By Rangebar Merani
With all the hype around NBA Live 07, I expected a great game with no worries. Within a minute of playing, all that was gone. I got nothing I hoped for, only the great graphics. I got a slow, boring basketball game with players that feel like they’re on the moon.
The physics of the game feel like you’re in slow motion and like gravity is three times stronger. The ball dribbles slowly and it feels awkward as players run with it. When the ball is passed to a teammate it floats right to the other player. But don’t worry about gravity when players leave their feet. When they run to the basket, as soon as they jump they’re lightning quick. This really makes the dunks and layups unattractive.
Somehow through this game I managed to find some things that were actually cool. EA’s new Total Freestyle Control (TFC) lets players get really fancy when passing, shooting, dunking and going in for a layup. Each player in the game is assigned one of three levels. The higher the level, the better the player is able to use his abilities. Just because every player can use the TFC, don’t plan on being able to pass like Steve Nash with just any player, they’re assigned levels based on how they really play.
Along with the wonderful graphics, EA incorporates the ESPN feature and design into the game to make it just that more realistic. When getting onto Xbox Live, ESPN’s Bottom Line will appear and show scores of live games from the NFL, MLB, NBA etc. And you can also watch video clips from ESPN.com. But if you actually plan on playing online, well be prepared for some lag. The game gets choppy and it’s just something you’d think developers could fix on a next-gen console.
Other than the new TFC and the ESPN feel of the game, there isn’t much else to say about . The game does have a few neat features such as All-Star Weekend, Dynasty and Superstar modes. The game looks outstanding, with great player models and arenas that look like the real deal. But the mechanics are horrible and the beautiful graphics alone can’t make NBA Live 07 shine.
Oh well, at least there’s NBA 2K7 to give me my NBA fix.
