so far, most of the impressons at OS are saying they don't understand all the negative stuff in that IGN review. But I will wait to hear from you guys who I trust way more.
NBA2K5 Impressions
Moderators: Bill_Abner, ScoopBrady
NBA2K5 Impressions
lets hear it boys
so far, most of the impressons at OS are saying they don't understand all the negative stuff in that IGN review. But I will wait to hear from you guys who I trust way more.
so far, most of the impressons at OS are saying they don't understand all the negative stuff in that IGN review. But I will wait to hear from you guys who I trust way more.
Well I did not read IGN's review but if they scored it higher then Live they really must have loved the All-Star goodies.
From the other thread (copied/pasted) Just a few things I noticed. I will bring more when I get time to play it.
Okay I played a very short while to test out HDTV.
For us HD fans we get burned with only 480P but as far as I can tell it does support widscreen. (I have a 4:3 HD) tried on normal and widescreen in the Xbox video options and it always came in full screen. Did not even auto detect widescreen and had to do that manually via the TV.
For the ID fans and ESPN fans who turned off auto-crouch on defense one major annoyance. Unless I missed an option defensive crouch is CPU only. L Trigger now creates a double team so if you are a manual def. croucher be prepared. You can still back up on offense with L Trigger.
I did not have ESPN long enough last year to remember how bad it was. So far so good (camera angles - check) (isomtion does not cause a offensive foul every other play - check) and I don't know if it is in last years game but you do have a NBA Live-esque pro hop with the "Y" button. Varied types of passes and shots in the short time I played. Some real high arcers (Ben Wallaces 2 attempts come to mind) and some flatter shots.
ESPN defiantely feels more like a real NBA Court in contrast to the player models. Like you are out on the open range in comparison to Live.
Graphically it is no contest but ESPN has a few things that will force you to do a doubletake. I think I will call it the Mr. Clean meets Army Men effect. Bald players heads are a little to shinny and the skin (especially arms and head look plasticy). Minor gripe but something you will notice right off the bat.
That is all I have since I had a whopping 10 minutes with the game and 5 of that was being disapointed that 720p was removed (unless I am missing something).
From the other thread (copied/pasted) Just a few things I noticed. I will bring more when I get time to play it.
Okay I played a very short while to test out HDTV.
For us HD fans we get burned with only 480P but as far as I can tell it does support widscreen. (I have a 4:3 HD) tried on normal and widescreen in the Xbox video options and it always came in full screen. Did not even auto detect widescreen and had to do that manually via the TV.
For the ID fans and ESPN fans who turned off auto-crouch on defense one major annoyance. Unless I missed an option defensive crouch is CPU only. L Trigger now creates a double team so if you are a manual def. croucher be prepared. You can still back up on offense with L Trigger.
I did not have ESPN long enough last year to remember how bad it was. So far so good (camera angles - check) (isomtion does not cause a offensive foul every other play - check) and I don't know if it is in last years game but you do have a NBA Live-esque pro hop with the "Y" button. Varied types of passes and shots in the short time I played. Some real high arcers (Ben Wallaces 2 attempts come to mind) and some flatter shots.
ESPN defiantely feels more like a real NBA Court in contrast to the player models. Like you are out on the open range in comparison to Live.
Graphically it is no contest but ESPN has a few things that will force you to do a doubletake. I think I will call it the Mr. Clean meets Army Men effect. Bald players heads are a little to shinny and the skin (especially arms and head look plasticy). Minor gripe but something you will notice right off the bat.
That is all I have since I had a whopping 10 minutes with the game and 5 of that was being disapointed that 720p was removed (unless I am missing something).
-
dbdynsty25
- DSP-Funk All-Star
- Posts: 21619
- Joined: Mon Aug 19, 2002 3:00 am
- Location: Thousand Oaks, CA
dbdynsty25 wrote:8.1 for ESPNbdoughty wrote:Well I did not read IGN's review but if they scored it higher then Live they really must have loved the All-Star goodies.
8.9 for Live
So they scored it Lower...I think that's what you meant to say right?
Yea my bad, flip it around like you have it. Of course Gamespot gave Live an 8.0 and you can almost count on ESPN getting a much higher score.
A perfect example of why you buy/rent both and decide on your own what you like.
A couple of quick comments. I just finished two games of ESPN 2K5 and so far I think I like it. I played on default settings which was Pro and in my first game my Lakers got owned by the Pistons 62-42 on 5 minute quarters.
Detroit shot 63% and a lot of them were dunks and put backs which was my fault for not having a clue to playing defense. I shot 47% with Kobe getting 22 points. Pistons outrebounded me 24-12 and also doubled me up on points in the paint with 48 to my 24.
The gameplay I thought was much improved over last year and the force field seems to be completely gone. The ESPN presentation is back with lots of cut scenes to the crowd reaction and players reactions. Not as good as the football, but still good. Graphics are awesome as expected and the faces look perfect. The animations were great as well. I saw a couple of neat tieups where the defender grabs the ball and pulls until the ref calls a jump ball.
Whoever said there was no player movement was lying. I saw plenty in the two games that I played and my team was very active even when I didn't call a play. There's a lot of new stuff in this game and I'd suggest to anyone that picks it up to go watch the tutorials before playing. Lot of new stuff that I didn't see mentioned in the IGN review.
My overall impression after two games is I am excited more than I thought I'd be. I won't be diving into a franchise just yet, but I do like the game. I have a feeling that after I play a few more games I'm going to need to make some slider adjustments as I feel the shooting percentages are going to be too high.
I haven't seen NBA Live yet, but I get the feeling that in this case, IGN sold their soul to EA. Their biggest selling point on Live was the freaking All Star weekend and slam dunk contest which means about as much to me as the home run derby in a baseball game. I'll take a game that does more right on the court as opposed to the fluff that EA is pushing. There's nothing revolutionary here, but it's still a solid game so far.
Detroit shot 63% and a lot of them were dunks and put backs which was my fault for not having a clue to playing defense. I shot 47% with Kobe getting 22 points. Pistons outrebounded me 24-12 and also doubled me up on points in the paint with 48 to my 24.
The gameplay I thought was much improved over last year and the force field seems to be completely gone. The ESPN presentation is back with lots of cut scenes to the crowd reaction and players reactions. Not as good as the football, but still good. Graphics are awesome as expected and the faces look perfect. The animations were great as well. I saw a couple of neat tieups where the defender grabs the ball and pulls until the ref calls a jump ball.
Whoever said there was no player movement was lying. I saw plenty in the two games that I played and my team was very active even when I didn't call a play. There's a lot of new stuff in this game and I'd suggest to anyone that picks it up to go watch the tutorials before playing. Lot of new stuff that I didn't see mentioned in the IGN review.
My overall impression after two games is I am excited more than I thought I'd be. I won't be diving into a franchise just yet, but I do like the game. I have a feeling that after I play a few more games I'm going to need to make some slider adjustments as I feel the shooting percentages are going to be too high.
I haven't seen NBA Live yet, but I get the feeling that in this case, IGN sold their soul to EA. Their biggest selling point on Live was the freaking All Star weekend and slam dunk contest which means about as much to me as the home run derby in a baseball game. I'll take a game that does more right on the court as opposed to the fluff that EA is pushing. There's nothing revolutionary here, but it's still a solid game so far.
I just picked it up (I was leaning towards Live but the gaming gods stepped in, as Live was out of stock) and have had a chance to play through a few games. My impressions are fairly mixed. Some random observations:
+ The off ball movement is light years better than it has ever been for this series. I can understand why a few people were comparing it to ID in that regard.
+ The default camera angle is terrific. I'm a side camera guy and the broadcast angle shows off the game engine nicely while giving you enough visibility to make any pass.
+ There have been a good number of fouls, and you can draw the foul off the midrange
+ The player movement is much smoother than in year's past. I've never liked playing the ESPN series from the side angle because the players moved so awkwardly in comparison to a game like Live or ID. Thankfully that stiffness is gone, and the player movement is generally very solid.
+ The halftime highlights are a nice touch a la NFL. Moreover, they make sense for a basketball game, as the highlights center on certain players who are doing well rather than specific plays.
-I'll probably be the only person who says this, but I don't like the graphics at all. The player models are nice, the animations are good, but there's something grainy and weird looking about everything. The game almost has a glare. It's not easy on the eyes.
-I'm averaging around 90% from the field on All-Star, and that's while mixing up the teams. Long range shooting is very effective, the post moves are effective, the jump stop is effective- pretty much everything is effective.
-I haven't gotten the hang of playing defense at all, but I can see why IGN said that there's not much to do on the defensive end. I'm still screwed up from ID though, so I keep on calling a double team when I want to get into a crouch. A positive is that it looks like the steal button isn't as effective as it's been in the past and you may actually get a few reach in fouls.
-A little too much hotdogging for my taste. It's too easy to do ridiculous dribbles, which I can see getting really old once I head online. Also the dunks can be over the top. Stephon Marbury is not going to crossover and then throw down a monster dunk in traffic when he takes it to the hoop.
I'll post more as I see more things. I'll be heading onto XBL in a bit if anyone wants to play.
+ The off ball movement is light years better than it has ever been for this series. I can understand why a few people were comparing it to ID in that regard.
+ The default camera angle is terrific. I'm a side camera guy and the broadcast angle shows off the game engine nicely while giving you enough visibility to make any pass.
+ There have been a good number of fouls, and you can draw the foul off the midrange
+ The player movement is much smoother than in year's past. I've never liked playing the ESPN series from the side angle because the players moved so awkwardly in comparison to a game like Live or ID. Thankfully that stiffness is gone, and the player movement is generally very solid.
+ The halftime highlights are a nice touch a la NFL. Moreover, they make sense for a basketball game, as the highlights center on certain players who are doing well rather than specific plays.
-I'll probably be the only person who says this, but I don't like the graphics at all. The player models are nice, the animations are good, but there's something grainy and weird looking about everything. The game almost has a glare. It's not easy on the eyes.
-I'm averaging around 90% from the field on All-Star, and that's while mixing up the teams. Long range shooting is very effective, the post moves are effective, the jump stop is effective- pretty much everything is effective.
-I haven't gotten the hang of playing defense at all, but I can see why IGN said that there's not much to do on the defensive end. I'm still screwed up from ID though, so I keep on calling a double team when I want to get into a crouch. A positive is that it looks like the steal button isn't as effective as it's been in the past and you may actually get a few reach in fouls.
-A little too much hotdogging for my taste. It's too easy to do ridiculous dribbles, which I can see getting really old once I head online. Also the dunks can be over the top. Stephon Marbury is not going to crossover and then throw down a monster dunk in traffic when he takes it to the hoop.
I'll post more as I see more things. I'll be heading onto XBL in a bit if anyone wants to play.
-
jLp vAkEr0
- DSP-Funk All-Star
- Posts: 2821
- Joined: Tue Aug 19, 2003 3:00 am
- Location: : Bayamon, Puerto Rico
Here's what I posted at OS. These are after one game:
After one game:
I like the game a lot so far. The controls will take some getting used too, especially for people who use icon passing. The Y button is now the jumpstep, and to bring the icons up you hit the black button. Started my franchise—err, the association, and lost my first game 77-59. The new momentum is nice, but felt a little overdone at times, and made what should be a simple jump shot look really off balanced. It could have been me messing up though. Game definitely isn’t a dunk-a-thon like last year, a lot harder to get to the hoop. Outside shooting is a lot more consistent. When I had Houston wide open from 3 point range, I pretty much made it every time. No defensive stance button, the L trigger is double team instead, and it works pretty well. You can come out and try and trap the point guard, and make him struggle to get a pass away. Once I forced a jump ball with it. Graphics look great, sound is great….crowd is really into the game and reacts at the right times…..WAY better than ID here. Post moves look nice, but I really need to learn them before I can say how good the post game really is. Halftime and Post game show is pretty nice. They show the key player for each team, and the highlights for that player. My biggest disappointment so far is the custom arena music, there are only 3 places to put music in. When the home team is bringing the ball up, Away team, and Long, which I’m not really sure what that is.
That’s it for now, ask any questions you want, as I’m sure I forgot some stuff.
After one game:
I like the game a lot so far. The controls will take some getting used too, especially for people who use icon passing. The Y button is now the jumpstep, and to bring the icons up you hit the black button. Started my franchise—err, the association, and lost my first game 77-59. The new momentum is nice, but felt a little overdone at times, and made what should be a simple jump shot look really off balanced. It could have been me messing up though. Game definitely isn’t a dunk-a-thon like last year, a lot harder to get to the hoop. Outside shooting is a lot more consistent. When I had Houston wide open from 3 point range, I pretty much made it every time. No defensive stance button, the L trigger is double team instead, and it works pretty well. You can come out and try and trap the point guard, and make him struggle to get a pass away. Once I forced a jump ball with it. Graphics look great, sound is great….crowd is really into the game and reacts at the right times…..WAY better than ID here. Post moves look nice, but I really need to learn them before I can say how good the post game really is. Halftime and Post game show is pretty nice. They show the key player for each team, and the highlights for that player. My biggest disappointment so far is the custom arena music, there are only 3 places to put music in. When the home team is bringing the ball up, Away team, and Long, which I’m not really sure what that is.
That’s it for now, ask any questions you want, as I’m sure I forgot some stuff.
-
Bill_Abner
- DSP-Funk All-Star
- Posts: 1829
- Joined: Wed May 28, 2003 3:00 am
- Location: Columbus, Ohio
I don't think so. It's actually even more of a problem on defense, as I usually like to switch off to a post player and let the CPU guard the point guard, especially against another human. But on a more positive note, the passing is much crisper on analog than it has been in the past, which makes icon passing at least somewhat less necessary.fsquid wrote:me don't like that. Is there anyway to swap the Y and black buttons?seanmac31 wrote:Oh, and I hate having the black button be the one that calls up the passing icons. Very awkward.
Good point about the atmosphere. The crowd really responds appropriately to what's going on in the game- they get loud and stay loud after a big play or a run, and you can totally take them out of the game by getting a big lead. As good a basketball crowd as I've seen.
I only played one game, as the Pistons vs. Miami on one level up from default (All Star, I think), but I already really don't like it. The most apparent problem is that jump shots are ridiculously accurate, and while that may be adjustable with sliders, there's no excuse for releasing the game this way out of the box.
But what bothered me the most was the way the CPU team played. I thought I had heard Shaq was traded to the Heat, but you would never have known it from the game I played. Not only did he not attempt even one shot from the post, the other players on the team didn't pass him the ball more than two or three times the entire game. I think he ended up with 6 points, and at least two of the baskets were fadeaway jumpers off offensive rebounds. Unless the game was a huge abberation, this just about ruins the single player game for me.
As a multiplayer game, this wouldn't be an issue, but it's not the only problem. I really don't like the responsiveness of the controls. I constantly felt like I was waiting for an animation to finish, and while these look nice, I don't feel like I'm in control of the players' movements like I should be.
Graphics are fairly good, but nowhere near the level of NFL 2k5. Overall, this is nowhere near as good as last year's Inside Drive (not that I expected it to be), and even if NBA Live is only as good as last year's version (which I didn't like all that much) that should beat out ESPN too.
But what bothered me the most was the way the CPU team played. I thought I had heard Shaq was traded to the Heat, but you would never have known it from the game I played. Not only did he not attempt even one shot from the post, the other players on the team didn't pass him the ball more than two or three times the entire game. I think he ended up with 6 points, and at least two of the baskets were fadeaway jumpers off offensive rebounds. Unless the game was a huge abberation, this just about ruins the single player game for me.
As a multiplayer game, this wouldn't be an issue, but it's not the only problem. I really don't like the responsiveness of the controls. I constantly felt like I was waiting for an animation to finish, and while these look nice, I don't feel like I'm in control of the players' movements like I should be.
Graphics are fairly good, but nowhere near the level of NFL 2k5. Overall, this is nowhere near as good as last year's Inside Drive (not that I expected it to be), and even if NBA Live is only as good as last year's version (which I didn't like all that much) that should beat out ESPN too.
Gabe, your comments are troubling. That's pretty much how I felt about last year's ESPN, which ended up on the shelf after one or two games.
Other than the widescreen support, which is a potential gamebreaker for me, does anyone know if the biggest problems with Live 2004 have been addressed in 2005? I've read from many that offensive rebounds are fixed, that pro hop is less effective, and that slowdown is reduced, but the other thing that irritated the hell out of me was the high percentage of points in the paint vs. mid-range jumpers, regardless of slider settings. (Or the opposite of the problem Gabe describes). Are mid-rangers more effective this year, and is it possible to get open more often? Same applies less so to 3-pointers, as good three shooters would miss wide open looks far too often (and conversely bury them in double coverage too often).
Sorry, I realize this is a 2k5 thread, but I'm still on the fence as to which version to pick up. If 2k5 still sucks and Live 2005 doesn't support widescreen (or fix those other problems), then it looks like another year with ID and updated rosters.
Other than the widescreen support, which is a potential gamebreaker for me, does anyone know if the biggest problems with Live 2004 have been addressed in 2005? I've read from many that offensive rebounds are fixed, that pro hop is less effective, and that slowdown is reduced, but the other thing that irritated the hell out of me was the high percentage of points in the paint vs. mid-range jumpers, regardless of slider settings. (Or the opposite of the problem Gabe describes). Are mid-rangers more effective this year, and is it possible to get open more often? Same applies less so to 3-pointers, as good three shooters would miss wide open looks far too often (and conversely bury them in double coverage too often).
Sorry, I realize this is a 2k5 thread, but I'm still on the fence as to which version to pick up. If 2k5 still sucks and Live 2005 doesn't support widescreen (or fix those other problems), then it looks like another year with ID and updated rosters.
I'm not too fond of ESPN this year myself. I have to give it more time as I've only played one game online and one game offline, but Live is just so much more fun IMO.
ESPN may have the actual x's and o's down better than Live, but the game just feels stiff and overall blah imo. The player models appear to be made out of clay. I was just left underwhelmed by the whole thing.
Not enough time to make a judement I know, but right now having both Live and ESPN, live is getting my attention.
ESPN may have the actual x's and o's down better than Live, but the game just feels stiff and overall blah imo. The player models appear to be made out of clay. I was just left underwhelmed by the whole thing.
Not enough time to make a judement I know, but right now having both Live and ESPN, live is getting my attention.
-
dbdynsty25
- DSP-Funk All-Star
- Posts: 21619
- Joined: Mon Aug 19, 2002 3:00 am
- Location: Thousand Oaks, CA
This is only based on about 3 hours of playing Live:Blublub wrote:does anyone know if the biggest problems with Live 2004 have been addressed in 2005? I've read from many that offensive rebounds are fixed, that pro hop is less effective, and that slowdown is reduced, but the other thing that irritated the hell out of me was the high percentage of points in the paint vs. mid-range jumpers, regardless of slider settings. (Or the opposite of the problem Gabe describes). Are mid-rangers more effective this year, and is it possible to get open more often? Same applies less so to 3-pointers, as good three shooters would miss wide open looks far too often (and conversely bury them in double coverage too often).
- The problems you mentioned have been addressed. I looked at the shot chart after one of my games last night and it was quite impressive for the CPU. Slow down is minimal. The took a wide variety of shots and made a realistic amount of each type. See the Live impressions thread for some comments.
- I'm just slightly worried that there are a couple of new problems. I am worried that my CPU teammates don't have any clue how to run a fast break. They mostly sprint to the 3 point line and then hang out there. You CAN get some fast break points if you use the white button, but it is REALLY hard to get anything going like an odd-man break to steal a hockey term. I am also worried that the force field around defenders has increased. One of the things I loved about Live last year was the ability to cut to the basket. I didn't overuse the pro-hop, so I had a lot of fun. This year it seems like there is more "Mario running." I think this *may* be solved with slider adjustments as the default pro-hop and freestyle effectiveness are turned way down. It may be a Xbox only problem, but I think freestyle is slightly unresponsive as well. For instance, there seems to be a half-second delay on the "raise arms on defense" command and that pretty much makes it useless.
- I've heard the Live player ratings are whack. I can't comment on that, but I do know the team ratings are hosed. I believe Memphis is a 91 and New Jersey is a 68.
I have yet to play Live, but I played one game of ESPN. The graphics have taken a step back. The game is no longer in 720 resolution. It's just not as sharp as last year. Also, it must not have widescreen support because on my widescreen t.v it takes up about 95% of the screen. The gameplay is great so far. The passing is terrific. I ran a couple of fastbreaks with the Rockets and it was a thing of beauty.
-
dbdynsty25
- DSP-Funk All-Star
- Posts: 21619
- Joined: Mon Aug 19, 2002 3:00 am
- Location: Thousand Oaks, CA
-
dbdynsty25
- DSP-Funk All-Star
- Posts: 21619
- Joined: Mon Aug 19, 2002 3:00 am
- Location: Thousand Oaks, CA
Don't know right now...I'm back at work.
Which reminds me about the one thing that pisses me off like no other. Why can you not restrict CPU trading? I don't care if I can't control all the teams as much as I hate when the CPU just trades random people. It was the same way in ESPN NFL and that was remedied by turning off Weekly Prep and Preseason. Hopefully there will be a similar fix in NBA.
I can't believe that no 'focus groups' can pick up on this. I would think most would want to play a game w/ the correct players on the right teams...apparently I'm in the minority. I like playing the game with the accurate rosters, mirroring real life.
Which reminds me about the one thing that pisses me off like no other. Why can you not restrict CPU trading? I don't care if I can't control all the teams as much as I hate when the CPU just trades random people. It was the same way in ESPN NFL and that was remedied by turning off Weekly Prep and Preseason. Hopefully there will be a similar fix in NBA.
I can't believe that no 'focus groups' can pick up on this. I would think most would want to play a game w/ the correct players on the right teams...apparently I'm in the minority. I like playing the game with the accurate rosters, mirroring real life.
-
jLp vAkEr0
- DSP-Funk All-Star
- Posts: 2821
- Joined: Tue Aug 19, 2003 3:00 am
- Location: : Bayamon, Puerto Rico
-
dbdynsty25
- DSP-Funk All-Star
- Posts: 21619
- Joined: Mon Aug 19, 2002 3:00 am
- Location: Thousand Oaks, CA