EA's NBA Live 09 was released yesterday, and we've written up our impressions of the game demo to honor that. While you can only play the first half of the game on the NBA Live 09 demo available on Xbox Live, you can certainly get a good feel for the game.
The first thing that I noticed was that this game is very pretty. Even compared to EA's NHL 08, Live 09 looks very highly polished, even on a non-HD television. There is, as is a requirement in this generation of sports games, an actual crowd composed of individual people. The crowd members look alright, though you're never up close enough to them to really be able to study their features. It is noticeable that some of the audience members seem to be on the same animation loop and all move in unison in the same fashion. Which is a little bit creepy. On the court, though, is where this game really wins some beauty points. The player models are phenomenal, and are as close to any real players that I've seen in a game. When they're in motion, they look a little bit choppy and awkward, but for the most part the player animations look alright. I did notice a few times where a player's hand or leg would clip through another player, but that seems to be the standard in sports games to make sure that the overall physics are in tact.
The gorgeous player models are just the first hint that EA is really trying to make Live the number one NBA game franchise. In the game demo, at least, Live 09 has an interesting take on the menu screen. You can control a player on a practice court with other players shooting as well. Start brings up the main menu. This is an interesting concept but I could see that one extra button press being a small annoyance that players would have to deal with every time they boot up the game. Similarly, the game lets you move the player around during the beginning of the loading screens as you start the game. And the second half of the loading screen shows a TV-style camera moving from below the stadium through the arena doors to a cheering crowd.
As a huge fan of NHL 08 -- which is currently my favorite sports game -- I was somewhat disappointed by NBA Live 09's game mechanics. Whereas NHL feels smooth and fluid and allows for a full range of player movement, Live felt a little bit choppy. Part of that is due to the nature of the two sports: hockey is gliding on smooth ice and basketball is running across a hard court, but it was more than just that. Every time you perform an action or hit a button, it feels like you're transitioning into something wholly separate. NHL's passing, skating, and shooting all feel fluid, but Live's don't flow together as well. Passing especially has that choppy feel to it.
The shooting mechanic also does not feel as involved as it could. To make a basic shot, all you have to do is essentially press a button. You don't have to finesse the ball into the rim with the control stick or make minute adjustments to your shot -- it's pretty much all automatic after you've pressed the button. Now, of course, there are more complex and complicated shots you can take, but those mostly involve pressing different combinations of buttons and don't really feel like they involve any more skill.
The defensive plays are also hard to execute, because you have to be very precise with your positioning. The jump button makes you jump straight up into the air, and the players don't often enough reach out or seem to make any effort to actually block the ball. When you do successfully snatch the ball out of mid-air during the opposing team's shot, it's damn satisfying. But it gets frustrating that the players get so close and are unable to adjust enough to get the ball.
Another of EA's big initiatives for this game is the Live "Fresh Daily" Dynamic DNA, which downloads stats about the players and teams and updates your game with the latest data. If a player is struggling in the real NBA, chances are they will have a tougher time in your virtual NBA as well. If executed right, this feature could keep the game feeling new and up-to-date even months after you've bought it and played the crap out of it. However, since the data mimcs the real NBA games, it will only be applicable during the NBA season. And it's unclear whether, if you've built up your dream team and you're dominating the game, and a player gets traded, he will disappear from your game. I guess time will tell.
Overall, Live 09 is a step far beyond the last NBA game I've played (2004 perhaps?). But, at least judging by the demo, it doesn't feel as smooth as I'd like or involve you in the game enough to trick you into thinking you're really playing a sport rather than a game. It's a solid effort, but it needs a few more layers of polish before it's truly a great game.
