Most of you maybe never got to play Live back in the glory days of the SNES and Genesis, but I was one of those guys who was with Live back in the beginning. (yeah, i'm old, lol). Live was the definition of fun and when I wanted my basketball fix, I played Live. What else was there? Shootout? NBA In the Zone? Nahh. Live all the way.

However, When things evolved to the 360 and PS3, something went horribly wrong for the series, then 2K picked up the pieces and left Live in the dust. But when I thought all was lost, E.A. strutted out NBA Live 09. While NBA Live 09 didn't mesmerize me, it did one thing right,, E.A.made Live fun again. Live 09 set the stage for Live 10. And man oh man, what a year can do for a game.

Live 10 is really a sick game. IGN's review of 8.2 while good for them, is still not an accurate statement. The key for any game is fun factor, and I have not had so much fun playing basketball for a good long time. NBA Live 10 does just about everything right. Spot on presentation, incredible, and I mean incredible graphics, sick disgustingly smooth animations, realistic gameplay (when you want it to be depending on your difficulty level) and the audio dept is nearly flawless.

Graphics: Okay, the players might be shiny, but why don't we just call it sweat and quit talking about it? Who really notices it when you see Kobe doing a windmill dunk in Dwight Howard's face? I don't care what anyone says, the graphics on Live are monumentally better than last years. Faces are animated, and the facial mapping alone is a sight to behold, especially when you see these guys up close and on replays. But what good is awesome looking player models if they don't look right? Well never fear, the animations are bar none the best I've ever seen. Its about transition from one animation to the next, and you won't see a guy on the floor magically get up with a cheap quick animation, I can't count the new animations I've seen, but you won't be able to either. Bar none, best stadiums I've ever seen. Bright, crisp, colorful and vibrant. The fans are animated nicely, and you'll be hard to find any gripes. Cheerleaders, camera man, assistant coaches, vending guys, mascots. So much to love and so much to enjoy. Graphics are nearly flawless.

Gameplay: Now I do miss the run and gun days of Live. But ya know, we've evolved and I think E.A. finally evolved the game to a nice standard that anyone can enjoy. Live can be played on any difficulty level. If you're casual, just leave it on rookie and you can be run and gun again, but if you're a fan of just NBA in general and want a realistic game, beef up that difficulty and prepare for a difficult but enjoyable experience. NBA Live 10 plays brilliantly as it looks. The computer A.I. is truly relentless and will give the most veteran fans of the series and monumental challenge for their season. NBA Live requires some pretty smart peeps at the helm to get a big win. Play calling, continuous subbing and moving the ball around is a requirement in NBA Live 10. I noticed fatigue plays a tremendous role this year and yes, guys get tired pretty fast if you leave it a the default level. You'll be taking your big name guys like Kobe and Howard quite frequently.

I love the knew quick strike controls, it took me about 5 game in the demo to get this new contorl scheme down, but it feels wonderful once you really practice at it. And while having one shoot button seems lame on paper, it's amazing when you know how to utilize it. One button does so much, it just all depends on the situation and how you're pressing on the control stick. Putting it mildly, but shoot button can do about a million things depending where you are, where you're pressing the stick, who's guarding you, and who you're controlling.

I had the most difficult time with passing and turnovers. Icon passing seems occasionally inconsistent, I'd have icon passing activated, I'd press a button and nothing would happen. I might be doing something wrong, but icon passing might need to be patched.

Defensively, Live 10 thrives with the amazing help defense when you play guys who continue to attack the paint and hte basket. The computer lockon button is still there, but the ability how your computer A.I. defense converges on the offensive guys driving is good for guys who live and die by defense. Again though, you got to call plays in Live 10 and be on your toes, as the computer A.I. is quite amazing in Live. I actually had to lower the CPU sliders about 10% on all-star difficulty and I found a good foundation on realism and challenge. The free throws are still too easy, even on higher difficulty levels, so make sure you alter that in the sliders to make it more difficult or you'll be swishing shots with shaq at the line consistently.

Sound: Marv and Kerr still repeat alot of the same stuff from last year, but nobody can deny they still make the game feel warm and cuddly. Marv and Kerr have as lot of new stuff to say this year and I love how they mesh well with the action. At times their comments don't make sense, but overall, I think these two guys are still the best in the business.

Not much else is wrong in the audio dept. Still solid sound effects, player chatter and the P.A. announcer is great. Fans of the series will notice the classic Live announcer they've had for years is gone, go back to Live 03-09 and you'll know. But the new P.A. guy sounds more realistic, sounds like the Laker P.A. guy, but it would have been nice to have different P.A. guys depending on the venues. Incredible crowd noise, music, chants of MVP on star players and boo's for the guys they hate. Everything meshes wonderfully.

Presention: Still no ESPN implimentation and no halftime show, just the usual, player hightlights and game halftime stats. It's better, but still lacking in this dept. But ya know what, the game plays so great, they can let the halftime show stink, doesn't really bother me. Stat screens are indept and fun to check out. But man, I'm sick of the micro text, people with small Tv's and no HD will be annoyed by how hard it is to read.

Final Call: Glory days have returned, no doubt about it. If you have any doubts about NBA Live this year, forget about it, this is the most complete basketball game I've ever played and I will be playing it until probaby NBA Live 11. This game is sick and well worth your 60 bucks this year. I don't care if there is another game on the shelf, you need to play NBA Live 10 and you will be hooked from the start. Thank you E.A., i'm back to your game and plan on staying. Thanks for keeping the couch all warm and cozy for me, I"ll be here for quite some time...

Hey Gisher, we appreciate the review/impressions but we need all this information in one place.

Please post it here
http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/315408.page

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