NBA Live 2004

"To say this is a great game would be a understatement"

I was more of a 2K fan myself but now that Live 2004 has come out, I HAVE SEEN THE LIGHT. This is the best basketball game ever and if you read my review and go buy/rent it you wont disagree.

Graphics 8/10 - This game is probably the best looking sports game ever! The way the light reflects off the glass really makes you proud to own/rent this game, the way the jerseys move and the crowd looks make it VERY easy on the eyes. And the biggest improvement in the graphics department has to be the fact that the refs FINALLY look like refs. Why only an 8 then? Well if you watch the some footage of this game and ESPN you'll notice that the player detail in ESPN is FAR greater then that of players in Live.

Gameplay 7.5/10 - The A.I is the real reason the game scores so low in this part of the review. When you first play the game you might find it easy to score and play defense but that does not last long, because even if you have a 15 point lead going into the 2nd or 4th quarter you'll see a HUGE comeback from a team that was doing so poorly only 10 seconds ago and that can be VERY frustrating especially when you first get it. But don't be discouraged by that because with the help of the new pro-hop move you can easily out play your opponent. Another great thing about the new setup they have, is the different buttons for dunk/lay-up and shoot which is really help when your running down the court for a dunk. The only real problem with the gameplay other then the A.I is the arcadish feeling of the game which can get a bit repetitive if you already own a arcade style basketball game like Street Vol.2.

Sound 8/10 - The only thing better then the sound of the crowd in this game is actually being at a basketball game and only by a slim margin. The player and crowd mutters sound so real and are so on task (if someone is setting a pick on the left you'll here a teammate yell pick left).

Replay ability - Sports games don't really have replay ability because you never really finish them. But you'll be playing this game for sometime to come.

Rent/Buy - Buy, because you really cant get everything that Live offers in only 3 days but if you do own NBA Live 2003 or plan on deciding between this and ESPN rent this first and go from there.

This is just an awesome game and the amount of stuff you can do in the game is near endless, so you know you'll definitely get your money's worth out of this title.

Final Score 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/16/03