NBA Live 06
Added September 26th, 2005 by Kisan Parikh
Introduction:
NBA Live 06, the latest addition to EA’s NBA Live franchise, attempts to build on the success of the franchise by means of the addition of new gameplay features and tweaks. The entire game is focused on allowing your team’s star players to take control of the game in the same ways as they could in real life. As a result, the general gameplay of the Live series has been altered. Let’s take a look at the changes and decide if they are for the better.
Gameplay:
As stated above, the gameplay of NBA Live 06 is much different than that of its predecessor. This is due to the addition of the new Freestyle Superstars system. This system serves to place star players into one of eight categories. In previous years, star players were divided merely on their position, and sometimes not even that. Now, your best player can play as he would in real life, and he will have moves specific to his type of player.
NBA Live 06, the latest addition to EA’s NBA Live franchise, attempts to build on the success of the franchise by means of the addition of new gameplay features and tweaks. The entire game is focused on allowing your team’s star players to take control of the game in the same ways as they could in real life. As a result, the general gameplay of the Live series has been altered. Let’s take a look at the changes and decide if they are for the better.
Gameplay:
As stated above, the gameplay of NBA Live 06 is much different than that of its predecessor. This is due to the addition of the new Freestyle Superstars system. This system serves to place star players into one of eight categories. In previous years, star players were divided merely on their position, and sometimes not even that. Now, your best player can play as he would in real life, and he will have moves specific to his type of player.
The six offensive categories in the Freestyle Superstar system are Inside Scorer, Outside Scorer, Shooter, Highflyer, Power, and Playmaker. Your inside Scorer is someone like Dirk Nowitzky. He’s the player who can beat the double team down low and sink the running shot. The outside Scorer is a quick player who can penetrate the lane and get to the basket. The Shooter, on the other hand, relies on his ability to sink a long shot. This is a player like Peja Stojakovic. Next comes the Highflyer, such as cover athlete Dwayne Wade. This player is an expert at pulling off great dunks. They throw self alley-oops and make incredible moves in the air. Quite obviously these are the most exciting players in the game. The Power player’s job is self-explanatory. This player is the one you rely on to use sheer brawn to get the ball in the basket. This is a player like Shaq. How would all of these players do their job without someone to get them the ball? This is where the Playmaker comes in. A Playmaker, such as Steve Nash, is a passing expert who can yield fancy passes to deliver the ball to the rest of his team.
With your star players grouped into one of these six categories offensively, you are forced to adjust your gameplay based on what your team has. This makes you play as your team would in real life. This addition is superb for this reason. Your Superstars are not invincible either. You not only have to know what moves to make, but also when to make them. You control your Superstar’s moves by hitting L and then pressing either one or a combination of the face buttons. By making the wrong type of pass in the wrong situation with your Playmaker, you will have an intercepted pass. By pressing too many or the incorrect buttons in the air with your Highflyer, you miss your dunk or lay-up. Also, you are only able to have one Superstar category offensively and defensively. This means you have to choose which Superstar category you wish to enable for your player who is talented enough to have more than one available. Balances like this keep the Superstar system from running rampant.
Another balance to the offensive Superstars is the inclusion of two defensive categories. These two categories are the Inside Stopper and Outside Stopper. The Inside stopper is your shot blocking power within the lane such as big Kevin Garnett. By using this guy inside the lane, you can stop the other team’s star players down low. The Outside Stopper is a guy like Jason Kidd, who can steal the ball from the other team. By relying on quick and sneaky moves, you can grab the ball and take it back up court. If your Outside Stopper is also a Playmaker, making a steal can be incredibly useful, because you can send a perfect pass across the court for a fast-break.
Speaking of fast-breaks, EA has made a much needed change to the game. Last year, getting a fast-break was nearly impossible due to the fact that players had to stop to catch passes. Now, EA keeps the game flowing by enabling players to grab the ball in stride. This leads to a more exciting style of play, because what is basketball without some quick points in transition?
The main single-player mode of play is Dynasty Mode. Dynasty Mode is virtually the same, with the same goal of winning as many championships as possible in 25 years. This year, the biggest change is the coaching staff. Now, you must assemble a staff including an Assistant Coach, Trainer, and Scout. These coaches must be offered contracts from a limited budget that varies in quantity. The Assistant Coach’s ratings have an impact on the benefit of training sessions. He can transform your players into defensive stoppers, offensive Superstars. By focusing of athletics, he can also get your players into better shape. With the Player Evolution system you can watch the development of your players and see what Superstar abilities they acquire. In Dynasty Mode you can work on both making your rookies into Superstars and winning as many NBA Championships as possible.
Graphics:
Graphics have been worked on quite a bit for this year’s version of the game. Now, player models are more detailed and realistic than ever. Also, since there are a ton of new moves available in the game, there has to be animations to go along with them. The new Superstar animations are smooth and amazing. All of the motions seemed true to life, and they were chop-free for the most part. I did experience some slowdown in the game at random times, but they were few and far between. For the most part, the visuals in NBA Live 06 are great. I’m glad that EA made an effort to improve the visuals, even with the next-gen right around the corner.
With your star players grouped into one of these six categories offensively, you are forced to adjust your gameplay based on what your team has. This makes you play as your team would in real life. This addition is superb for this reason. Your Superstars are not invincible either. You not only have to know what moves to make, but also when to make them. You control your Superstar’s moves by hitting L and then pressing either one or a combination of the face buttons. By making the wrong type of pass in the wrong situation with your Playmaker, you will have an intercepted pass. By pressing too many or the incorrect buttons in the air with your Highflyer, you miss your dunk or lay-up. Also, you are only able to have one Superstar category offensively and defensively. This means you have to choose which Superstar category you wish to enable for your player who is talented enough to have more than one available. Balances like this keep the Superstar system from running rampant.
Another balance to the offensive Superstars is the inclusion of two defensive categories. These two categories are the Inside Stopper and Outside Stopper. The Inside stopper is your shot blocking power within the lane such as big Kevin Garnett. By using this guy inside the lane, you can stop the other team’s star players down low. The Outside Stopper is a guy like Jason Kidd, who can steal the ball from the other team. By relying on quick and sneaky moves, you can grab the ball and take it back up court. If your Outside Stopper is also a Playmaker, making a steal can be incredibly useful, because you can send a perfect pass across the court for a fast-break.
Speaking of fast-breaks, EA has made a much needed change to the game. Last year, getting a fast-break was nearly impossible due to the fact that players had to stop to catch passes. Now, EA keeps the game flowing by enabling players to grab the ball in stride. This leads to a more exciting style of play, because what is basketball without some quick points in transition?
The main single-player mode of play is Dynasty Mode. Dynasty Mode is virtually the same, with the same goal of winning as many championships as possible in 25 years. This year, the biggest change is the coaching staff. Now, you must assemble a staff including an Assistant Coach, Trainer, and Scout. These coaches must be offered contracts from a limited budget that varies in quantity. The Assistant Coach’s ratings have an impact on the benefit of training sessions. He can transform your players into defensive stoppers, offensive Superstars. By focusing of athletics, he can also get your players into better shape. With the Player Evolution system you can watch the development of your players and see what Superstar abilities they acquire. In Dynasty Mode you can work on both making your rookies into Superstars and winning as many NBA Championships as possible.
Graphics:
Graphics have been worked on quite a bit for this year’s version of the game. Now, player models are more detailed and realistic than ever. Also, since there are a ton of new moves available in the game, there has to be animations to go along with them. The new Superstar animations are smooth and amazing. All of the motions seemed true to life, and they were chop-free for the most part. I did experience some slowdown in the game at random times, but they were few and far between. For the most part, the visuals in NBA Live 06 are great. I’m glad that EA made an effort to improve the visuals, even with the next-gen right around the corner.
Audio:
The in-game sound is basically what you would expect. You hear the crowd roar when the home team is winning, and you hear the ball swish through the net when you pop a three. The in-game sound is great and this adds to the game, but the commentary needs to be improved upon next year. Marv Albert and Steve Kerr would be okay if their comments weren’t so misplaced. While winning by 20 points in the 2nd quarter, I got scored on and they said that I’ve been giving up easy baskets all night. This is just one example of their wrongly inserted commentary, but upon playing, I bet you could find more. The soundtrack is pretty much what you would expect from an EA title. It's solid, with music that fits the atmosphere of the game.
Controls:
The controls in NBA Live 06 is the same as in years past, except for the Freestyle Superstar controls. Use of the L trigger and face buttons controls your moves. You can tap or hold a combination of these moves. This works perfectly, and I can’t imagine this being implemented any better. The game features a video tutorial of the Freestyle Superstar system for those who are a bit confused about what each type of play can do. There aren’t any controller specific instructions in this video, but in game a little pop-up comes up when you have control of a star player. It identifies what type of player you have and shows what buttons you can use. This little pop-up can be toggled on and off in settings.
Replay:
NBA Live 06 offers quite a bit in terms of replay. Play Now, the fastest way to just get into a game, is incredibly fun when playing against a friend on the same Xbox. This is arguably the best way to play the game. Many others, however, claim that the best way to play is online. This year, not only can you play exhibition games online, you can play the All-Star Weekend events online as well! This means you can take the immensely popular 3-Point Shootout or Dunk Contest online. This will provide a ton of replay value, because playing these modes against people on the same box or online will be as fun as ever. The Dunk Contest features a few new dunks, so you will have some new moves to pull off this year. Also, the game features other returning modes of play such as 1 on 1, Freestyle Challenge, and Slam Dunk Schools. The available modes of play in NBA Live 06 will provide many hours of fun.
The in-game sound is basically what you would expect. You hear the crowd roar when the home team is winning, and you hear the ball swish through the net when you pop a three. The in-game sound is great and this adds to the game, but the commentary needs to be improved upon next year. Marv Albert and Steve Kerr would be okay if their comments weren’t so misplaced. While winning by 20 points in the 2nd quarter, I got scored on and they said that I’ve been giving up easy baskets all night. This is just one example of their wrongly inserted commentary, but upon playing, I bet you could find more. The soundtrack is pretty much what you would expect from an EA title. It's solid, with music that fits the atmosphere of the game.
Controls:
The controls in NBA Live 06 is the same as in years past, except for the Freestyle Superstar controls. Use of the L trigger and face buttons controls your moves. You can tap or hold a combination of these moves. This works perfectly, and I can’t imagine this being implemented any better. The game features a video tutorial of the Freestyle Superstar system for those who are a bit confused about what each type of play can do. There aren’t any controller specific instructions in this video, but in game a little pop-up comes up when you have control of a star player. It identifies what type of player you have and shows what buttons you can use. This little pop-up can be toggled on and off in settings.
Replay:
NBA Live 06 offers quite a bit in terms of replay. Play Now, the fastest way to just get into a game, is incredibly fun when playing against a friend on the same Xbox. This is arguably the best way to play the game. Many others, however, claim that the best way to play is online. This year, not only can you play exhibition games online, you can play the All-Star Weekend events online as well! This means you can take the immensely popular 3-Point Shootout or Dunk Contest online. This will provide a ton of replay value, because playing these modes against people on the same box or online will be as fun as ever. The Dunk Contest features a few new dunks, so you will have some new moves to pull off this year. Also, the game features other returning modes of play such as 1 on 1, Freestyle Challenge, and Slam Dunk Schools. The available modes of play in NBA Live 06 will provide many hours of fun.
Summary:
EA’s NBA Live 06 delivers with its incredible new gameplay feature, Freestyle Superstars. The game focuses on showing a difference between player types aside from merely what position they play. EA has also provided a great boost in visuals, and the addition of an Xbox Live enabled All-Star Weekend is huge. This game is sure to provide hours of fun for many, and I recommend that all NBA fans pick this one up.
EA’s NBA Live 06 delivers with its incredible new gameplay feature, Freestyle Superstars. The game focuses on showing a difference between player types aside from merely what position they play. EA has also provided a great boost in visuals, and the addition of an Xbox Live enabled All-Star Weekend is huge. This game is sure to provide hours of fun for many, and I recommend that all NBA fans pick this one up.
