NBA Live 09 Gameplay Video

Community Day impressions from nba-live.com

Gameplay
Welcome, and thanks for taking the time to read my report on the NBA Live 09 Community Event. This time, I'll be giving my hands-on impressions of the gameplay in the upcoming game. I'll be covering what I liked and disliked as my intention is to be as objective as possible, however for the most part I came away feeling positive about the game which was the general consensus of the group at the end of the day. That said, we all made sure to offer constructive criticism when we saw something we didn't like and I'm happy to say that the producers were very receptive to our ideas and took the feedback very seriously.
With that out of the way, let's jump into the gameplay of NBA Live 09.
The first thing I'd like to mention is the variety and quality of the dunks in 09. I know, it's a fairly superficial element for most people but that's why I'm getting it out of the way first. It's probably also one of the first things you'll find yourself doing when you start up the game and find yourself shooting around in the NBA Academy; if you're like me, you'll head straight to the basket with your selected player and attempt a dunk.
If you do, one of your first impressions of the game will be how much better the dunks are with a larger range of simple dunks and some very cool rim physics. The way the breakaway rims bend down and snap back on forceful dunks is the best I've seen in NBA Live since it made the jump to the Next Gen platforms. The dunk animations are also a step up from last year though unfortunately you can't interrupt the animations. Players will automatically make adjustments however if there's a collision in the air, so you'll still see dunk attempts turn into layups if there's a lot of traffic in the lane.
Even though there's a fair share of forceful and spectacular dunks, the most jaw-dropping dunks for me were ironically the simple ones. Even though we'll be getting our share of highlight reel slams, there's a very nice array of simple dunks both off the dribble and from a standing start which all look very slick. It's a small touch but it's a very welcome improvement all the same.
Once you jump into an actual game, you'll notice the tipoff has been redone. A closer angle, often used in television broadcasts is used for the tip and the animations on the players themselves look a whole lot better. Those who played NBA Live 08 on the Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 will attest to the tipoff looking somewhat awkward. It looks a lot better this year. After the tip, the camera switches back to the regular camera, by default a TV-style angle.
Now on to something of a bit more substance: offensive gameplay.
I'll start with another small but nonetheless significant change: the timing is back on the shoot button meaning we're in control of things when we put shots up. This is easily preferable to last year's approach and the best news is that you'll still see a player's signature shot, even on a poor release. You can certainly tell a poor release though from the trajectory of the shot. If you don't hold the button long enough, you'll see your player attempt a flatter shot and if you're really too early on letting go of the shoot button you might even see your player fire up an airball!
For those who may be concerned about getting the timing down, don't fret. An indicator in the NBA Academy will help you work on your timing so that you'll know the best moment to release the button for any player of your choosing. For anyone who's concerned about this indicator showing up and being intrusive on gameplay, don't worry about that either. It only shows up in the Academy as a training tool. Be sure to check out my report on the NBA Academy for more details on all the new features there.
One of the problems in past games has been that your CPU teammates aren't always very helpful, particularly at the offensive end. You will see your teammates moving around, cutting to the basket and so forth so you don't have to do everything yourself but Pick & Roll Control takes playcalling a step further as you'll essentially be able to control two players on the floor at once. Also, rather than having to specifically call a pick and roll or pick and pop play, what your teammate does after setting the pick is determined by the length of a button press. A quick release of the Pick & Roll Control trigger will result in your player rolling to the basket, while holding it longer will call for them to pop.
It does take a little getting used to though, which is where the NBA Academy comes in. You can run various pick and roll drills which will help you master the controls and teach you the most effective way of using it. I'm a little concerned that it's a feature that could be abused a bit (particularly when having the teammate roll to the basket) when playing multiplayer/online but the CPU does seem to be wise to the user trying to get cheesy with it. All in all, it's suitably effective without resulting in a guaranteed basket every time you use it.
In The Paint is back again and I'm pleased to say it's not quite as overpowering as last year. It's not as simple as backing down the defender, tapping the stick left or right to fake and spin then go up for an easy dunk; the defender will put up a bit more resistance this time around. At times I felt a little out of control posting up but I was told that this was due to the technique I was using (moves such as the fake and spin, plus holding turbo). Indeed, when I took my time and anticipated what the defender was doing, I found it to be more effective but still not overpowering which I was pleased to see. Having the defense make their presence felt definitely makes a difference.
I'm sure a lot of people will be glad to hear that alley-oops are no longer triggered by tapping the Direct Pass trigger. Alley-oops are now attempted by holding Direct Pass and pressing up on the right stick, which is easy enough to do whether you're on the fast break, running a pick and roll or simply spot a teammate open near the hoop. A very cool improvement to the alley-oops in NBA Live 09 has been made when a teammate is too far away from the basket or doesn't have room to attempt the shot. Instead of putting up a funky looking layup, he'll go up and catch the ball then come down with it, just like in real life. This is very handy if you throw a lob accidentally (though that's harder to do with the new controls) and it also means your teammates react more intelligently and realistically.
I did notice a few cases where the players did seem to jump from a little too far out to catch lob passes and finish with the dunk, though for the most part the alley-oops look great thanks to the improved dunk animations. The success rate isn't outrageously high but still a little higher than it should be.
Speaking of passing, there are a few issues with getting the ball to the intended recipient. Direct Passing tends to work alright but the tried and true method of holding the stick in the direction of a player when pressing pass doesn't work as well as it should, with the ball often being sent elsewhere. I use Direct Passing a lot but when making quick passes with the direction method it does cause the play to break down when the pass doesn't go where you want it to. Speaking of Direct Passing, it now stays active for a second after you pass the ball to a player in case you want to trigger another quick pass. This is a good idea, though it also has the potential to lead to unwanted passes being made.
I think the new free throw system will receive mixed reviews as I know a lot of people are fond of using the right stick method that was used in NBA Live 06-08. The new method involves holding down the shoot button while a meter at the top of the backboard fills up. The aim is to release the button when the meter gets to a small strip of white; stop it too early and the free throw is short, stop it too late and you'll hit the back of the iron. Similar to the T-Meter system that was being used in Current Gen up until NBA Live 06, the size of the white strip and the speed at which the meter fills depends on the player's skill. Shaq still has a very small margin of error while Ray Allen will present less of a challenge to the user.
I'd have to say I like it a bit better than the right analog method which I've always felt is a bit touchy, especially in online play. I probably would have preferred to have the T-Meter back but this method is a similar approach and one that still poses a challenge, especially in multiplayer where you can tap buttons to make your opponent's controller vibrate and the meter fill a little quicker.
The new quick play calling essentially eliminates the distracting process of having to bring up the play calling menus on the fly and trying to call a play without the action coming to a stand still. The quick plays are tailored to the players you have on the floor, so if you want to get Dwyane Wade open when you're playing with the Heat or post up Tim Duncan when you're playing with the Spurs, it's simply a matter of a button press. Doing this may potentially telegraph the play in multiplayer as the name of the quick play is displayed on the overlay when it's called but it's difficult to notice when you're concentrating on the game so I'd suggest that the defense is still going to have to watch the action and anticipate rather than be clued in by the overlay.
Quick Strike Ankle Breakers picks up where Quick Strike Ball Handling left off last year, with new animations including setup moves that can lead into an explosive first step…depending on the player. Big men have different dribbling animations and will even lose control of the ball if you overdribble with them or try a move they're not capable of pulling off. They're also more prone to having the ball stripped compared to smaller players, who will be able to throw their defenders off balance with an array of spins, jab steps and fakes, achieved by holding turbo and moving the right analog stick before you attempt to explode past the defender. You won't blow by the defender every time though so it's not case of simply making wild stick movements and hitting turbo.
Turbo will have to be used more conservatively this year as NBA Live 09 has incorporated a noticeable "first step" when you go to take off with turbo. This takes some getting used to especially on the fast break. In the past, it was habit to let go of turbo when making the pass and pressing and holding it again to sprint with the player ahead of the pack. Because turbo will now trigger the explosive first step, you'll need to continue holding it down while you're making the pass so that the recipient will catch it in his stride and continue on to the basket at full speed. It does feel a bit awkward at first and will take some getting used to but I can see where they're going with it. Once you're accustomed to the change fast breaks flow just as smoothly and the first step can be put to good use.
As I mentioned earlier, it appears as though turbo will also have to be used conservatively in post play. Rather than using it as a crutch to get everything done, it's something we'll have to use when it most benefits the situation rather than just holding it down and relying on it to get the job done. The NBA Academy provides a suitable environment in which to make adjustments like this however so I think most players will adapt and it should turn out to be a change for the better.
Hot Spots are in use once again and just as they were last year, they're not guaranteed baskets. The overlay looks a lot better this year as they've gone for outlines over coloured segments. It gives you the same data without being as big a distraction, so I believe most users will be happy with that change.
In what may come as a disappointment to a lot of users, there is no Pro Hop button this year. The reason for this is that the producers were not satisfied with the collisions on manually triggered pro hops, though you'll still see a couple of them appear contextually on certain moves in the paint. I've been using the pro hop less and less since it was first introduced but I feel it would be best to have the move at our disposal, as did the other community members.
Once again there is a single dunk/layup button in addition to the regular shoot button and after the experiment with NBA Live 07, I still think that's for the best. A welcome change to the dunk/layup button is that the game tries to compensate for human error. If you're too far out to attempt a layup or dunk, the player will attempt a regular jumpshot instead. This is a great idea as it's all too easy to hit dunk/layup by accident resulting in an awkward attempt.
Pull-up jumpshots were a bit of a problem in the build we played however. Quite often instead of pulling up to take the jumpshot, the players would attempt a running leaner which often wasn't a desirable shot to take. Avoiding the turbo button helped a little but on the whole runners were being attempted a bit too often. It's a good idea though, if toned down it will work a lot better.
Overall, things are looking pretty good offensively though direction passing is problematic and the running jumpers are annoying when they're not wanted. I didn't notice much of an issue with position domination and we were told that there's new player logic that should see an improvement in the right players taking the right amount of shots, similar to the old Primacy and Go To attributes.
Of course, that's only half the game and the realism of the offense does go hand-in-hand with the presence and effective of the defense, so let's take a look at what NBA Live 09 brings to the table at the other end of the floor.
Lockdown Defense is very similar to the On-Ball Scenarios that were seen in Current Gen. Getting into a lockdown "battle" is as easy as moving into the defender so that you're playing him tight. From here, it's up to you to anticipate where the offensive player is going so you really are playing defense with your feet. The offensive player can back off and break out of the lockdown battle though so you'll need to be vigilant and ready to react to them pulling up for a jumpshot or attempting a Quick Strike Ankle Breakers move. Of course, you can continue to hound them and get right back into a lockdown battle if you can react to their next move. It definitely makes playing defense a lot more rewarding; you will get beaten but you can defend a lot more effectively.
Defensive Assist is still in the game but won't offer the same in-your-face D as Lockdown Defense. Much like last year, Defensive Assist will do the work for you as far as staying with your man but the coverage won't be as tight. If you really want to shut down a player you'll need to get into the lockdown battle and do the work yourself. Defensive Assist is still handy though and better still, no longer results in automatic switches when the ball is passed.
Interceptions look great; gone are the days of armpit steals and players using The Force. You can play the passing lanes if you desire and if timed correctly you can even break up alley-oop passes, either successfully completing the steal or at least knocking the ball loose. It seems like players are more aware of the ball so there's a lot more risk in dangerous passes as players will take advantage of being in the passing lanes rather than watching the ball pass under the nose. However, interceptions did seem a bit too plentiful so it might be something we'll need to tone down a bit with the sliders.
The animations on regular steals are pretty good too but what really stood out to me were the blocks. In the past, blocks have usually consisted mostly of swats but there are some absolutely outstanding softer blocks in NBA Live 09. The ball will still get swatted out of bounds and the ball can be blocked off the backboard but the animations on blocks where the defender just gets his hand on the ball are stunningly realistic. The blocks just might be the best I've seen in the series; like the dunks, it's a small detail but it really makes a difference.
You'll see those new and improved blocked shots fairly regularly if you can do a good job of defending the low post, a task which has been made easier this year. You'll still need to be on your toes and react to the offense accordingly but with the ability to really put a body on the offensive player, who won't be able to beat you over and over again with a couple of simple moves, playing interior defense isn't quite as frustrating as it was last year. That said you'll have a tough time against the dominant low post scorers of the league but compared to last year's jostle system that favoured the offense more often than not, this year things are much more even.
There's still a bit of a problem when players elevate for a dunk or layup though. Although they're the highest percentage field goals in basketball they're still a little too easy once you get deep into the paint. There are more contested layups this year and it's certainly possible to block dunk and layup attempts but sometimes the response is a bit slow on the block button which means once a player is in the air, it's difficult to get physical or deny the shot. It's a step up from last year and it certainly shouldn't be easy to block dunks and layups but there is still a feeling of helplessness at times when the attempt could at least be contested.
Rebounding still has a few issues with some flat footed boards and the ball hitting the floor a few times, however players certainly jumped to snatch the ball out of the air and you can see them leaning and reaching for the ball when they do. The ratio of offensive to defensive rebounds seemed about right though in some cases players were getting to offensive boards when they probably shouldn't have, especially flat footed rebounds.
On the whole defense looks a lot more promising this year with the various battle/jostle mini-games in the low post as well as on the perimeter with Lockdown Defense give the defender an advantage they didn't have last year, providing you react to the offensive player accordingly. It seems the game is closer to what it was trying to achieve last year in terms of being able to battle defensively and rewarding the user for playing defense. I'm interested to see how it will work out in twelve minute quarters against the CPU, which I obviously didn't get to try out during the day.
Looking at the gameplay in NBA Live 09, I expect that it will prove to be a step forward though as always I'm concerned that the new offensive moves could be too powerful in the hands of the CPU in a regulation length game. There are a couple of problematic issues with directional passing and the running leaners but apart from that I'm pleased with what I saw. The give and take between the offense and defense doesn't seem as one-sided as before and there are some really superb animations in the game this year. I expect even experienced players will need to make some adjustments particularly when it comes to turbo usage and timing on jumpshots but the NBA Academy provides a perfect venue to hone those skills.