NBA Live 18

[Diablo25]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know...Live sucks...why bother, 2K will make Live its b*tch...lol. That being said, the early videos I've seen were pretty impressive. Now those are simply VIDEOS but a number of people have given some pretty solid impressions of the game. EA is releasing a demo tomorrow (Aug. 11th) so I guess we will have an idea soon. I have always been a fan of Live's control scheme so I am very anxious to see how it plays. EA has had 2 years to develop it so there aren't too many excuses for them to throw out if its garbage.

[pk500]

It might be the ultimate Lazarus act of game development if Live is even close to 2K this year. I can think of no genre with competing products in which the gulf in quality is so large as in pro basketball games.

In other words: I expect Live 18 to suck balls.

[tjung0831]

I'll be getting the new live...still love Live16. at $40 its a no brainer for me.

[Diablo25]

Oops repeat post

[Aristo]

The one thing Live has been missing that 2K has is Play Art. I really don't know basketball all that well, so learning on the Play Art helps me slow down and be more methodical, even if I have off script. I've kind of preferred the feel I had while controlling Live ball handlers over 2K, but without Play Art, I'm just running and gunning and not ever really trying to run plays.

Also, I like the classic teams in 2K, and really miss them when playing Live.

[Diablo25]

Demo is out. I've only messed with it a little bit but it's clearly better than 16...which wasn't exactly a bar setter . It won't be better than 2K but its some competition. Gonna get into it some more today.

[dbdynsty25]

Played a few games...wow. What an improvement. I'm the biggest 2k honk there is, I absolutely love the game. And sure, it's not NBA 2k, but for someone who wants a change, it'll be perfectly fine. I mean you only get a few min. of a Drew League game, but from what I can tell, it's night and day compared to the last attempt. I'll pick it up most likely...just to do some of the "MY TEAM" type stuff that EA Sports is way better at than 2K. Assuming that's a feature of course. Never know with Live.

[Diablo25]

Hell, its only $35 if you have EA Access so its a no brainer for me.

[pk500]

I was pleasantly surprised by this demo. It still lags behind NBA 2K but is improved.

Live appears to finally have reached G League status this season. Not ready for the big show but still worthy of a pro hoop paycheck.

I wonder if the increasing popularity of the NBA has caused EA to wake up and realize it's losing a lot of revenue by ceding virtual pro hoops to 2K Sports.

Could Live be the next FIFA? I remember when FIFA was streets behind PES in the late 2000s, and no one thought it could catch up. Then soccer started to get very popular with millennials in the U.S., and EA wisely decided to invest quite a bit of resources into improving FIFA to convert the rising interest of soccer among Americans into revenues.

Now FIFA arguably is a better game than PES. I never thought that would happen.

Can NBA Live ever catch 2K? Stranger things have happened. EA has the financial might to outspend any development house, I would think.

[Diablo25]

I played thru The One journey and was drafted by my Sixers . I really enjoyed the game. Its definitely going to be worth the $35. Looking forward to getting deeper with the full version.

[pigpen81]

Played a few games...wow. What an improvement. I'm the biggest 2k honk there is, I absolutely love the game. And sure, it's not NBA 2k, but for someone who wants a change, it'll be perfectly fine. I mean you only get a few min. of a Drew League game, but from what I can tell, it's night and day compared to the last attempt. I'll pick it up most likely...just to do some of the "MY TEAM" type stuff that EA Sports is way better at than 2K. Assuming that's a feature of course. Never know with Live.

Keep playing. My son unlocked exhibition mode with Cavs/Warriors. He is seriously digging it. I think I will get it instead of 2K and save the $20.

I haven't played 2K in years so I cannot compare.

[dbdynsty25]

Keep playing. My son unlocked exhibition mode with Cavs/Warriors. He is seriously digging it. I think I will get it instead of 2K and save the $20.

I haven't played 2K in years so I cannot compare.

Oh no kidding? Nice...gonna try to unlock it too.

[Diablo25]

Yep, I unlocked it also. Beat the Warriors on a buzzer beater by Kyrie.
http://xboxclips.com/Diablo25/468510c8- ... 76fc/embed

[tjung0831]

Finally unlocked play now mode and beat the Cavs by 20. Definitely going to preorder.....game is fun, atmosphere is great.....a lot of nice improvements made. Great job by EA after taking a year off. I saw some real nice animations including a fantastic one by Steph Curry on a loose ball that was heading out of bounds. As of right now, I'm looking forward to this game more than any of the sports games about to be released. Strictly played Xbox One S tonight, will check it out on PS4 tomorrow to compare and then decide which system I will purchase it for.

[johnnypark]

Been playing the online portion. It's pretty fun but locks when you reach level 20. You can reset your player and start over though.

[Diablo25]

Love the game. Definitely pre ordering.

[Aristo]

Love the game. Definitely pre ordering.

Yep, $36 is a no-brainer. While I'm starting to get into the NBA more each year, I still don't play enough to spend $60 on a game. Usually I just wait for 2K to drop in price, but there is enough here to make this my basketball game for a year.

[Teal]

I'm liking this.

[Rodster]

I tried the demo after reading everyone's positive comments and I preordered the game with release day shipping from BB. The game is fun.

[sportdan30]

I'm more lukewarm on this game. It's definitely a solid effort (much more so than what I was expecting tbh) and priced at $40, it seems fair. And it's pretty fun.

There are little things that bother me about Live that I think I'd shelve it after a couple weeks after playing 2K. For instance, there's some type of weird ball bounce or deflection that appears like the ball is magnetized (every so often), there are far fewer animations than 2K, the commentary is unnatural and robotic, player differential is lacking (feels like they all play the same for the most part), passing is not as fluid/responsive as it should be, bounce passes look strange (sped up at times).

There's definitely more positives than negatives, but it's the little things I mentioned that take the immersive enjoyment out of the game for me. I'll be interested to see how updates and patches continue to improve the game.

[Diablo25]

The game is a steal for $35. It does have less animations than NBA 2K but that was to be expected. I had a lot of fun with some live street games last night. Even got player of the game in one of them! Remember there will be SOME things cleaned up by the time the final version comes out.

[dbdynsty25]

The game is a steal for $35. It does have less animations than NBA 2K but that was to be expected. I had a lot of fun with some live street games last night. Even got player of the game in one of them! Remember there will be SOME things cleaned up by the time the final version comes out.

IF it comes out. Remember, they have just straight up canceled games in the past a few weeks before release. Can't say it won't happen.

[tjung0831]

I'm more lukewarm on this game. It's definitely a solid effort (much more so than what I was expecting tbh) and priced at $40, it seems fair. And it's pretty fun.

There are little things that bother me about Live that I think I'd shelve it after a couple weeks after playing 2K. For instance, there's some type of weird ball bounce or deflection that appears like the ball is magnetized (every so often), there are far fewer animations than 2K, the commentary is unnatural and robotic, player differential is lacking (feels like they all play the same for the most part), passing is not as fluid/responsive as it should be, bounce passes look strange (sped up at times).

There's definitely more positives than negatives, but it's the little things I mentioned that take the immersive enjoyment out of the game for me. I'll be interested to see how updates and patches continue to improve the game.

For me... fun factor is first and foremost and it's got that in spades, great atmosphere too which really adds to it. I love that we have an option for an NBA game that isn't 2K.

[sportdan30]

Update 1.03 out for the demo. That's pretty cool they patched the demo. Not sure what it does.

[MizzouRah]

I'm horrible... time to hit the tutorial!