you to get past them? I just played atlanta and josh smith, bibby were getting by me and my teammates so easily, animations getting them out of tough situations. I try the same and they body me up and I cant get past! Anyone else feeling anything like this? I clearly have to work on my D but at times I reckon my D was good and then somehow the would just hop step past me or something and I would have no hope!

funky there are some people you should not be playing that closely. I talked a lot early about knowing the right angles and deciding to give space or pressure. Also if the on ball defensive ratings of the players your using to guard are poor they will have less contact animations ... ie less successful at boding somebody up.

some people you want to shoot jumpers . its okay they are not going to shoot 80 % because of dna.

If you use the defensive assist let it go if you think they guy is going to change directions. Also it is very helpful to play defensive like real life if your up on a quick player move back and at an angle to stop the drive not direction left or right.

[Chairman7w]

Re: Official NBA Live 10 Impressions Thread

Great review Shawny, thanks for posting. Can't wait to pick this up in three hours!

I'm a newbie here, but I wanted to provide my two cents on the final game by sections

Graphics

Outside of the unusual sheen that's seen on players in the Hangar, I'm totally digging the graphical style of Live 10. It's like reality with an inspired designer's tough. Lots of vibrant colors and great use of contrast to make everything "pop" on screen

Each arena appears to have different look and feel to it based on the lighting. While Staples Center has a very bright look to it, Madison Square Garden is much more muted and "older" in comparison. All the various team specific championship banners are in the right places, and it adds a sense of mystic on places like the United Center or The New Boston Garden.

Players look very good as well. Like 2K10, you'll see some faces that look spot-on while you'll see others that look horrendous. Par for the course I suppose. Besides some weird views seen during some of the free throw cams, player dimensions look very good and on point. Animations look good (especially dribbling), but there's room for improvement with some odd looking things doing on with rebounding and blocking. It's not a major issue, but rather, a minor nuisance that takes away from the realism angle.

For the customization freaks, you'll love the amount of jerseys (even Latin jerseys) and sneakers that are in the game. My beloved Lakers sport 6 different jerseys while the Bulls have an unbelievable 9 jerseys to select from. They look high-res and beautiful, so it's a great value-add for big hoops fans.

Biggest different graphically from the demo is that there's a greater number of animations in here. I've seen more unique jumpshots, splitting double teams, more alley-opp looks, and new emotion celebrations from players. The replay function in Live 10 is sweet as the events from the game are cached to the hard drive and viewable after the game. They even split them up by dunks, jumpshots, alley-opps, blocks etc.

Framerate is rock solid in all the cams I tested, so those you feeling burned by the other game's inconsistent frame rate won't have that issue here.

Sound

Live 10 doesn't have the revolutionary dynamic commentary that 2K10 has, and it's missed after spending a lot of time enjoying that aspect of 2K10. Marv and Steve do a decent job with commentary, but you won't exactly consider it to be a high point.

Though commentary is a bit disappointing, Live 10's sound is singlehandedly saved by what I believe is the best sports crowd ever done in a game. The complexity and nuance of the crowd sounds are awesome. You have options to pick the intensity level from Regular Season, Playoffs, and Finals with each level having its own unique characteristics. You'll hear team specific chants, MVP chants for opposing superstars, chants like "We Want Tacos," and booing on non-calls among other things. If you're equipped with a 5.1 sound setup, Live 10 will be a huge showpiece for your system. The highs and lows are mixed well, and when the game is in the balance, the crowd gets unbelievably hype! As nice as the rest of the visual/audio package is, the crowd is easily my favorite aspect of the presentation layers here.

Control

There is a difference from the demo, for the better, when it comes to control. I found the players had more weight and didn't feel as light as the demo version. Considering I didn't have any issues with the demo's feel, this is a nice upgrade I wasn't expecting. But for those of you that wished things were tighter, your wish has been granted.

Right stick dribbling controls feels perfect, and it's great pulling off highlight reel moves all by yourself. Hopefully the success of this mechanic forces all b-ball developers to mock Live 10's outstanding mechanics.

Online Performance

Excellent! In four games, 3 were lag-free and 1 was plagued by a touch of lag that took some time to get used to. Unlike the other game, you can't do a lot of bull**** that makes online play such a headache. Wanna run pick and roll all game, you can, but you'l end up blown out with roughly 15-20 turnovers on the stat sheet.

One bug already mentioned is the fatigue issue. Basically the players don't tire right now, and it's something on the patch agenda in the future. One workaround is to actually turn the fatigue "off" and ironically it'll function as if it is on. ****ty news nonetheless, but at least it's confirmed to be patched soon.

Haven't had a chance to get a Live Run 5vs5 going, but I'm looking forward to that tomorrow.

Gameplay Modifications From Demo

I thought the CPU stole the ball way too much in the demo in the paint. Thankfully, that has been tweaked some making it more even-handed and fair. Granted the loss of handles in the paint is a divisive issue, I'm a huge fan of it considering how much better it forces people to play.

A.I.

Dynamic DNA is the real deal. For the first time ever in a b-ball game, the CPU is actually fun to play based on the diversity of styles. Playing the Knicks or the Warriors is a tense experience because they have shooters that'll chuck up 3's with a sliver of an opening. On the flip side, the Spurs and Utah Jazz play much more deliberate, running sets that go deep into the shot clock making you work hard on defense.

Another aspect I love about the CPU AI is their capacity to key-in on hot players. If you start torching them with a player, and they'll do one of three things I've noticed thus far. The first tactic I've noticed is a hard double. When I was getting hot with Kobe, the Jazz sent a hard double forcing me to get rid of the ball asap. The second thing they do is send a soft double. They'll wait for me to start my dribble or back down in the post before sending the extra man. The last thing that do is shade players in zone coverage. Should you attack, you get doubled hard, but it's the CPU's version of saying "Try me mother****er!" and I loved it! The best thing is that the CPU mixes up the tactics dynamically, so you have to mix it up or pay the consequences.

I have two big issues with the CPU so far. One, they don't call timely timeouts consistently. Though there have been a couple isolated instances where the CPU called a smart timeout, the usual scenario is that the CPU coaches subscribe to the Phil Jackson school of thought. "Leave em out there and figure it out"

The other issue is inequity in foul calls. Far too many times, I'll drive into the lane and have substantial contact without a foul being called one way or another. Though there may be some slider to help with this, it's annoying as hell getting killed by a big and not get a call or the bucket.

Overall

Live 10 is the most fun I've had with a basketball game since NBA 2K6. It's just so much fun to play and control, and the game never feels stiff, unresponsive or pre-determined in the same way that other games do at times. Even though it's not the most fully featured game out this year, I don't mind because I'm simply enjoying playing this new brand of basketball. While 2K10 is a great game is in own right, it's style of ball doesn't feel nearly as fluid and free-flowing as this one here, for me.

Looking forward to everyone's take when they get their copies in the next week or two.

[econoodle]

Re: Official NBA Live 10 Impressions Thread

wow i love the crowd involvement
late games it gets intense.

LOVE the suns PA announcer!
soo just like the real one.
in 2k i didnt like the generic Suns announcer.

ok heres a little impression i have never seen,

tie game with 1.5 seconds left on the clock
suns call a TO

inbound on the sideline for a quick nash 20 footer which drops, the announcers talk about the win the players enjoy the win, but wait.
the refs need to see if he got it off in tme.

they show the refs checking while the announcers wonder if it will count or not.

the refs say YES
suns win!

when its like that i NEVER mind losing.

edit: i actually played another game, started one, the Pa announcer is quiet now?
wtf lol

[utexas]

Re: Official NBA Live 10 Impressions Thread

I am trying to find the right words to describe how I feel about Live 10. I have been gaming for over 25 yrs. I enjoy simulation over everything else. I really feel like EA finally made a product with the hardcore sim guy in mind and not trying to please the masses. I haven't bought live since I switched over to 2k years ago, but I am so glad I am back. I think I can describe my feelings with this. I got free tickets to the Mavs vs Magic game last night. As I am sitting there watching the court movement, spacing, and overall pace of the game. I couldn't help but think about what has bothered me about 2k lately and how I feel in love with the Live Demo. I got Live and instantly felt like I was controlling what I saw earlier that night. With 2k I had to force myself to play sim because it was so easy to pound the paint and just chuck 3's or dunk. In Live everything happens in rhythm.

I can only imagine how much more in love with the game play I will be as I play more. I played 12 min qtrs last night and really wanted the experience to last longer. Playing defense actually matters this year. If I choose to play zone its not me trying to cover up a defensive flaw its really is a coaching decision. That may sound minor, but for years when I played NBA games I was having to compensate for something and it forced me to play video game bball instead of actually trying to set up an offense and run a tough defensive gameplan.
In short, I love this game, from the demo to the retail version. I have the PS3, and have no framerate issues.

[Super Glock]

Re: Official NBA Live 10 Impressions Thread

What fastbreak problem?

No, seriously...

There is no fast break problem once so ever.

[matt8204]

Re: Official NBA Live 10 Impressions Thread

Pretty encouraged by what I'm reading about Live '10. I loved the old Genesis games. You guys think I'd enjoy this one? I haven't played a b-ball game in a LONG, LONG time.

[black man]

Re: Official NBA Live 10 Impressions Thread

I am trying to find the right words to describe how I feel about Live 10. I have been gaming for over 25 yrs. I enjoy simulation over everything else. I really feel like EA finally made a product with the hardcore sim guy in mind and not trying to please the masses. I haven't bought live since I switched over to 2k years ago, but I am so glad I am back. I think I can describe my feelings with this. I got free tickets to the Mavs vs Magic game last night. As I am sitting there watching the court movement, spacing, and overall pace of the game. I couldn't help but think about what has bothered me about 2k lately and how I feel in love with the Live Demo. I got Live and instantly felt like I was controlling what I saw earlier that night. With 2k I had to force myself to play sim because it was so easy to pound the paint and just chuck 3's or dunk. In Live everything happens in rhythm.

I can only imagine how much more in love with the game play I will be as I play more. I played 12 min qtrs last night and really wanted the experience to last longer. Playing defense actually matters this year. If I choose to play zone its not me trying to cover up a defensive flaw its really is a coaching decision. That may sound minor, but for years when I played NBA games I was having to compensate for something and it forced me to play video game bball instead of actually trying to set up an offense and run a tough defensive gameplan.
In short, I love this game, from the demo to the retail version. I have the PS3, and have no framerate issues.

You're kinda thinking like I'm thinking.

[erkizzlemynizzle]

Re: Official NBA Live 10 Impressions Thread

I really hope as the roster updates go into full swing, they update some of the generics on the game. Some of them are laughable. Dejuan Blair looks like a skinny light skinned middle school kid. In real life he is a tree trunk that is as black as they come.

[stephensonmc]

Re: Official NBA Live 10 Impressions Thread

I really hope as the roster updates go into full swing, they update some of the generics on the game. Some of them are laughable. Dejuan Blair looks like a skinny light skinned middle school kid. In real life he is a tree trunk that is as black as they come.

yeah man, we will be.

[GOBLUE_08]

Re: Official NBA Live 10 Impressions Thread

UGH!! I cannot wait to get off work tonight to play this game. From what I've read the sim stats are kind of a toss up but I think I can deal with that,especially if the gameplay is as good as everyone is saying. This is the first time in a long time I've been excited about a live game and definitely the first time I've picked it up on release day.

[Tha_Kid]

Re: Official NBA Live 10 Impressions Thread

yeah man, we will be.

You can change likenesses with DNA updates? Does that mean you could put cornrows on Iverson and give Chris Wilcox a fade?

[Rob. D]

Re: Official NBA Live 10 Impressions Thread

Played a few games last night.........I Luv this game its straight sim, cheesers are not allowed. Other than a few things that are in the works for the patch this is a great bball game. I really love the way the arenas look, imo that pulls u in from jump. Player manerisms are onpoint to. Picking up my PS3 copy today after work.

Add me if you wanna get some games in PSN: Dtownsboy

[pdawg17]

Re: Official NBA Live 10 Impressions Thread

Those with PS3 version, it sounds like there isn't much of a framerate issue but what about audio during end of quarter replays (not that it's a big deal)? Any other "bugs" in the PS3 version? How do the player models look (any jaggies)? I have both consoles and am trying to decide which version to get...