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NBA Live 2001 (PS2) ReviewBackground Info
For its inaugural basketball effort on the PS2, EA Sports presents NBA Live 2001. Reading from the
instruction manual, the game claims to be the most realistic basketball game on the PS2, introducing a new
inside game and improved sound. All the above is packaged with a few game modes that do their best to
keep you busy during the NBA season. While no franchise mode shipped with the game, a customized
season mode complete with limited front office moves is included. And of course you can expect every
current NBA team with fairly up-to-date player rosters.
Presentation/Graphics : 80
One thing that is striking is the quality of the stadiums. The bright colors and nice textures create the best
looking hardcourts I've seen yet in a console basketball game. Wood floors look realistic, and the stadium
lights cast reflections in the polished wax floors. Off the court, Live doesn't keep up the same pace as
Madden, but overall the scenery is acceptable.
However, animations are less than spectacular. Trying to steal the ball results in a player having strange,
fast spasms. While many of the animations are fluid, they are time-consuming. Special moves take up to a
second to complete, during which the ball is vulnerable to steals. Spin and juke moves require significant
space to execute, and if you execute them near the base or side lines, you are almost certain to dribble the
ball out of bounds. Shooting from behind the arc is afflicted with another problem. Collision detection
between the three-point line and players' feet is awful. On more than one occasion I successfully hit a
three-pointer where I swore my feet were on the line. Upon viewing the replay, my suspicions were
correct.
The game has several camera modes available, though I never was happy with any of the views. You can
play the game with an iso view, side-to-side, overheard, basket-to-basket, and more. Playing with the
vertical (basket-to-basket) view, I reluctantly settled in. You can adjust the camera zoom, but one thing
you can't change is the angle from which you view the action. The camera angle was too steep for my
liking and actually decreased the graphical impact of the game.
Presentation/Audio : 60
Interface/Options : 70
By now you must be thinking I'm a complete idiot for saying I had trouble with the menus. Well, hold on.
This idiot hasn't finished yet. I started up a season mode and played a few games. I was a little hungry and
wanted to save my progress off to the memory card. I found an option to save and load files, but
unfortunately the "Save season" option was locked out. Hmmm. Another menu had the whole load/save
feature inaccessible. Being the type of male that hates to ask for directions, I was determined to find the
Holy Grail, the save key. My journey was fruitless, so I ate crow and headed to the manual. Load/Save.
Highlight Save Season/Playoff, etc. Didn't work. Finally, I found a screen from which I could actually
save the game (the calendar) and was happy. Then there was the time I simmed a season and wanted to
view the final standings. The "Stats Central" option looked like a good place to start. There were team
stats but no conference or division standings to be found. I had to consult the instructions for a second
time. Now I know to look under "Menu" for that info? Huh? In this "Menu" option, you can't order a
Happy Meal, but you'll get the skinny on standings and injury lists.
If you don't mind the confusing menu system, you'll find plenty of options at your disposal. You can
adjust team strategy, change the rules of the game, modify the audiovisual settings, and more. In fact, the
level of customization is great. About the only thing missing was an option to change the speed of the
game, which I found to be a little on the frantic side. In the season mode, the game will even let you set the
sim length of a game. That is, if you play with 5 minute quarters, you won't get accurate stats. While your
team may score 40 points, the rest of the league will score plenty more. To even it out, you can adjust the
sim quarter length. By setting it equal to the length of your quarters, all teams are on an even level. Scores
are similar league wide, and the statistical categories are also more equal.
Gameplay : 60
I'll first approach the gameplay from the point of view of a fan of sports simulations. Today's basketball is
watered down and full of isolation plays that frankly is quite boring. I don't want a game like that. I'd
rather play a game based on the basketball of the 80s and early 90s. Good fast break offense, great low
post play, and ball movement to me are the keys to a basketball game. Unfortunately, I find that Live 2001
fails on all fronts. First, when the Rockets were winning their championships, I'd tune into the radio to
hear Gene Peterson call the action. "Hakeem backing it down, backing it down." When I play NBA2K or
NBA2K1 on the Dreamcast, I can put Hakeem down on the block and back the opposing center down.
NBA Live 2001 claims to let you back a defender down. In reality, no matter which center I use, I can only
back an opponent down about 3 inches before my player hits a brick wall. I want to be able to back it
down, get double-teamed, and pass it out to the open man. If a double team comes, I can pass the ball out,
but the response is so slow that the defense rotates with the ball and quickly covers my open man. There's
no such thing as catch and shoot in Live 2001. It's catch, finish animation, set, shoot.
One reason for the inability to back players down is that they are all brick walls. If you try to drive from
the perimeter, the outstretched arms of your defender prevent you from turning the corner, even if Steve
Francis is in a mismatch with someone like Shaq. This is especially evident on "fast breaks." Imagine my
disgust when I stripped the ball at the top of the key from my opponent's point guard. The AI team instantly
retreated, and as I headed down the court with the turbo button firmly pressed the opposing point guard was
facing me up, arms stretched. The high-speed backpedaling makes true fast breaks a rarity. And don't
expect any help. Your teammates sluggishly trudge down the court a full 3 or 4 seconds behind you. If
you can't penetrate you have to wait at the top of the arc for a teammate or two to show up.
What's more disgusting is that even on these pseudo-fast breaks, you can get in the paint. But then when
you are two or three feet from the basket, you'll toss your shot up (either a lay-up attempt or pull up for a
short jumper) and be shocked when you throw a brick. Even when attempting the "all new inside game"
short jumpers routinely bang off the rim. Even wide-open three-foot shots clank. Fortunately, this afflicts
both you and the AI team, but it really is annoying. It's so bad that in the several dozen games I've played,
I have yet to play a game where the AI team made more than 40% of their shots. In fact, most games end
with field goal percentages near 30%. What's more, these short shots create rebounds which travel a good
distance from the basket. An inside presence is meaningless as AI players go over the back for an easy
rebound. Initially, the AI players had incredible offensive rebounding stats. There is no true box-out move,
but I did find some team strategy options. Included were options for boxing out and crashing the boards
versus getting back on offense or defense. Frustrated by the uneven offensive rebounding stats, I instructed
my team to get aggressive on the boards. While it has helped, the game still is flawed with too many
offensive rebounds by AI teams even when you have 2 or 3 players close to the basket.
Another significant problem I have with Live 2001 deals with passes and animations. Too many times I'll
pass to a player and for some reason he'll dribble and pick up his dribble before I am in control of him.
This effectively locks the player out from any penetration moves. Or I'll catch the ball, pump fake, get my
defender in the air, attempt to go around him, and find my feet are glued to the floor. Yet one more
problem is steals. Even with the fouls set to the maximum, I could swat at the ball all day long with little
penalty. My modus operandi is to repeatedly attempt steals with my point guard. To date, the most
number of reach-in fouls I've been called for in one game is about four. Each time down the court I'll swat
at least a dozen times. I usually end up with double digit steals with 6 minute quarters. Another issue is
illegal defense. I felt the game was too strict with illegal defense calls. If I played as the center, I'd stay
within 4 feet of my man at all times. But this often wasn't close enough for the CPU, so illegal defense
was called. I eventually turned it off.
So from a simulation standpoint, Live 2001 has numerous problems. Judged as an arcade basketball game
it fares better, but it still comes up short. The AI is rudimentary beyond belief. While the game does
feature set plays, you can't call them unless you are in the "locked player" mode (you play one position the
whole game). In its absence, players run around like headless chickens. It felt like pinball more than
basketball due to the random chaos I was perceiving. On long rebounds I'd watch as my big men scrambled
for the ball yet some players in the vicinity of the ball would stay glued to their spot. I'd watch the AI team
give me a game. With 30 seconds to go and my team up by 6, I expect the CPU to foul. The AI team just
lets me stand in one spot and dribble the clock down. On rare fast breaks I have seen CPU-controlled
players run away from me, ball handler.
I should note that my impressions were formed by moving up through the difficulty levels. After playing
numerous games on the All-Star level (third highest of four), I moved up to the most difficult Superstar
level. The AI problems and game flaws were apparent in each level. The AI team's shooting percentage
was bad no matter the level, the rebound stats never changed, and so on.
Replay Value : 50
Overall : 61
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