NBA Live 2006 – Review

As a big fan of basketball games, I was looking forward to checking out all this game had to offer. I had never played the NBA live series before, and I wanted to see how well it does against other great basketball titles. The very thought of barging my way through a crowd of defenders to do a 360 degree dunk just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Let’s see if EA can keep up with the competition.

Layout and Menu systems
Not such a great start to the game. I found the menu systems to be rather user unfriendly. The writing is too small and the colour contrasts aren’t right. It makes it altogether rather difficult to use. On top of that I feel the whole layout of the system is overly complex. For someone who is not used to games like this it could prove to be frustrating. If you have problems with sight, then I would advise against playing this game. You wouldn’t be able to read the menu.

Graphics
For EA I think the graphics are rather sub par. In recent years EA have managed to dazzle me with the graphics for FIFA and Tiger Woods, but this game really disappoints when it comes to the visuals. Nothing special.

Sound
Admittedly, there is nothing sweeter than hearing the ball hit nothing but net from the three. Swish, swish. It’s a beautiful thing. The music to the game is rather fitting, as it is all rap music. Good beat to play ball to. The coolest thing is the appearance of Linkin Park’s very own Mike Shinoda on one of the tracks. My personal favorite.

Playability
Unless you have played an NBA Live title before, then you will struggle to pick this game up. I am a seasoned basketball game fan and I have managed to win two matches out of about twenty. And that’s on the lowest difficulty setting. Part of the problem is the over complication of the control system. Rather than the increase in accurate controlling I think EA were looking for, they have managed to make the game irritatingly difficult with strange controls for different types of players. There are detailed and well thought out upgrades to games, and this is the complete opposite.

Lastability
I can see people putting this into a cupboard and never looking at it ever again. That’s just me though. I wouldn’t recommend lengthy play of this game. It made me very irritable and angry. It just becomes so frustrating.

Who is this game for / Female gamer angle
This game is for people who are hardcore fans of that particular series. I just don’t see anyone moving to this series from another. I am going to stick with the good old fashion NBA 2K that I have come to love so dear. If you have problems with hearing then you will be disappointed by the lack of subtitles for any of the commentary. Even when there are written prompts, tips and suggestions, they are not very clear. I recommend this for die hard fans only. And I don’t mean Die Hard the movie! Needless to say women’s basketball doesn’t exist here, the court is full of male players. Maybe one day there’ll be a women’s basketball game.

Pros and Cons
+ Good rap music
+ Two player mode is fun
+ NBA rosters are up to date

- The graphics are not really what you would expect
- In general, way too complicated
- I think I may have brained my damage by playing it for too long.
- Character creation from hell! (EA got Tiger woods character creation right! What’s going on?)
- Dynasty mode is more likely to give you a headache than anything else.

The First hour
Pre-game – I looked deeply at the cover of the game and wonder to myself, “Will it be as good as NBA 2K on the Dreamcast?” Sadly I have to report I was dead wrong.
After 15 mins – I tried to play the dynasty mode (some sort of mutant cross bread between a basketball sim and management game). My mind exploded and I gave up.
After 45 mins – After losing my fifth game in a row, I decided to decrease the difficulty setting to the equivalent of ultra easy.
After 60 mins – I am still losing…

NBA Live 2006? What can be said about this new yearly installment? I will tell you. If it weren’t for the fluid animation and playable season mode then this game would be below five out of ten. However, these saving graces have lifted it to a six out of ten. Not a great score for a not so great game, but slightly above average.

Review by Stephen