I used to support Nba Live....not anymore.
The loading time from the menu to the actual quick game was snappy. There are enough modes for you to enjoy with, but the most fun comes with playing with your friends in quick play mode. The practice mode was actually fun, something I never looked in before. There is a 24/7 streetball mode, I didnt really bother with the actual career, but trying the 5 on 5 with a buddy is fun. You can actually do some streetball moves (like...wouldnt it be stupid if you couldnt rite?) ...from the nba stars, or celebtrities or whoever. The only thing that wasnt good was the loading time, the graphics sometimes felt like PS2, and the overall gameplay can get boring. Its trying to be realistic, but its lacking the excitement from that of the indoor game. I liked the arenas the most, and this is what Live is missing out on. A real arena has cheerleaders, mascots, people walking around, and that not every seat in the stadium is taken! The cheering, booing, and the noise that the commentators and the crowd makes just adds to the game a lot too.
This is also where 2k7 shines in, the level of detail they put in. Every camera cut to the timeouts to the intermissions of the dancers doing their thing is just great. Its like they studied each and every ball game closely to match as close as they could. The bench will react to the game also. They may stand up and cheer when you make an amazing play. Or they will stand up, when the game is close near the end......just similar to real life. The player's movements are quite fluid and responsive. There's no skating on the court, although sometimes theres occasional glitches where the player will slide or have a lockup in their animation. Not important but its annoying.
I hate the quick access menu they have during the game. You can tap your stick any direction to let you quickly make substitutions for later, or to change your teams tempo for offense and defense while playing. Its great, but the pop up menu takes up half the screen almost. It defeats the purpose....might as well pause the game each time then.
Overall, I enjoy this game a lot....but only playing with people can it bring more excitement. Its meant to be realistic, but you can still win a game using one player and keep scoring. The AI can behave awkwardly at times. The graphics is amazing, but the animation and player models need improvements. Not revolutionary, but the best of its kind today. Anyways, I still recommend this game to anyone who likes sports or basketball in general. Even if you dont play it, watching others play can be just as fun too because of the atmosphere it has in its arenas, lighting, animations, and graphics.