Nice, well thought out review from sportingnews
http://www.sportingnews.com/nba/story/2015-09-28/review-nba-live-16-ea-sports-live-pro-am-summer-circuit-nba-2k16-competition
Gave Live a 3\5
http://www.sportingnews.com/nba/story/2015-09-28/review-nba-live-16-ea-sports-live-pro-am-summer-circuit-nba-2k16-competition
Gave Live a 3\5
Spoiler
It’s been a rough six year stretch for the NBA Live series. EA Sports was forced to cancel the 2010 edition, skipped 2011, cancelled again in 2012, released a disastrous product in 2013, and finally bounced back last year with a decent effort.
The bigger problem now is the direct competition has thrived over that same time period, and other sports games have advanced considerably as well. Meanwhile, Live has only hoped to establish solid footing and avoid having shop closed up completely, like has happened to several other struggling franchises over the past decade.
MORE: NBA Live 16 Demo | Russell Westbrook + NBA Live 16
This year, Live is introducing some modes that they hope to appeal to longtime franchise fans, and have made adjustments to on-court game mechanics in an attempt to make their game easier to understand to a wider, more casual audience. So when the goal is to get back to the quality of 2009’s excellent NBA Live 10 by even reintroducing a popular feature from that game — and EA may have succeeded in doing so with NBA Live 16 — it’s at the cost of feeling firmly entrenched in that very past. NBA Live 16 is undoubtedly fun to play, but the feature set is practically identical by offering up tired legacy modes that have gone another year without being revamped.
There’s one major addition to the series this year and it’s called Live Pro-Am. Within the Pro-Am are two cooperative online modes where the user only controls their own created player.
One brings together up to 10 people individually connected, called Live Run; it’s similar to the adidas Live Run mode in NBA Live 10. The main difference is back then it used NBA players and now it’s personal built-up characters.
The second, Summer Circuit, is a more unique take on playing cooperatively. Up to five players can connect to go through it together but it can also be played solo. A series of challenges are faced at various courts where the user’s team of created players go up against real NBA professionals that have ties to the locations.
The modes are engaging and enjoyable, especially so when playing with friends. The problem, naturally, becomes the lack of friends that may own Live. Unfortunately, it’s something that has to be considered because it’s not quite the same playing with random people online and it may even be difficult at times to find enough out there to participate.
Summer Circuit is the more unique of the two co-op online modes, where unlocks being earned through the games provides a different incentive. The authentic venues like Rucker Park, Royal Brougham Pavilion, Terminal 23 and others that appear in the two look terrific and really add a lot to the experience. While lag has not necessarily been an issue, there have been some really bad framerate problems even in Summer Circuit games when no other user was connected in.
Online performance in general has been good, but that’s with little to no load on the servers. Input lag is noticeable, as everything that feels slightly unresponsive offline is exacerbated online. Half the time when going for a rebound, the player may not even make an effort at the ball and passing windows close quickly when the ball doesn’t get out of the player’s hands fast enough. Shooting remains okay, though, because the shot meter allows for adjustments to be made to timing.
That new shot meter may be the best new feature that has been implemented for NBA Live 16. There has always been a sense of frustration with shooting in basketball games because it wasn’t clear why a shot may have been missed. That’s changed now and it’s a welcome addition.
The new meter displays the percentage a shot has to be made when it releases. A perfectly-timed release with no one contesting means the prime percentage for a player from that spot on the court. So, if someone shoots say 55 percent from 12 feet out on the baseline, a perfect release means that shot has a 55 percent chance of going in. The percentages are affected, too, by type of shot and whether it is contested by defenders. So a contested shot from that same range might make it something like 20 percent.
This is precisely the type of in-game feedback that users need. The system is easy to understand and eliminates the questions that many people have about why a shot went in or didn’t, and even means some free throws will be missed despite perfect releases.
Another nifty new feature to gameplay is the play-calling wheel. A number of potential plays are presented by pressing and holding the left bumper, and then one is selected by pointing in the direction with the right stick. Why is this better than the system utilized in the past? I’m not entirely sure myself besides there being more plays at your disposal to choose from. For whatever reason I’m running plays far more often now and freelancing far less and that is a clear indication that the new system is successful. There’s also a play suggested when bringing the ball up the court which is a good way to get the offense moving quickly.
Clearly EA did a good job with their new gameplay concepts because there’s another that is excellent: you can now hold down the B/Circle button to call a player over and execute a dribble handoff. Not only is it slick to see but it can open up space for quick players who receive the ball.
When Live is flowing it can feel spectacular, but unfortunately, there always seems to be something awkward that takes place right around the corner to pull you out of the moment. Rebounding, play in the post, and interior physicality are probably the weakest aspects within gameplay.
It’s very difficult to prevent players from getting to the hoop, whether it’s a human opponent or the computer. Turboing in and hitting the shot button will usually lead to an easy layup or dunk. Contesting shots seems to do little good, with pathetic-looking shot block animations; a lack of physics-driven collisions means interactions between players don’t seem to affect shot attempts all that much. The same goes for rebounding, which feels like a crapshoot on each missed shot given that players look as though they are making little effort at going after the ball. The typical animation sees them jump a few inches off the floor and reach an arm out to the side.
General responsiveness in gameplay remains a prominent issue. There have been times where an open guy is identified, the pass button hit, and then it takes what feels like a full second or two for that command to actually happen. It’s also obvious when trying to jump for rebounds and blocks or in attempts to go up with a shot quickly.
Outside of the Pro-Am, the other modes in the game are very basic and haven’t advanced much if at all over the past few years. Some will also consider the lack of any ability to edit players as a deal-breaker. Dynasty, where you control a team, and Rising Star, where you control a created character in a career, have not been improved upon in any notable manner. Ultimate Team, the fantasy-based card collection mode did get some new features to bring it closer in line with those in other EA Sports titles.
Dynasty does do simulations well — the statistics come out looking very realistic on both a per game and season basis — but the CPU makes some really odd trade offers. The Timberwolves seem obsessed with a desire to trade away number one pick Karl-Anthony Towns and will give him up for almost nothing. It’s also important to note that, unfortunately, there are still no in-game injuries — they’ll only occur in simulations — and there is still no online component to the mode that would allow for multiple people to play within the same dynasty.
Something the NBA Live series has always done well is the atmosphere. The crowd is very into the games, they ramp up in the playoffs and NBA Finals, and react well to the developments taking place on the court. Additionally the ESPN license allows for authentic sound, screen wipes, score bug, and commentary team of Mike Breen and Jeff Van Gundy. It’s one area the competition can’t attack in the same fashion, and EA Sports has done a good job of taking full advantage of it.
NBA Live 16 is a fun game to play. That may in itself be an achievement for the series. However it has considerable deficiencies and a disappointing feature set that simply doesn’t measure up to the other major sports gaming franchises. Because it does not offer enough compelling content, and it excels in too few areas, Live 16 remains a tier below the premier sports games on the market today.
The bigger problem now is the direct competition has thrived over that same time period, and other sports games have advanced considerably as well. Meanwhile, Live has only hoped to establish solid footing and avoid having shop closed up completely, like has happened to several other struggling franchises over the past decade.
MORE: NBA Live 16 Demo | Russell Westbrook + NBA Live 16
This year, Live is introducing some modes that they hope to appeal to longtime franchise fans, and have made adjustments to on-court game mechanics in an attempt to make their game easier to understand to a wider, more casual audience. So when the goal is to get back to the quality of 2009’s excellent NBA Live 10 by even reintroducing a popular feature from that game — and EA may have succeeded in doing so with NBA Live 16 — it’s at the cost of feeling firmly entrenched in that very past. NBA Live 16 is undoubtedly fun to play, but the feature set is practically identical by offering up tired legacy modes that have gone another year without being revamped.
There’s one major addition to the series this year and it’s called Live Pro-Am. Within the Pro-Am are two cooperative online modes where the user only controls their own created player.
One brings together up to 10 people individually connected, called Live Run; it’s similar to the adidas Live Run mode in NBA Live 10. The main difference is back then it used NBA players and now it’s personal built-up characters.
The second, Summer Circuit, is a more unique take on playing cooperatively. Up to five players can connect to go through it together but it can also be played solo. A series of challenges are faced at various courts where the user’s team of created players go up against real NBA professionals that have ties to the locations.
The modes are engaging and enjoyable, especially so when playing with friends. The problem, naturally, becomes the lack of friends that may own Live. Unfortunately, it’s something that has to be considered because it’s not quite the same playing with random people online and it may even be difficult at times to find enough out there to participate.
Summer Circuit is the more unique of the two co-op online modes, where unlocks being earned through the games provides a different incentive. The authentic venues like Rucker Park, Royal Brougham Pavilion, Terminal 23 and others that appear in the two look terrific and really add a lot to the experience. While lag has not necessarily been an issue, there have been some really bad framerate problems even in Summer Circuit games when no other user was connected in.
Online performance in general has been good, but that’s with little to no load on the servers. Input lag is noticeable, as everything that feels slightly unresponsive offline is exacerbated online. Half the time when going for a rebound, the player may not even make an effort at the ball and passing windows close quickly when the ball doesn’t get out of the player’s hands fast enough. Shooting remains okay, though, because the shot meter allows for adjustments to be made to timing.
That new shot meter may be the best new feature that has been implemented for NBA Live 16. There has always been a sense of frustration with shooting in basketball games because it wasn’t clear why a shot may have been missed. That’s changed now and it’s a welcome addition.
The new meter displays the percentage a shot has to be made when it releases. A perfectly-timed release with no one contesting means the prime percentage for a player from that spot on the court. So, if someone shoots say 55 percent from 12 feet out on the baseline, a perfect release means that shot has a 55 percent chance of going in. The percentages are affected, too, by type of shot and whether it is contested by defenders. So a contested shot from that same range might make it something like 20 percent.
This is precisely the type of in-game feedback that users need. The system is easy to understand and eliminates the questions that many people have about why a shot went in or didn’t, and even means some free throws will be missed despite perfect releases.
Another nifty new feature to gameplay is the play-calling wheel. A number of potential plays are presented by pressing and holding the left bumper, and then one is selected by pointing in the direction with the right stick. Why is this better than the system utilized in the past? I’m not entirely sure myself besides there being more plays at your disposal to choose from. For whatever reason I’m running plays far more often now and freelancing far less and that is a clear indication that the new system is successful. There’s also a play suggested when bringing the ball up the court which is a good way to get the offense moving quickly.
Clearly EA did a good job with their new gameplay concepts because there’s another that is excellent: you can now hold down the B/Circle button to call a player over and execute a dribble handoff. Not only is it slick to see but it can open up space for quick players who receive the ball.
When Live is flowing it can feel spectacular, but unfortunately, there always seems to be something awkward that takes place right around the corner to pull you out of the moment. Rebounding, play in the post, and interior physicality are probably the weakest aspects within gameplay.
It’s very difficult to prevent players from getting to the hoop, whether it’s a human opponent or the computer. Turboing in and hitting the shot button will usually lead to an easy layup or dunk. Contesting shots seems to do little good, with pathetic-looking shot block animations; a lack of physics-driven collisions means interactions between players don’t seem to affect shot attempts all that much. The same goes for rebounding, which feels like a crapshoot on each missed shot given that players look as though they are making little effort at going after the ball. The typical animation sees them jump a few inches off the floor and reach an arm out to the side.
General responsiveness in gameplay remains a prominent issue. There have been times where an open guy is identified, the pass button hit, and then it takes what feels like a full second or two for that command to actually happen. It’s also obvious when trying to jump for rebounds and blocks or in attempts to go up with a shot quickly.
Outside of the Pro-Am, the other modes in the game are very basic and haven’t advanced much if at all over the past few years. Some will also consider the lack of any ability to edit players as a deal-breaker. Dynasty, where you control a team, and Rising Star, where you control a created character in a career, have not been improved upon in any notable manner. Ultimate Team, the fantasy-based card collection mode did get some new features to bring it closer in line with those in other EA Sports titles.
Dynasty does do simulations well — the statistics come out looking very realistic on both a per game and season basis — but the CPU makes some really odd trade offers. The Timberwolves seem obsessed with a desire to trade away number one pick Karl-Anthony Towns and will give him up for almost nothing. It’s also important to note that, unfortunately, there are still no in-game injuries — they’ll only occur in simulations — and there is still no online component to the mode that would allow for multiple people to play within the same dynasty.
Something the NBA Live series has always done well is the atmosphere. The crowd is very into the games, they ramp up in the playoffs and NBA Finals, and react well to the developments taking place on the court. Additionally the ESPN license allows for authentic sound, screen wipes, score bug, and commentary team of Mike Breen and Jeff Van Gundy. It’s one area the competition can’t attack in the same fashion, and EA Sports has done a good job of taking full advantage of it.
NBA Live 16 is a fun game to play. That may in itself be an achievement for the series. However it has considerable deficiencies and a disappointing feature set that simply doesn’t measure up to the other major sports gaming franchises. Because it does not offer enough compelling content, and it excels in too few areas, Live 16 remains a tier below the premier sports games on the market today.
Comment