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| PLATFORM: XBOX 360 |
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| Top Player? Try Benchwarmer |
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 BA Live 07 for the 360 is the video game equivalent of the New York Knicks – a once-great franchise that can’t seem to finds its keys to victory. For the sake of all NBA Live fans, let’s hope Isaiah Thomas isn’t making any of the decisions at EA, or they could be in for a long, painful decade of bad basketball.
The list of major faults in this game is longer than a roll call of Wilt Chamberlain’s one-night stands. Shooting motions are jerky, as if players are being pulled back to the ground by a tractor beam. Dunk animations move with superhuman speed and no boundaries. Dwayne Wade’s arm went through the backboard more than one time for an absurd dunk. The collision detection is laughable when players drive to the hoop, and the opposing team AI is on par with the Washington Generals. Even stacked teams like Dallas never go to the bench unless someone is having foul trouble.
The gameplay is equally unrefined. Scoring is as simple as feeding a big man like KG in the post and pressing the X button. When players aren’t going through backboards, they are missing wide-open dunks. Offensive rebounds are off the charts when players miss free throws.
The game presentation also lacks refinement. The arena sound and commentary are solid (if you are into listening to Steve Kerr make a fool of himself), but the stat boxes often disappear as quickly as they appear and rarely seem to show up when it seems relevant.
On the plus side, EA shored up the 360 version’s lack of features (a full All-Star Weekend is included on top of the deep Dynasty mode). But the list of shortcomings is so long that you wonder how the company has the cajones to charge $10 more for this version over the current-gen titles. Those are some big brass basketballs.
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Instead of contending for the video game crown, this year’s Live gets an early offseason. The new movement system only makes the game clunky, and when combined with poor AI, bad collision, auto animations, and some less than impressive Freestyle moves, this game’s more awkward than Andy vs. the Globetrotters. At least the dynasty mode is more fleshed out (including NBA rumors), but it’s gonna be a long season if you’ve got to contend with this game’s problems. Here’s a rumor you can investigate: EA sent out this product unfinished. |
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5.25 |
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| CONCEPT: |
| Last year’s 360 effort was called for a foul with its weak feature set. Live 07 takes corrective measures by nearly matching the current-gen version |
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| GRAPHICS: |
| The player models look great — as long as they aren’t in motion. These virtual superstars move with none of the grace of their on-court counterparts |
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| SOUND: |
| The great arena sounds stand out, as does Steve Kerr’s inane commentary |
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| PLAYABILITY: |
| Wanna score? Pass to your star in the post and hit “X.” Works nearly every time, and that isn’t a good thing |
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| ENTERTAINMENT: |
| The deep franchise mode is the one saving grace of this title. Forget the NBA All-Star weekend circus sideshow |
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| Copyright
1991 -
2008
:: Game Informer Magazine
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