For a basketball fan I'm sure this would be a really good game! To me, just another notch on my gaming bed post . . .
The next option you have is "Game Modes", and this is where the bulk of the game is contained. The first game mode is "Play Online". I didn't use this mode as I'm not a big online guy. The next mode is "Season". Here you pick a team and play a full 82 game season as well as the playoffs, if you qualify. The next mode is "Dynasty". In Dynasty you choose a team and you play repeated seasons, building yourself the aforementioned dynasty. In this mode you have a few other responsibilities to take care of that you don't have in season mode such as player contracts, etc. The next mode is "Playoffs". Here you can skip the regular season and get straight to the post-season. The next mode is "NBA All-Star Weekend" and within it you can take part in four different events. You can play the Rookie Challenge game, take part in the slam dunk contest and the three point shootout, or you can play the NBA All-Star game. The next mode is "Freestyle Challenge". In this mode you take on a second person (whether it be a friend or a computer controlled player) in either the slam dunk contest or the 3 point shootout. The next mode is "1 on 1". Here you play half court basketball one on one. The next mode is "Individual Practice". Here you can do anything you want, practice dunks, 3 pointers, dribbling, anything you want. The last mode is "Slam Dunk School". This is a bit of a self serve tutorial on learning how to dunk in all different ways. I found this mode very confusing and not worth the effort!
The third option on the main menu is "My NBA Live", and it contains a number of modes. The first mode is "NBA Store". By performing certain tasks during the games you play on NBA Live '07 you earn points. When you have enough points you can go to the NBA Store and buy stuff in the game like shoes, tattoos, etc. The next mode is "EA Sports Hall Of Fame". Here you can view all manner of NBA records and statistics. The next mode is "NBA Codes". Here you can enter codes to unlock special features in the game. The next mode is "EA Trax". Here you can view and listen to all of the songs in the game, as well as turn certain songs on or off. The last mode is "Task List". Here you can view the list of tasks that will earn you the aforementioned points you use in the NBA Store and how much each task will earn.
The next option on the main menu is "Roster Management". This is where you go when you want to create and edit players, make trades, or send players to or sign players from the free agent list. The fifth option on the main menu is "Options". This is where you fine tune the game to just how you want it. You can modify the rules (quarter length, foul settings, etc.) and you can modify the difficulty options. The difficulty options in this game are very different from other sports games I've played. Instead of their just being an Easy, Medium, Hard type of setting, in this game you set the difficulty on sliders for every aspect of the game. It's very in depth, which is nice, but because it's so in depth it can be pretty time consuming at first to get the game's difficulty to just where you want it. The next option is "EA Sports Extras" and here you can look at other games EA Sports was making at the time this game was released. The last option from the main menu is "What's New?". Here you can see what is new in NBA Live '07 compared to previous editions of the franchise.
As for playing the game, I found it OK for the most part, but it could be a little frustrating at times. When I bought the game it didn't come with the instruction booklet, so I think I was pretty much in the dark about a lot of things. I couldn't slam dunk to save my life, and all the moves you are supposed to be able to do with the R3 button I couldn't really comprehend because I didn't know what I was supposed to be doing. I had a pretty basic game plan when I played my season with the Raptors. Get the ball to Bosh or Nesterovic right under the rim for the easy points! I also had a hard time shooting 3 pointers. The computer controlled teams seemed to hit them with some form of consistency, but I was erratic and had a very low percentage success rate with them. The graphics were really well done on the game as was the sound and commentary. The little extras like having additional jerseys to select from for each team was nice too. The controls were just OK. Moving was find but when you went to pass or shoot I found that sometimes you just had to tap the button and the player would respond, and other times it wouldn't register and you'd have to press the button 2 or 3 times before he did what you wanted him to. And by that time it was usually too late!
I don't really have much else to say because I just don't like basketball and for me to really like a basketball game it would have had to have been an unbelievably perfect game. Kind of like NBA Jam was all those years ago! Remember when you could lay the other team out on that one, and there were no fouls? Kind of like hockey on a basketball court! I think they should do a modern day revamp of NBA Jam. Now that I would like.