NBA Live 2003

"An improvement from last year's game...."

...but that's not saying much.
In this review I will compare this game to NBA 2K3

Graphics : 6

The graphics look nice. But the animations are a bit rusty. Players can go through other players with the spin move. Dribble animations look choppy. The players' faces don't look like their real life counterparts. The graphics are a mess

Advantage : NBA 2K3

Sound : 7

They got a whole bunch of rap stars to sing some of the songs for this game. Snoop Dogg, DJ Clue, Busta Rhymes, just to name a few. But all the songs have been remixed, so they talk about basketball. They are above average, but not great. The commentary is HORRIBLE! I don't even want to get into that. Just trust me on this one.

Advantage : Soundtrack - NBA Live 2003
Advantage : Commentary - NBA 2K3

Controls : 8

The controls are mapped out perfectly. My main gripe with this is that you cant edit what each key will do. You have to use the cruddy preset controls they give you.

Advantage : NBA 2K3

Gameplay : 3

I will start off by saying this is more of an arcade game then a simulation. This games revolves around fast breaks. Your players move incredibly fast, I've seen some players that have managed to outrun a rolling ball, that was all the way on the other side of the court. There seems to be like 50 blocked shots in a game. Even the shortest of players can manage to block a shot, and hit it all the way across the court.

EA did add the new 'Free Style Controls'. They are very cool, but it doesn't help the already poor gameplay. Players will do flashy dunks in traffic. It is too easy to lose your defender. Just do one of the many crossover moves they give you, and you have an open lane to the hoop. They did include online play, but since the game is incredibly fast. The guys playing over the internet will do multiple fast breaks, which ruin the fun. The game suffers from MAJOR slowdown in the menus. It will take you over a minute to find that player you need because of the lag. And to top that off, the franchise mode is a joke compared to NBA 2K3. No rookie scouting, workouts, and 2k3's franchise just feels better.

Advantage : NBA 2K3

Replay : 1

You will have more fun staring at a wall for an hour then playing this.

Advantage : NBA 2K3

Buy or Rent? : Neither

Overall : 4

This game is a joke, don't buy it.

NBA 2K3 is better then this game, HANDS DOWN.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 11/30/02, Updated 11/30/02