NBA LIVE 06

Get it up the floor and put it in the hole. These are high-flying athletes who defy gravity, who defy convention and find creative ways to put the rock through the twine.

Yep, you ready for some hoops, NBA style. And sporting an eye-popping new graphics engine, EA Sports roars out of the gates with the latest iteration to the long-running hoops series with NBA Live 06.

The game does have some new features, like the Freestyle Superstars (sort of individual traits that define your players), and the Freestyle Challenge is available online with this edition.

There is the create-a-player option, and the game modes include Quick Play, Season, Dynasty, Playoffs, NBA All-Star Weekend, Freestyle Challenge, 1 on 1, Slam Dunk School and Individual Practice. The Dynasty mode is quite rewarding, plunking gamers in the chair of the GM, responsible for player and staff management prior to actually playing the games.

There is a bit of a learning curve when it comes to the control scheme, but using a gamepad (as opposed to the keyboard) is a plus. The D-pad will allow you to call set plays instantly, and you can precision pass, send in that alley-oop, drive the lane and power up for that thundering dunk to rattle the rim and crowd. Using the left and right thumbsticks (on the gamepad obviously) in concert will produce some nice movement with the ballhandler as well, helping to elude some defensive players much easier than if you merely try using one movement controller. The precision passing is also another nice feature, allowing for pinpoint passes to the players you want to have the ball.

Be forewarned though, players are rather well defined and show some of the characteristics in the game that they do in the real world. Take, for example, Shaquille O’Neal (and will “pick” on Shaq a couple of times here simply because he is the dominator in the paint and fun to have on a team – for no other reason). When it comes to free throws, the meter moves much faster than with almost any other players, making the timing much more reflexive than deliberate.

But for real kicks, delve into the all-star teams from past decades (nope, no Michael Jordan here, yet again). Dr J and others put in appearances and this is a great tribute to the game of basketball. It is fun to play as the classic players and dredge up old memories. Some of those “giant” post players of the past do not look as tall now when standing next to some of the contemporary players.

The game play itself is fun and entertaining, sometimes to the point when you may find yourself yelling at the screen, as though you were yelling at a television.

“You idiot! What kind of shot was that???? Block out!!! Block OUT!!!!”

Might as well put a mirror on the top of the monitor and glance at the one controlling the action. However, in the defense of one of those ‘coaches’ who occasionally fumbles the controls and calls the wrong defense, or commits one-too-many reach in fouls, the AI in the game is a little suspect at times.

Inbounds play, and Shaq is standing three feet from the passer. Using the AI to pass, the ball goes to Shaq, who happens to be straddling the end-court line, which equals an instant turnover. Come on, Shaq knows the floor and would not commit such an egregious mistake. Players also have a tendancy, on the gamer-controlled team, to not rotate into position, but rather open up lanes for easy buckets.

The Dynasty mode also takes into account training players to skill them up, and then puts you through an NBA schedule (you can customize the schedule) en route – hopefully – to hitting the playoffs.

The soundtrack is underscored by EA Trax, which includes a variety of hip hop from bands like Black Eyed Peas, The Perceptionists, Chamillionaire, Jae Millz, and others. Catchy and appropriate but for the most part you can tune it out and get to the meat of the game. The crowd noise and play-by-play commentary make up the bulk of the rest of the soundtrack. Marv Albert does a good job of describing the action here.

The interface can be a bit of a puzzle initially. Some of the action buttons (like save and load) are imbedded into the menus in less-than-obvious positions and may have you looking around for them. This is not as intuitive as say MVP Baseball’s interface.

The graphics are also a bit hit or miss. The interface looks a little fuzzy on a 19-inch plasma monitor but the game action is first-rate. There are a few minor clipping issues, but nothing that really detracts from the game.

NBA Live 06 brings in some nice touches to a solid basketball title. Graphically this game looks great, and will have you pulling your hair, yelling at the monitor, chewing on a towel … oh wait, that is the “Shark’s” bit for college hoops … well, you know, all those things that NBA fans are prone to do. And NBA fans should get a kick out of NBA Live 06.

Gameplay: 8.1
The controls and interface are not exactly intuitive, so expect a small learning curve. Playable with the keyboard, the game is much easier with a gamepad controller. The AI can be a little suspect, especially if you are calling preset plays and rotations. And sometimes players will not rotate into position but will wait for you to take control of them and move them. Hence a defensive player may stand at the top of the key, facing the backboard rather than rotate into the called-for defense. On offense, the off-guard (shooting guard) won’t always run down the floor, but will parallel the ballhandler (there’s no offsides in basketball!). And I know that Jermaine O’Neal is a power forward, but there is no way he can continually push Shaq out from under the hoop to clear space for easy dunks. Shaq don’t move.

Graphics: 8.8
You can jack up the resolution and the interface still looks slightly fuzzy. The game environments and players look great, and the animation is a little suspect at times. One player may continually try to throw the ball down from behind the glass, resulting in an out-of-bounds, while another will do the same move and score. But generally the new engine used to power this game looks great.

Sound: 8.2
Good, but not flashy.

Difficulty: Medium
Those new to the game may find it a bit of a learning curve. But there are several difficulty settings to adjust it to individual levels. The Dynasty mode will have you considering the game from a variety of angles and not just looking at the reflexive element.

Concept: 8.4
While there is not a lot that is new here, what is new here is very nicely handled – like the Freestyle Superstars (a nice little touch) and the graphics engine that pops this game to life.

Multiplayer: 8.5
You got game? You better bring it for online play against this community. They will make you look silly fast if you don’t know what you are doing.

Overall: 8.4
Some suspect AI, but gorgeous graphics sort of atone for that and the game flow is pretty good. The game can be frustrating, especially when you have a higher-rated team get owned by a lower-rated one that seemingly can’t miss a shot and takes advantage of obvious lack of player movement on defense for easy buckets. But much of this part of the learning curve. There is a great selection of teams and players, the customization options are strong and the actual game mechanics are pretty good.