NBA Live 16 Demo Available For Xbox One and PS4, Post Your Impressions

[2_headedmonster]

I must say, this game is pretty bad. I want to go into detail, but id just be saying the same thing others have said.

One thing i do want to point out is that the game feels dead for some reason. I dont know if its the blank look on the players faces/eyes, the lack of little nuance animations or the disengaging animation quality in general. But i never felt like i was playing basketball, i was constantly reminded i was playing a game.

also: the graphics are odd, besides players looking likfe bronze trophies, there seems to be some technique used that is compromised at a distance.

[Rob. D]

Quote: Originally Posted by bateman11

I'm somewhat shocked at some of the negative remarks Im seeing. I've played five games of OKC vs CLE while the demo is installing (horrible ISP). Im very optimistic. If you play realistic basketball you get excellent results. I feel this could possibly be the best on court experience EA has ever given us. I will expand on that once I play the full demo.

Man ... From someone who has played a lot of 15. This is Live 15 the remix with Pro Am IMO. The more I play I the more frustrated I become. Rebounding doesn't even feel like rebounding. Defense is horrible especially in the paint. Tip for Pro Am -- Grab a post scorer and make them 7ft then run to the paint and just shoot smh. Warping all over the place and awareness is completely broken. Players just look at the ball roll right past them, meanwhile the CPU swoops in and picks the ball up???? We talk about animations enough but I saw the CPU shoot sideways today ... Literally a sideways jumper and the ball went in smh.

I'm still seeing those auto animations that seem to always drop ... (that hook that hits the glass from the post). Where is the contact??? Guys in Pro Am are running through each other right to the basket. I can't buy this product not like this, and Pro Am is so underwhelming because of these gameplay issues. Sorry OS maybe I'm just ranting but I expected more this time around. Again I still want to know what this magical day 1 patch is going to resolve, so I'll be lurking lol

[vidgames]

"Hes among the leaders in scoring this season"...I hear this 10 times game

[swac07]

Quote: Originally Posted by bateman11

If you play realistic basketball you get excellent results.

I'm not knocking anyones experience with the game....but man I can play all the realistic basketball in the world with this game and its still not going to hide these legacy issues....Heck I was playing realistic basketball until d.rose decided he wanted to do a double jump rocket boost in mid air during a hopstep( "its gotta be the shoes” ) and lay it up...stuff like that really kills ANY kind of thought of realistic basketball

....the game isnt that bad but its like my uncle used to say "Its still a **** sammich...just not a soggy one now"

[Walt Frazier]

Quote: Originally Posted by The 24th Letter

Late game A.I https://vid.me/bzkN Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Honestly, I can barely believe they have not fixed this after THREE YEARS.


For anyone considering the game to play USER v CPU...basically it is the ultimate game killer.


The CPU late game AI...watch them take a 2 ball when 3 down.


Watch them dribble for 8 seconds as the buzzer sounds.


Watch them walk it up and not get a shot off when down 2.


Absolute game killer for offline USER v CPU players.


Honestly can't believe they have left this in again. Forums will be full of new users complaining about this within a week of release.

[bumpyface]

My report is totally different from what I'm seeing here.
Presentation
I love the presentation. You will notice an immediate improvement in visuals and the atmosphere feels like a basketball game. I also like the commentary but my opinion is biased because I'm a fan of JVG.
Gameplay
The gameplay is fast.
Some of the animations are off and the shooting needs to be tuned down along with dunk success.
I also did not see as much contact when contesting the basket from dunks and lay-ins but I played Clev vs OKC and I had at least 5 blocks.
I was also able to intercept passes in the passing lane. While on the subject of passing, it could use improvement but I like the overall speed of the passing game. I would like to see a more diverse range of pass-types tho throughout the gameplay.
Post
I like the post game. I had Kantar going in down low but the success rate of contested shots was too high.
I'm going to try out the online portion once the game finishes downloading. Again, I will say that I think some people are being a little too critical with the gameplay thus far but of course that is my opinion.

[WTF]

If you all want less floaty passes, I encourage you to use the passing stick. You'll see a ton of new animations too.

[benefactor]

As someone who played 14 for 9 months and 15 for 10 months I can confidently say, this feels like Live 15.5.

I enjoyed 15 and like the improvements here but it seems aimed at those who never gave 14 and 15 a chance. A lot of the positives mentioned so far already existed in last year's game.

Other than that, the small improvements definitely help.

Positives:
- Graphics are simply outstanding. Anyone saying it looks like a mobile game deserves an instant ban for trolling to be honest. The arena lighting, the courts, the players and their skin tones, textures and lighting are second to none.
- The backdown controls actually work this year and you can properly spin left or right, go into a turnaround with more control than before or spin and drive, also with much greater control.
- The Euro-step cheese has been toned down a lot. You can't (for the most part) just double tap in any inch of space and get to the hoop
- The hand off pass looks great and actually works to help give the receiver some space to create or pullup. Props for the person/team who came up with this.
- The touch passing is back and works quite well.
- Good look and feel to the court spacing and player size (something many bball games struggle with)
- Lots of off the ball movement and animations

Negatives:
- As I said, I played 15 for almost a year and this game so far doesn't really feel new. The additions are more like polish you'd expect on a much more solid product, like I would have expected in maybe 2018. The base game needed a lot more before EA worried about their Pro-Am and other stuff.
- The funky animations we all know and hate. These really kill the flow, kill the positives and will be responsible for many, many, many lost sales. It's as simple as that.
- Simply not enough post moves or proper shots around the paint.
- The great looking size up dribble controls and animation seem to have been removed. If this is true, I'm clueless why.
- Pointless automated behind the back dribbles when bringing the ball up court. They look silly and actually make you player change direction slightly and move him out of position (and make the ball look like it's on a yoyo)
- Bad CPU AI yet again. The exact same strategy has worked since Live 14. Way too easy to drive around a screen, way too easy to get a wing player an open 3 and even when you do the same play 10 times in a row, the CPU doesn't learn or adjust. The late game AI is as bad as ever also.
- From what I can tell, the collision/ragdoll reactions have been toned down. I saw more scripted contact animations than random physics create one's from my few hours with the demo. Again, if this is true I would be disappointed because there was great potential there.
- A bunch of little things like the same celebrations re-used for 3 years now, the silly '1 more' pointing animation, the skipping back on D animation. Us fans have keen eyes and notice these things.
- As I mentioned a few times after the first official screenshots... the most famous face in the world of basketball and you can't get his beard looking right.

I've gone from a definite purchase to a really unlikely purchase at this point. Not because the base game isn't enjoyable, but because there really isn't enough different on offer for a loyal, long playing fan of 15.

I'd like to know how much input the EA Game Changers ans what the pre-requisites were to get on board to be honest.