NBA Live 06

Jordan or George, Steven calls a time-out...

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EA has just about all bases covered when it comes to major sports titles for the Xbox 360 launch, and basketball is no exception. Sadly for EA, NBA Live 06 isn't the only Basketball game to appear on the Xbox 360 this year. Considering 2K Sports have released their own competitor, it seems a tad surprising that EA haven't done a little more to make NBA Live 06 truly stand out as the next generation basketball game of choice.

To be fair to EA though, there are a few things that are done particularly well in this title. Firstly the graphics on the surface look great. The TV style presentation looks very authentic indeed, and the character models (if a little over shiny) do look exceptionally detailed and convincing. Many of the animations, such as the dunking and the general player movement are vastly improved from current generation Basketball games too. The annoying graphical bug of players looking like they are just floating along ice rather than actually running, which plagued the NBA Live series on all current generation consoles, is now thankfully completely gone. Sadly not all the animations piece together particularly well, meaning there can be some popping from time to time, tarnishing the game's otherwise impressive aesthetic. On an HDTV, NBA Live 06 on Xbox 360 is visually the closest you can get to a real basketball match from your own living room. However, for those unlucky enough not to own an HDTV, some presentation aspects are highly flawed. A good example is the very small font size that was clearly design with HD sets in mind. Unfortunately it's nearly unreadable on smaller standard TVs, which causes a number of problems, particularly in the menu screens.

Regrettably, beneath the shiny coat of next-gen graphics, there is very little new to the game. Sure it boasts a new physics engine built from the ground up, but with the exception of some new tactical options; such as making subs between plays, it offers almost exactly the same gameplay experience as NBA Live 05. If anything, it is actually less balanced now as shots from any range have such a low chance of actually going in. The worst new thing about this title has to be the Free Throw system which is horribly flawed. A new control style was implemented for this type of shot and requires you to pull back on the right analogue stick and then forward very fast to release the ball (highly similar to the way you would swing a golf club on Tiger Woods). This doesn't sound too bad on paper but in practice it doesn't work well at all, and even the best players will miss around 80% of shots while given no feedback whatsoever about what could have been done to actually sink the ball. Other than this though, the controls remain almost exactly the same as last year's edition and should feel intuitive if you have played existing games in the series. For newcomers however the controls may feel a little complex and a tutorial of how to play is severely lacking.

In NBA Live 06, the most shocking thing however, is the lack of the main franchise game mode featured in just about every other NBA Live game of recent time. NBA Live 06 only includes Quickgame, Create a Player, Season and online play game modes. This means this years version of NBA Live doesn't represent anywhere near the lifespan value previous NBA games of the past were known for which comes as a huge disappointment.

NBA Live 06 has decent sound overall. What stands out with particular effect is the fantastic crowd, which is influenced a lot by the player's performance, especially if you are playing as the home team. The crowd really seems to get involved with the whole experience, boasting dramatic cheers and roars which significantly adds to the immersive ambience. The commentary from Marv Albert and Steve Kerr goes particularly well with the game and moves at a quick tempo so it's not left way behind the actual gameplay, which is something that commentary in previous NBA Live games were criticised for. The soundtrack in the menus is skewed towards the Hip-Hop and Rap music that will only appeal to some, thankfully though, all Xbox 360 games have the option of custom soundtracks.

Overall NBA Live 06 is a mixed bag. Graphically it's certainly a next-gen title, but graphics alone don't make a game worth buying. There are very few additions in terms of gameplay and the lack of a Franchise mode really does hurt its lifespan. To sum up, NBA live 06 feels like a rushed title, and there are better all round games in the series. For this reason it's only really recommendable to hardcore fans of the series who want to experience next-gen basketball action.

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By Steven Embling