NBA Live 2003

"A great game in all areas..."

NBA Live 2003 is a great game for all fans of basketball and can be appealing to people who know nothing of basketball. I will be rating NBA Live '03 in five different areas.

Graphics: 10/10
When I first popped the game into my console, I thought the graphics were top notch, until I saw a picture of what Live 2004 was going to look like. The player cutscenes were great and the crowd looked somewhat real(compared to some other games) and when players went up for alley-oops, the fans actually took pictures! That's why the graphics department earned a perfect score.

Gameplay: 9/10
The gameplay was also very good in Live '03. Ea Sports added freestyle control and really boosted up the ease of losing your defender. The crossovers work almost perfectly until you perform a spin move and spin out of bounds without being able to stop it(unless you want to burn a timeout). There are few glitches, and the glitches that do occur are usually minor. These small errors give the gameplay a 9.

Realism: 7/10
The realism factor is really the only downfall of the game. If you are a fan of genuine basketball sims, this probably isn't the best fit for you. Ya know how MJ and Dr. J took off from the free throw line? Well almost everyone in the game can do that, plus they can go over Shaq at the same time. Fast breaks occur all the time and the players get up and down the court in 3 seconds. Some people enjoy this, while others hate it.

Soundtrack: 10/10
The soundtrack in LIVE was great, featuring Snoop Dogg, Just Blaze, DJ Clue, Hot Karl and many, many more.

Fun Factor: 10/10
LIVE's Franchise mode was spectacular. You could play it over and over again trying to restore championship hopes in Chicago or continue on of the greatest dynasties in L.A. This alone makes NBA Live's replay value very high. You can also play one on one with NBA legends or other players around the league.

NBA Live '03 is a great game to play if you have a bunch of buddies over, or if you just want to play for fun. LIVE is also online compatible which opens up a whole new window of fun. Live '03 is definitely the best basketball sim of the year, easily beating out Sega's 2k3.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/26/03, Updated 06/26/03