NBA Live 2002
Score: 95% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: EA Sports Developer: EA Games Media: DVD/1 Players: 1 - 4 Genre: Sports
Graphics & Sound: If you would have shown me pictures of NBA Live 2002 back-in-the-day while playing Basketball on the Atari 2600, my jaw would have dropped immediately. Nearly 20 years later, not only did my jaw drop, but I had to get a napkin to wipe the drool from my chin! Player models are so perfect, you'd swear you were watching a real game. Every detail has been considered, from individual player faces to custom tattoos. Basketball games haven't ever really had the greatest sound in the world, but always appropriate for the sport. Crowd cheers sound really good if you're the home team, but you may not like it if you're on the road. If you listen up, you'll hear players interacting with each other, as well as with the referees. If you're set up with a sweet surround sound system, you will definitely be right in the middle of the action as you work your way down the court.
Gameplay: After you get over the drool-factor, you'll realize why EA Sports is Number 1 in the business, and why the Live franchise has been the best basketball game on the market for some time. As EA's advertisements stated, 'If it's in the game, it's in the game.' If you like to run and gun, set up your shooter and launch the threes. If you prefer the post, improved post moves allow for quick and easy access to the basket. If deep down you've always known that defense creates offense, then you'll be happy to know that defending your man has never been easier and better. NBA Live 2002 includes all of the goodies that you've come to love in the series. For a quick game, choose the Play Now mode. If you are more like me, you want to test your skillz over multiple games in the Playoffs, Season, or Franchise (multiple Seasons) modes. If you really want to involve yourself, jump in to the Create-a-Player and build yourself a dynasty team. Or you have the option of reliving the good old days playing 5-on-5 or 1-on-1 with legends like Magic, Bird, and Dr. J. Nearly everything about NBA Live 2002 is outstanding, from custom play calling to the smooth and high framerate. It may be this outstanding animation, however, that gives Live 2002 a slower feel than past games in the franchise. Part of me enjoys the non-frantic gameplay that is caused when it's too fast, but the other half of me wishes the speed would have been dialed up a notch. That aside, you have a winner with the best basketball game that I've ever played.
Difficulty: Live's different difficulty settings won't be incredibly noticeable during gameplay at first glance. But under a closer view, you will realize a few things. The first thing you may notice is that computer defenders step it up a bit as you increase to a higher setting. Secondly, making shots requires a bit better timing. But maybe the biggest difference is when you get to the line. The free throw meter speeds up a lot under a difficulty increase, making it sometimes tough to score with the not-so-good shooters (Shaq, anyone?). Timing on free throws is of course the most important, but now speed is also a major factor. If you wait too long to shoot, the meter will get faster, turning easy points into difficult knee-knockers.
Game Mechanics: Fist of all, I want to come out in the open and say that I LOVE THE XBOX CONTROLLER!!! There... that said, Live 2002's buttons are set up perfectly. Your main buttons are your main buttons. Secondary features like the Ally-Oop are triggered with the smaller (and harder to hit) white or black buttons. Speed bursts are controlled with the 'R' button; icon-passing/switching with the 'L' button. Utterly perfect. Game menus are set up fairly well, but enough is enough. When will EA Sports ever load User Profiles when the game boots up??? Trust me. The people that take the time to set up Profiles won't mind waiting a few extra seconds to have them load automatically. Instead, we still have to cycle through menus, enter the Save/Load area, and load them... then reverse the process just to get into a game we want to use them. Take a hint! This is highly annoying. It's always been that way, and needs to be changed. Now that my rant is over, I should also mention that although you can change the camera angle to the classic side view, I couldn't get it to zoom out far enough to my liking. The result is that I had to grasp change and settle for the default end-to-end view. After playing for a while, however, I began to like this new style of playing, and found it a bit easier to focus on the basket. I want to reiterate that NBA Live 2002 is THE basketball game on the market at this time. If you like b-ball, you'll love Live's total control. The visuals in the game are stunning, and the gameplay is the best it's ever been. If you like playing video basketball games (especially as long as I have), save your 5 bucks on the rental and buy it instead.
-Woody, GameVortex Communications AKA Shane Wodele
NBA Inside Drive 2002 NFL 2K2