Whether you thought that the spurs winning the NBA Championship was the greatest thing in the world or an utter disgrace doesn't matter much now that the season is over. What does matter, however, is that hoop fanatics can use EA's NBA Live 06 to get geared up for next season. In fact, the ... Read review
NBA Live 06 builds upon the depth and authenticity that the NBA Live franchise has ... more
delivered for more than a decade and that made last year the best-selling version in the history of the series. With advancements in gameplay and enhanced player graphics, the sport of basketball is elevated to a whole new level in NBA Live 06 with the superstars of the game looking and playing more like their real-life counterparts than ever before. Players can feel the emotion and intensity of the complete basketball experience with an up-tempo, fast-break, and physical brand of basketball that yields improved play in the transition game and real-life collisions in the paint. EA Sports Freestyle Superstars: NBA Live 06 puts users in control of the NBA's top players with all-new EA Sports Freestyle Superstars. Star players perform like their real-life NBA counterparts based on distinct character types, including Power, Playmaker, Stopper and more. Playmakers dish out no-look and behind-the-back passes on command. Stoppers block shots, steal and rebound like only the best defenders in the NBA. Power players have a dizzying array of thunder dunks found only in the top NBA All-Stars.Authentic 5-on-5 Gameplay: The NBA Live 06 all-new animation system helps to visually present the up-tempo, fast-break brand of basketball that makes the NBA thrive. NBA Live 06 also features an improved transition game and a more physical brand of play with collisions and dunked-on scenarios.New Player Visuals: A new graphics engine increases the resolution on player models and body types to unprecedented levels. Players not only play and act like their real life counterparts, but they look the part with striking detail and realism.The Voices of the NBA: Joining Marv Albert is new color commentator and former NBA star Steve Kerr. The on-air TV partners call the 5-on-5 action, while Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith bring their own unique flavor to the Slam Dunk Contest and 3 Point Shootout in the popular NBA All-Star Weekend mode.NBA All-Star Weekend: Back and better than ever, NBA All-Star Weekend allows users to create new jaw-dropping dunks as they compete in the Slam Dunk Contest. Also featuring the 3 Point Shootout, the Rookie Challenge, and the NBA All-Star Game, All-Star Weekend is available as a stand-alone game mode as well as within Dynasty Mode.
Advantages: graphics and gameplay Disadvantages: EA
...that the spurs winning the NBA Championship was the greatest thing in the world or an utter disgrace doesn't matter much now that the season is over. What does matter, however, is that hoop fanatics can use EA's NBA Live 06 to get geared up for next season. In fact, the b-ball faithful have been relying on the Live franchise for four years, with NBA Live 06 making it a five-peat. Now that's a lot of basketball.
The arduous task for ... ...and a more pro-style tempo, NBA Live 06, on paper, looks like a sure-fire winner when considering this is the last effort for this gen. But we all know there's no such thing as a "paper champion", so let's get intimate with NBA Live 06 and see how it fares against the competition…
Driving through the lane.
Gameplay
You may or may not realize how much work goes into compiling the stats ... more
Whether you thought that the spurs winning the NBA Championship was the greatest thing in the world or an utter disgrace doesn't matter much now that the season is over. What does matter, however, is that hoop fanatics can use EA's NBA Live 06 to get geared up for next season. In fact, the b-ball faithful have been relying on the Live franchise for four years, with NBA Live 06 making it a five-peat. Now that's a lot of basketball.
The arduous task for developers year in, year out, is how they can improve on a franchise that has already set a pretty high standard in the industry. The idea is to get better and better each year, but when you're on your fifth version of the same sport, on the same console, the innovation window shrinks to the size of a pea.
Boasting a new graphics engine, a Freestyle Superstar gameplay dynamic, and a more pro-style tempo, NBA Live 06, on paper, looks like a sure-fire winner when considering this is the last effort for this gen. But we all know there's no such thing as a "paper champion", so let's get intimate with NBA Live 06 and see how it fares against the competition…
Driving through the lane.
Gameplay
You may or may not realize how much work goes into compiling the stats on players for a single NBA season, but some back room EA Canada employee does. In most b-ball games, you are pretty much at the mercy of the game's engine. If the open man happens to be rated a "35" in shooting percentage, I don't care how close to the "top of the jump" you release the shoot button- it ain't goin' in. What happens often in a fast-paced, transitional game like basketball is that players - particularly star players - get lost in the shuffle. For a gamer, this is bad news. If you purposely chose the Timberwolves so that you could score on people with Garnett, you really want to be able to get the ball to him at all times, right? Well, this is part of the reason that EA implemented the Freestyle Superstars system for NBA Live 06. Basically, EA has designated a few of the game's brightest as key players, and issued them each their own icon and statistical system. Now, when you are on a fast break, it's easy to pinpoint Garnett because there is an icon hovering between his feet and the parquet. The icons relate directly to each player's attributes which takes the guess work out of it for the more casual players. Using KG again as an example, many of us know that this guy could score with his eyes closed if he wanted to. Others may not know that he's a huge offensive threat, but if they know the icon system in NBA Live 06 they will. Just by looking at the icons, gamers will immediately know the strength of the star. Garnett is what EA is calling a "scorer", like Bryant, T Mac and others. The icon in this instance looks like a flaming basketball. It's also easy to pick out the perfect player for that last second shot, since a cross-hair icon designates the shooters on the court. Other Freestyle character types include the power player, highflyers, defensive stoppers, and the all-around playmakers. Each character has a unique set of moves based on their icon and their individual flair which immediately makes an impact on the usual ho-hum basketball game dynamic. NBA Live 06 is now more like the real league it mimics, since players will often set up plays around their stars that in turn in turn, try to make highlight reel plays. Less like college hoops. More like the NBA. A good move all the way around for this franchise.
Even though EA knew they were onto something with the Freestyle Superstar system, they didn't want to leave the upgrades at that for NBA Live 06. Working hand-in-hand with the Freestyle system is a tweak on the feel of the transition between offensive and defense. Once again, this is pro basketball, not college basketball, and many people felt like the Live series was to intent on running the show like the scholars. The on-screen transitions (the flip-flopping of the ends of the court) have been tweaked and are performed with a bit more speed. The outlet passes also seem to find guys already on the move rather than a point just looking to set up some play that nobody seems to follow in the NBA anyways (although if you want to call a play, you can now, on-the-fly, in NBA Live 06) It's more realistic in the sense of the NBA game, but I'm not going to say the transition game inclusions are more fundamental to the game of basketball. But we all want to see fast breaks and big dunks, don't we? Of course, or we'd all be diligently following the WNBA (lower the hoops to about 8' and I'll watch it; women dunking on women would be killer).
