NBA Live 07 Preview

System: Xbox 360, Xbox, PS3, PS2, PSP
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: EA Canada

Electronic Arts has finished preparing their second shot at Next Generation b-ball and they’ve got quite a bit to prove. While NBA LIVE 06 on Xbox 360 looked great, many gamers were wondering where the rest of the game was. Very few forgave EA Canada for leaving out major aspects such as Dynasty mode and other crucial gameplay factors found in the current generation version. To make things worse, EA said they were doing the next gen version of NBA LIVE 07 from scratch and were very light on details since E3. All of these things have had Live fans more eager than ever to find out what was happening with the franchise. To get the answers to all the questions, we headed up to Vancouver to find out from the NBA Live team themselves about what’s really going on.

One of the biggest complaints against EA Sports titles throughout the years is stagnation. Many criticize the company for introducing between one to three new features per year without really rocking the boat or providing a fresh experience. Interestingly enough, we found out that the lack of features and gameplay modes found in NBA LIVE 06 on 360 was actually due to EA finally giving us what we want. Let me explain.

EA decided that during the next generation, the sports titles were finally going to be remade from the ground up. The thing that some people may not realize is that NBA Live on current generation consoles is running off the same code base as the original NBA LIVE 95 title that came out in 1994 on Sega Genesis. Sure there have been many revisions since then, but there is still plenty of legacy code in there. This foundation has limited how much the team has been able to do with the title in the past. It’s like a house of cards. If you mess with or try to take out something major you run the extreme risk of making everything fall down. Thus, the only alternative was to finally press delete on the entire code base and start everything from scratch.

This brings us to the state of NBA LIVE 06. Pretty much what we had was the graphics engine as well as basic gameplay up and running. If you think about it, it’s impossible to program and code twelve years worth of features and elements from scratch in just one year. More features from the current generation version of the titles are being put into the next gen version every year until the title becomes feature complete. One such example of this can be seen with the inclusion of Dynasty mode in the next gen version.

Now that we know more about what’s happened in the past, let’s take a look at what’s in store for the future of the franchise. We were able to see and play a number of features that promise to take NBA LIVE 07 to the next level. Remember when we said everything was done from scratch? One of those things of course was the animation system.

EA could have stuck with only revamping the standard offensive and defensive animations but they went one step further. They’ve implemented what they call procedural animations. What this system does is it displays different animations that are determined by a player’s emotional state, intensity of the game and other factors. Having this contextually based animation system is part of what EA is doing to finally bring the players to life. Before you even ask, yes, facial animations have finally been brought over to the Live franchise. No more blank stares.

Another nice addition to the animations is the implementation of both weight and momentum. Players will no longer be able to stop and turn on a dime. You’ll see players plant their feet and shift their weight when they stop, change directions and perform a number of other movements. The other cool thing about the weight is how it affects other players. EA is adding an element of physicality to the game this year. If two players are moving and make contact, you won’t just see clipping or a simple animation of them sliding off each other. You’ll see realistic motions depicting what would happen if two players of their weight, skills and momentum were to collide with each other. All the animations are brand new as well.

The Superstar system has been tweaked this year also. First off is the two tiered system of the superstar abilities. The Superstar abilities remain at the disposal of the top tier performers in the game. The addition here are the Star abilities. These were included to give a greater disparity between the cream of the crop in the league and the players that are shining, but just not quite there yet.

EA is dubbing the play mechanic of these abilities Total Freestyle Control. Gamers will be able to play in various Superstar styles such as hi flyer, playmaker and others depending on who the player is they’re controlling. This time around, players that are really on their game will be versed in more than just one Superstar style that they will be able to toggle between on the fly. You could switch Lebron between shooter to hi flyer with just the flick of a button depending on the situation you’re in.

Executing various Superstar maneuvers and moves is done by doing various motions on the right analog stick. Within the Superstar styles are three different levels. As the level of the maneuver you’re trying to pull off increases, so does the complexity of the right analog motions you have to enter. It may sound a little weird inputting a Street Fighter-esque fireball motion to do a dunk, but it grows on you pretty quickly.

Perhaps the most interesting thing EA is doing this year with the title is the ESPN integration. Not satisfied with just putting a logo on the box or in a couple places in the game, they’re really going into overdrive with what they’re doing here. One of these features is ESPN radio. These are podcasts of ESPN audio programming that you can sit and listen to, or have playing in the background while you’re playing and doing other things within the game. You’ll be able to watch authentic ESPN broadcasts as well. These are clips from ESPN shows that can range from anything from live streaming video to top stories to highlights of NBA games and anything between. You’ll find an interesting mix between ESPN programming here as well as original programming. There are also a number of print articles you’ll be able to sit and read. This information will be refreshed every 5 minutes and we were told the information available won’t be more than two days old or so. Very nice.

That’s all you’re getting out of us from this last minute taste of NBA LIVE 07. If you want more, you’ll have to check out our final verdict in our in depth review shortly.