Chris' NBA Elite 11 Demo Impressions - RaychelSnr's Blog

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Chris' NBA Elite 11 Demo Impressions Stuck

Posted on September 21, 2010 at 07:21 PM.

(73)

Wow.

I'm not sure what to say about NBA Elite 11, and that speechlessness doesn't have to do with the game being great.

I've spent the afternoon playing the demo some, thinking what I was playing was an aberration, but at this point it's becoming very clear: NBA Elite 11 is a resounding and very clear step backwards from NBA Live 10.

Name an area of the game, and it feels like it has taken a step backwards. The game doesn't play nearly as smooth, the controls are potentially revolutionary but really they're just going to end up being a bad attempt to emulate the success of NHL's controls, even the graphics are a clear step behind last year's NBA Live.

I actually feel bad for Kevin Durant being put on the cover of the game.

The control scheme has potentially revolutionary aspects to it, but I think these controls will ultimately go the same direction as the vision cone: hotly debated and ultimately toned down or scrapped altogether. Yes, having this much control is refreshing, but the controls are also geared towards stick skills people. A few tweaks to the ideas behind the control, perhaps meeting NBA 2K in the middle in terms of analog controls, would probably go a long way for the survivability of the controls.

As they stand right now, the controls are going to be very polarizing. People who are good on the sticks will love them, people who aren't will loathe them. As for me, I think the idea was good but the execution seems to be off and with time, I think more people will agree with that sentiment.

However, where the game really falls flat is where it matters: realism. Player movement on the court is decidedly sluggish and it's not fluid at all. If you aren't moving, neither are your teammates for the most part. Correct player spacing, jockeying for position: none of it is in NBA Elite.

Shooting seems a mixed bag with the controls. I like the idea behind shooting, but I think it's going to ultimately either limit or give no restrictions to offense. Someone who is good on the sticks might not miss a shot, I doubt it'll happen....but I won't be surprised to hear about it. Shot variety seems to be miss or swish, hardly any middle ground. That's not good at all.

Passing is jerky, as are animations. It really feels like the game is very static and moving from step a to step b at any given point. There's no real dynamics to it.

As things stand right now, roughly one week to release, there is literally no reason to consider NBA Elite 11 for your NBA gaming. NBA 2K does a better job at almost everything, and in most areas, the two games aren't even close. In my opinion, Elite 11 is a title that was best left unreleased. The Elite experiment is a multi-year process and EA would've done themselves a favor by making sure the game was ready for prime time by giving the guys an extra year.

I don't fault the developers for this, they were dealing with the equivalent of the Clippers organization hiring a new coach, trading the entire roster for undrafted practice squad members, and then being expected to deliver a championship team. They didn't have a chance here. The fault here lies with the people up the corporate food chain who decided to give unrealistic demands to a development team which was already battling from behind. As it stands, Elite 11 will most likely do the brand irreparable harm.

Unless of course the suits at EA were going for the irony factor with the name NBA Elite, then I completely understand their intentions.

Chris is the Executive Editor of Operation Sports and maintains this blog on the site. He is also a native Oklahoman and avid storm chaser. You can follow him on Twitter @ChrisSnr.

Comments

# 1 LingeringRegime @ Sep 21

You pretty much echoed my thoughts as well. I really don't see how Peter Moore can sleep at night after an effort like this. Why would you nearly complete an exquisite building, only to demolish it before it is complete? That is exactly what we have here.

# 2 Chivs @ Sep 21

My thoughts exactly. The technology is all well and good and has potential for the future, but the game as it stands right now is horrible in all areas. They really should have taken a good 2 or 3 years to perfect the new game.

# 3 VladCanada @ Sep 21

EA has to step their game up. No longer do people just buy the game because EA made it. A lot of people know the 2K brand, and with Jordan on the cover of it...looks like the 2K game is the one to play. Competition is great! As is choice.

# 4 RaychelSnr @ Sep 21

Yeah, I don't want any of the developers from Elite hitting this up and thinking this is an incrimination on them. I think the direction is a solid one to go. But the suits forcing this game to be released when it's clearly not ready is something which I think they'll regret in the long run. It does nothing but harm to the Elite brand as well as the developers future.

# 5 Falcons11497 @ Sep 21

woops, well you mentioned 2k in this when it's about elite
thats a warning for you

# 6 newslowsad @ Sep 21

All progress from last year has been lost. This is coming from someone who bought Live last year and only Live. The controls are just...I can't even put into words. Jump on defense with the right stick up, WTF? I don't think I could ever get used to the controls. The demo only confirmed that I'm going back to 2K.

# 7 RaychelSnr @ Sep 21

@Falcons11497 Don't be hating on the mods...yeah they're cracking down but it's to keep things moving and on topic. Feel free to speak your mind on comparisons in my blog space, I like things getting a little testy here

# 8 ianlast @ Sep 21

Kudos for not sugar coating it, and calling a spade a spade. This is an absolutely terrible game, I couldn't get through more than a couple minutes of gameplay in the demo. And this is coming from someone who has always preferred the NBA Live series to 2K.

# 9 TheRisingSan @ Sep 21

I remember an earlier article stating that not releasing a game when it's periodically released every year isn't a good thing for the marketing of the game (referring to NHL 2k). Of course, I can see that releasing a game that's unfinished isn't good either but perhaps a good workaround is releasing the game at a cheaper price this year, and when you have a finished product, sell it at full retail value.

# 10 icecoldcash @ Sep 21

Thanks for having the stones to tell it like it is Chris.

# 11 RaychelSnr @ Sep 21

@icecoldcash -- Didn't take much at all. Anyone who reads me for a long enough time I would hope would come to realize I just call it as I see it. People may disagree with me, but that's just fine....opinions are good. But if I think a game is terrible I'll say it

# 12 juicey79 @ Sep 21

I myself am like the consumer who only speaks on a bad product to other consumers to forewarn them. I share the same sentiment as Chris and likely the majority of the members of this community. This game is trash even using the alternate face button functions. I will not speak on the robotic movements because I dont want to beat a dead horse. overall, I will be purchasing 1 nba game this year, heck maybe 2 one for 360 and the other PS3 since i budgeted to buy 2 NBA games this year. I wonder if the execs arbitrarily test the game throughout there phases. If so I dont understand how it got clearance. They would have more sucess redoing NBA JAM like a full game and bundle the 2 together for $49.99.

PEACE!!!

# 13 Blak_Baki_Hanma @ Sep 21

There's no way I could have said it better (though I have repeated said the exact same things).
It was considered flaming when I say it so it is extremely refreshing to see a mod call a spade a spade.

I'm so glad EA changed the name to Elite because NBA Live deserved to die with SOME dignity.

I'm just at a loss for words... but it's not like I didn't say that it was perfectly clear from, both, the vids and the dev interviews that there was absolutely no basketball knowledge behind this title.

No one requested a change to the control scheme...
Live 10 garnered the highest metacritic score in franchise history... but the community knows it was due to Mike Wang's implementations.
EA and Wang clashed over philosophy... Wang wanted realism... EA wanted (god knows what)...
And that's what Elite is... god knows what.

And then to keep pawning off a contrived control scheme on the community with no other intention than to misguide the community and divert attention away from the complete lack of viable basketball contained in their product is quite upsetting and disappointing.

So now we know why there were no good vids, no extended expositories, no real fervor from the devs to push the contents of this title... it's completely hollow.

It's all good though... I get to keep $60 in my pocket... and in this economy, I won't complain about that.

# 14 RaychelSnr @ Sep 21

@Blak_Baki_Hanma Just for the record, I AM NOT A MOD. I do run the writing staff and largely the frontpage and content here at OS, but I have not and will never mod the forums. You guys are too crazy for me

# 15 wazza12 @ Sep 21

Thanks for the impressions. i think I'll hold off getting the demo after this.
So it looks like we're getting NBA Jam with Elite 11 as the added extra??

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