NBA Live 18 - Demo Impressions

[Leasim96]

Re: NBA Live 18 - Demo Impressions

I'm coming across a bug i think - sometimes when it's "saving changes" right after doing an attribute upgrade - it stays stuck in the screen and doesn't want to advance.

Meaning that i have to restart the game - and watch the cutscene i just watched again (can't skip it) and then go do whatever i was doing again (cause it didn't save) so i can continue.

Already happened 2 times - pretty annoying tbh.

Other than that i'm enjoying the game and considering buying it.

[DaWolf]

Re: NBA Live 18 - Demo Impressions

Have to say Im a little bit disappointed.

- About the sluggishness of the movement. Ive always felt the good controls were Lives selling point but now it feels "2K sluggish"
- Jump Shooting needs improvements (delay and momentum shots)
- Spacing was always so good in Live but now I think there is almost no help defense where you can kick out the ball. i rarely get open looks

Hopefully there are still improvements made to the final game. Overall its fun though btu was expecting more Live feeling..

[Housh123]

Re: NBA Live 18 - Demo Impressions

Finally got some hours in on this game is good


But if run like 8 live run games and Iv been passed the ball a total of 5 times COMBINED in all games

I'm bordering the idea of just not making a big man on this game without friends you play with


Nobody passes the ball on this game


All the trash kids waiting for 2k flocked to
This game


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

[Ziolepr8]

Re: NBA Live 18 - Demo Impressions

I'm quite surprised to say that we finally have a worth Nba Live game. I played only the Drew League intro game and a couple of street games, but the overall feeling is consistent and you can sneak some depth in the game mechanics. The gameplay feels responsive and not overruled by cluncky pre-canned animation as Nba 2k, which is great and that's the main reason I abandoned the 2k series in the last 3 years after 15 years of devotion. The physics seem a little floaty sometimes, but still the game has a nice pace and feels very "natural" to play. If you look closely you can see that there's some issues in animation, missing frames and little weird stuff but the overall game feels just good. Really pleased, wish I had more time to play

[NINJAK2]

Re: NBA Live 18 - Demo Impressions

Solid effort from Live 18. The game does the basics very well imo. Still have 2K in my system so I really need to get used to how live does things. I, like others feel like the shooting is a tad sluggish and there is somewhat of a delay in button presses when it comes to rebounding or blocking shots. Playing defense is tough but fair which is what you want in a sim. No getting pulled around like that other game. Animations can be hit or miss at times but they are serviceable for the most part. They need to tone down after bucket celebrations in nba games as players seemed like they celebrated after every bucket. Looking forward to more play time.

[Leasim96]

Re: NBA Live 18 - Demo Impressions

It seems that this demo has a limit with your MP - atleast in terms of story mode it does - which is obvious right? - but i wish we could keep playing with our MP and if the restriction has to be to not earn anything for it - i don't care.

I just wanted to play more MP vs the cpu. Street / Pro am etc.

I also believe the online vs - has a limit once you reach a level. Which if true is also sad.

But overall i enjoyed the bit i could play.

[krazyboy225]

Re: NBA Live 18 - Demo Impressions

All i can say is i'm enjoying the game so far.

Some of my cooks in my first 3 games on live 18.

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[ucfberman]

Re: NBA Live 18 - Demo Impressions

Guys, for those of you maxed out, you could A) Keep playing the Co-op Challenges, you don't get locked out of those, or B) Create another guy, try a different play style/role. Even though you lose your progress you get to keep everything you unlocked with gear, tattooes, celebrations, and RP.

[Ownal0t]

Re: NBA Live 18 - Demo Impressions

Some other things, ( im not going to mention things from the video)

- is it me or does the CPU Rely too much on 3? they had giannis trying to knock down 3s in the drew game and i was like HUH. he kept missing lol.

- on that topic its makes the warriors a funny team to play due to the 3 point spam.

- im glad to see the improvement of the inside game so far, the post game looks and seems fun again and not ugly looking like in 16.

- A HUGE PLUS ON THE INSIDE GAME DEFENSE. in the past most layups and dunks were unguardable but here it seems like the game has much better Body reconition, more so on lay ups than dunks. tho

- AI teamates are interesting. some times they show strokes of greatness like causing great off the ball actions. but some times they show absolute brain deadness, like 2 guys in the same corner and both not trying to move, CPU trying to pass the ball and launches it when a handoff was needed, CPUS guarding nothing.....

- Which reminds me, Stephen curry LITERALLY LEFT D ROSE OPEN FOR THE ENTIRE GAME FROM THE CORNER. idk if thats cuase he cant shoot 3s like that, but bruh, when i moved up he still didnt play D.

- i think they removed that cheesy behind the back move that ALOT of people used to abuse in 16/15 so now people need to actually work to get to the basket.

- Steal spaming looks to be dead, i remember in 16 it was TOO EASY to get steals, now when you go (and miss) steals, you get sent off path and leave your guy to be wide open and etc or foul.

- shooting is harder (atm my timing is off) but i like the change

- Screens i like that only a GOOD SCREEN can drop you. but i do find it hilarious when a SF or lower is laying people out . i still think the brick wall animation should go

thats all for now, its late, i probably come back and update this post with more things. thanks for reading and peace

[pies]

Re: NBA Live 18 - Demo Impressions

has hybrid wing been removed from the game or just the demo?

[RogerDodger]

Re: NBA Live 18 - Demo Impressions

I didn't enjoy it. I was playing the intro game and controlling Steph Curry on defence, he didn't move with the fluidity that I would expect to see a top player like Steph move. He was stiff. His movement was just awkward. And I ended up being unable to stop the player he was guarding hitting a wide open 3. Didn't leave a great impression with me. The arena atmosphere is great as it was in 16 but the gameplay is just off imo.

[Ownal0t]

Re: NBA Live 18 - Demo Impressions

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TQE3dU1KGcs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


what the hell is curry doing on D....

[Quentin32]

Re: NBA Live 18 - Demo Impressions

The flaws are showing more and more

It's this one catch animation that I saw 3 times in less than a half hour where u take 5 steps without dribbling or a dunk

I tried to run through a defender for a charge and nothing is happening. I just end up with a easy shot in the paint. This game will have to use house rules. And I would not dare play this game against randoms at all

[jyoung]

Re: NBA Live 18 - Demo Impressions

Positives

Defensive lateral movement -- The defense's footwork looks and feels a lot more natural than it does in 2K17. In Live, my perimeter lockdown defender can actually stay in front of fast guards like Russell Westbrook; in 2K17, I'd have no chance of keeping speedboosters like Russ in front of me, even with a maxed-out lateral quickness rating. I also noticed a big difference in this demo between the lateral movement of a stiff like Kevin Love compared to the stopping power of an all-world athlete like LeBron James.

Defensive jostling animations -- I like how bumping the ball carrier with your body tends to put the defender into a hip-riding animation that merely impedes the dribbler's progress instead of completely stonewalling him and halting all of his forward momentum like you'd see in 2K17.

On-ball steal system -- The risk/reward for reaching seems to be balanced fairly for my lockdown defender so far (but it could possibly become unbalanced if I maxed out his steal rating in the retail release), as right now, I can't spam the steal button recklessly without getting blown by for easy buckets, but good timing seems to be rewarded pretty regularly with clean rips.

Environments & presentation -- All of the courts and arenas I've played in have sounded and looked authentic. The ESPN overlays and cutaways have an equally clean look. I'm normally not a fan of watching Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman yell at each other, but it was amusing seeing them argue about a video game character like he was a real person.

Created character stats & upgrade systems -- I like everything about Live's MyPlayer system: you start the game with respectable initial ratings for a lottery pick, then you still have many important choices to make about which attributes and badges you want to upgrade. The pace of the attribute/badge grind seems reasonable so far, and none of the player builds appear to be overpowered, but that could just be because nobody can max out their character in this demo. I appreciate EA's decision to give out identical rewards, regardless of whether I'm playing offline by myself, cooperatively against the CPU, or cooperatively versus other humans.

Negatives

Dribbling -- EA's library of dribble animations seems extremely limited compared to what's available in 2K17. I've struggled to create separation from defenders since Live's dribble moves mostly just move the ball handler across one or two tiles of floor space, with not enough lateral movement to generate scoring opportunities. The majority of the moves lack explosiveness whenever you sprint out of them, and they don't blend together very smoothly. The game also needs more signature animations from real NBA players; every dribble move I've used so far has felt generic and unrecognizable.

Shooting -- None of the players' jumpers on the Cavs or Warriors looked close to resembling their real-life shooting forms. The speed of every jump shot form I've tried has felt way too slow. Placing the shot meter right next to the player model is visually distracting, begging my eyes to look at the meter instead of the shot animation. The meter doesn't feel completely accurate, either, as most of the perfect "green" releases that I've achieved have come from releasing the shot button a little later than what the bar seems to be suggesting for optimal timing. Live is still way behind 2K17 when it comes to having a wide selection of fast, functional, and believable jump shot animations.

Post Offense -- It's too difficult for big men to back down and dominate weaker matchups (especially after the defense switches a guard onto a big during a pick & roll). There aren't very many post moves to use, and all of them feel too slow and look extremely awkward. 2K17's post game is far superior in its functionality, fluidity, and overall number of scoring maneuvers.

Lack of control over dunk & layup animations -- Just going into the paint, pressing the X button, and hoping for a good outcome isn't an acceptable gameplay experience in 2017. Live needs a directional shot stick like the 2K games have to give users better control over the specific type of dunk/layup animation that they want to trigger.

Too many "Brick Wall" screens -- 2K17 had this exact same problem where defenders were getting knocked out cold and dropped to the floor by big-body screens at a much higher rate than what you'd see in real NBA games.

[RayDog253]

NBA Live 18 - Demo Impressions

Edit: NVM found all game modes on their website.

Are those all the game modes? No franchise/association or LUT? Sucks if so I was excited for LUT with updated rosters as I've been playing 16's recently.