NBA Live 14 News Post

NBA Live 14 Reviews From Around the Web

09:07 AM - November 19, 2013 by nflnutt

NBA Live 14 is available for everyone today. Make sure you check out some of the reviews that have appeared online. As more reviews come in, we'll update this post.

IGN (4.3/10)
Darkstation (2/5)
Bleacher Report (7.8/10)
Gamesradar (2.5/5)
PlayStation LifeStyle (5/10)
Kotaku (NO)
GameInformer (4/10)
GameSpot (4/10)

Game: NBA Live 14Reader Score: 4/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS4 / Xbox OneVotes for game: 17 - View All

NBA Live 14 Videos

Member Comments

# 221 yungflo @ 11/21/13 11:45 AM

I wish sony would take the plunge and develop an NBA game. Yes, I know they made nba:the life, but without the life, there would be no my player/rising career mode or a time release on jumpers.. the game was arcady but it was still fun.

I would like to see them take a more simulation approach. Seeing how they were the only video game to secure the tnt license...that'll be awesome to see in a video game again.

# 222 Boilerbuzz @ 11/21/13 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by apollooff320


	don't know because I was watching the Houston game that was DVRed while looking at the video. All I saw was him doing was playing Roy Hibbert like he was a PG and running around with other players how they are not suppose to be used. He doesn't know the sport and probably like most of the reviewers cared about pretty graphics and canned animations. If your a big NBA fan you'll notice the game isn't all that bad by playing the demo. No it's not worth full price but the game isn't horrible either. EA has something here and all they need to do is keep improving and they will be back.

Wait. You weren't even paying attention!? Wow. First, it was a player versus player game and you don't know which player he was. He also was able to FINISH that play with an And-1. One of the points he was making was that the game doesn't reward players for playing realistically. Whether you agree with that or not, that was what he was saying.

But you not even bothering to pay actual attention to the review completely disqualifies your criticism.

# 223 Caveman24 @ 11/21/13 11:56 AM

LOL @ Bleacher Report

# 224 Boilerbuzz @ 11/21/13 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by El_Poopador


	the reviews seem to say the same things but they contradict each other. its too easy to drive into the paint but there are too many blocks shots.

I fail to see how these are contradictory. As a matter of fact, the IGN review even says that to make up for the ease to drive the paint, the blocks are exaggerated.

You dudes are REALLY reaching. Didn't take long.

# 225 Boilerbuzz @ 11/21/13 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by El_Poopador


	he was definitely getting inside more in the 2k gameplay. he had 2 points in the live gameplay and it wasnt even from the paint. it was from an open jumper. to me that says that you CANT just charge the paint like he said you can..

What? The reviews shows certain plays, but that says NOTHING about the actual overall results of the games they played. You see maybe 12 plays out of about 200 and you're drawing your conclusions about how they play based on the clips they CHOOSE to show in the review? Sorry in advance for the insult, but that's just a moronic line of reasoning.

Again: WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH 2K!?! Guys like you have yet to address the issues pointed on in the reviews, you continue to try to deflect to 2K, and you don't help make Live better by holding it to a basic standard of excellence. You're leaning on nebulus arguments like "it's a foundation" and fuzzy qualifiers like "if you really know basketall" or "if you're a real fan of the NBA". GTFO with that. You guys are REALLY insulting people's intelligence with this stuff. You don't think anyone notices that the only credible review in YOUR opinions is the only one that doesn't rate the game a 6/10 or below? And you think the rest of the world is wrong? The blind refusal to even acknowledge the consensus here leads me to assume you guys are just troll baiting. I really believe that. You can't POSSIBLE believe the garbage excuses you're giving at every turn.

# 226 Boilerbuzz @ 11/21/13 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yungflo


	I had my share of defense too, but after playing the game, its horrible! Devs wanted us to play the game instead of criticizing it when watching it. Well, it turned out, playing it was alot worse than watching it!

What does this say when one of OS's bigger Live fans says this? This is pretty big of you, yungflo. I know it sucks to post this.

I'm one of those people that if I see someone post a criticism that I share, I don't repeat it. So you won't find posts from me about what's wrong with the game. But seeing people dismiss criticism blindly sends me into a rage. THESE are the people that validate EA and one of the reasons Madden sucks. If the Madden fanboys had the balls to tell EA that Madden is NOT great as it is and it NEEDS to copy the good from other games, it wouldn't be where it is right now. This has nothing to do with Madden, but everything to do with EA and the consumer holding the company accountable. I respect the Live team's effort and we'll see how the move from here. But for now, the public has spoken.

# 227 El_Poopador @ 11/21/13 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boilerbuzz


	What? The reviews shows certain plays, but that says NOTHING about the actual overall results of the games they played. You see maybe 12 plays out of about 200 and you're drawing your conclusions about how they play based on the clips they CHOOSE to show in the review? Sorry in advance for the insult, but that's just a moronic line of reasoning.

you would think that they would show clips in the review that back up what they are saying instead of random clips that contradict it. either way i was referring to the uncut quarter of live gameplay not the review.

Quote:


	Again: WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH 2K!?! Guys like you have yet to address the issues pointed on in the reviews, you continue to try to deflect to 2K, and you don't help make Live better by holding it to a basic standard of excellence.

i only mentioned 2k because the comment i was replying to mentioned it. please pay attention to who i am addressing when quoting my comments.

Quote:


	You're leaning on nebulus arguments like "it's a foundation" and fuzzy qualifiers like "if you really know basketall" or "if you're a real fan of the NBA". GTFO with that. You guys are REALLY insulting people's intelligence with this stuff. You don't think anyone notices that the only credible review in YOUR opinions is the only one that doesn't rate the game a 6/10 or below? And you think the rest of the world is wrong? The blind refusal to even acknowledge the consensus here leads me to assume you guys are just troll baiting. I really believe that. You can't POSSIBLE believe the garbage excuses you're giving at every turn.

i never said any review was or was not credible with the exception of ign. i base that solely off of the tone of the review and then the live uncut gameplay they showed. and i never said the game is great. from the videos ive seen it doesnt look bad. is it as good as the rating bleacher report gave it? i doubt it. but like i have been saying i think people base too much of their decisions off visuals.

ive watched videos both of people who run around and try to play it like live 10 and abuse the paint as well as people who try to run plays set screens and play at least some semblance of smart basketball. and the ones who play unintelligent bball are generally the ones really trashing the game hard. but when i watch the videos of people playing smart it looks like a solid fundamental game. is it a 10/10? far from it. but is it a 4.3/10? definitely not.

im about halfway through the shakedown video right now and im seeing both good and bad things. the bad things are mostly related to visuals though with the exception of one player clipping through the rim on one play. but i also see bad passes being tipped or stolen. i see shake trying to spam dribble moves and the defender staying with him not allowing him in the paint. and hes playing on default settings not even a high difficulty.

a few things that really hurt the game are the lack of a practice/tutorial mode and a few decisions of things being turned off by default. one thing that everyone mentions is that players dont move on offense if you dont run a play. well thats a setting that you have to turn on. poor decision by the devs to not only include it as an option but to have it off by default. but turning it on makes a big difference in freelance offense. they should also have play art on by default. a few of the reviews clearly didnt even look for it then counted it against them in the final score.

again im not saying this is a great basketball game. but it is a competent game that has potential. if they improve the visuals and make player movement smoother and more natural it would be much better. right now its probably around a 6-6.5/10. it has the core fundamentals of basketball down. i hope they continue on the path theyre on.

# 228 jmood88 @ 11/21/13 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by El_Poopador


	the reviews seem to say the same things but they contradict each other. its too easy to drive into the paint but there are too many blocks shots. well yea if you try to just charge the paint and dunk or layup without working for a good look i would hope you get blocked often. look at the last play shown in the gamespot video. he tries just forcing up a bad shot in the paint and gets blocked. thats realistic. the issue with the team not running plays in the career mode is definitely a problem though. they need to fix that. you shouldnt have to press a button every time down to make the players run sets.

Being too easy to get into the paint is not contradicted by saying that blocks are overdone. Much like with Madden and how every DB have hands like Deion Sanders, Tiburon doesn't know how to actually make defense work so instead they just max out the ability for defenders to get blocks that they would never get if they could actually implement good AI.

# 229 GisherJohn24 @ 11/21/13 12:46 PM

Why is operation sports waiting so long to release their review? We know what it will be. Just do it OS!

# 230 fluent2332 @ 11/21/13 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GisherJohn24


	Why is operation sports waiting so long to release their review? We know what it will be. Just do it OS!

Maybe they are actually trying to learn the game and give it a chance? That would be nice to see.

# 231 jmood88 @ 11/21/13 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GisherJohn24


	Why is operation sports waiting so long to release their review? We know what it will be. Just do it OS!

There have already been enough impressions from site staff members that you should know where they stand without them giving the game a score.

# 232 GisherJohn24 @ 11/21/13 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmood88


	There have already been enough impressions from site staff members that you should know where they stand without them giving the game a score.

I can't see them giving this game a GOOD score do you? 6 maybe? I'm not being a stinker about this. I WANTED so bad for Live to be good again. But someone tell me what is good about taking Roy Hibbert up the court as a PG and driving to the basket like Chris Paul and dunking through 3 guys warrants anything but negativity? I spent 60 bucks on NBA Live, believing the trailers, believing the promises made, believing we'd have a next gen experience and they give us a game still in beta stages not even worthy of being compared to NBA Live 10 which is 4 years old. You hear my frustration with this game? I want to have fun, but I CANNOT!

# 233 jyoung @ 11/21/13 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GisherJohn24


	Why is operation sports waiting so long to release their review? We know what it will be. Just do it OS!

Major sites like Gamespot and IGN usually receive review copies well in advance of a game's release date. That gives them plenty of time to play games and have the review written on or closely following games' release date.

I don't think any of the OS reviewers had early copies of the PS4 games, so we've all been playing these games since Friday afternoon at best.

For Live, I've only been playing the game since Tuesday afternoon.

# 234 GisherJohn24 @ 11/21/13 01:27 PM

What would be your review score?

# 235 Boilerbuzz @ 11/21/13 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by El_Poopador


	im about halfway through the shakedown video right now and im seeing both good and bad things. the bad things are mostly related to visuals though with the exception of one player clipping through the rim on one play.

I recognized you say "mostly", but the issues with the game go far beyond visual. Let's list just some of the issues mentioned in the reviews: (note, these are not MY issues - just listing what was mentioned in the reviews)

1. Players standing around doing nothing
2. Very laggy and unresponsive controls
3. Unbalanced shooting
4. Bad ball targeting for rebounding and blocking
5. Slow movement contributing to few fastbreaks.
6. Bad pass targeting - players need to stop to catch some passes.
7. Unnatural ball physics
8. AI players making odd decisions or reacting very slowly to what's happening on the court.

I could go on. And these are just gameplay. But you see my point, right? There are big issues that have nothing to do with visuals (graphics or animation quality).

Quote:


	again im not saying this is a great basketball game. but it is a competent game that has potential. if they improve the visuals and make player movement smoother and more natural it would be much better. right now its probably around a 6-6.5/10. it has the core fundamentals of basketball down. i hope they continue on the path theyre on.

It's debatable that if the issues listed are true, that it's even a competent game. It does NOT have the fundamentals down. I don't know why folks say that. People say the spacing is "great" when it's not. Spacing for the wrong reasons is NOT good fundamental basketball. Fixing visuals will absolutely improve the game. But to say that visuals is all it needs is not only short sighted, it's dead wrong.

# 236 blackceasar @ 11/21/13 01:30 PM

Please forgive me if someone already called this out because I'm too lazy to read through all these posts... I just saw the GAMEINFORMER REVIEW of this game.. You think those so called "hacks" at IGN gave it a bad score.. Gameinformer outdid them.. gave it a FLAT 4.0

So I grabbed the demo last night. And again, I think my harshness comes from comparing it to a much better (even though buggy) basketball game. Like I said in a previous post, when it comes to EA and Madden you don't expect much from them because they literally don't have to worry about competition, although next gen Madden is suprisingly fun. So back on topic though.. With Live.. they HAVE competition. FIERCE COMPETITION. Heck they took time off because of that COMPETITION and yet they still threw up so many bricks with this offering.

So I pop the game in and the intro is kinda cool until you see the player models come in. They look better than current gen Live (we had a current gen live???) but the models feel rushed.. some look like they are made out of clay. There's inconsistencies between the quality of even the super starts. Carmello looks pretty good... Steve Nash not so much.. all in all they look like they were made from clay.

There is absolutely no atmosphere with the game when you start to play. The crowd is really not alive at all... and it feels like the lighting is the exact same no matter what arena you are in. For example the game I played was NOT in the Stapels Center when the Lakers play and we all know when they play at home, they dim down all the lights excpet for that front row section and the court. Through the laziness of EA, they have done this same treatment on every arena.. so you never really see or feel the crowd. It looks like some 3D graphics student's demo where he's only putting in the bare necessities to show off his animation chops. Also, the on the court action looks washed out. The game looks like one long animated low quality JPEG.

While some might argue that there are too many cut scenes in 2k14, there are hardly any in Live.. and I mean any CONTEXTUAL ones. Again, you don't feel like you are there at a real game and it takes away from the feeling of immersion. Not only do you not see the crowd that much, you don't really hear them that much either. Its like they are all at some opera or play and being quiet as the actors play out their parts on the stage.

The animations are jerky in places. Shooting doesn't feel fluid. It just feels like it's missing something. When I made a 3 with Carmello, I didnt feel like I made a jumper.. I feel like I pressed a button and the ball went into the hoop.

So the audio and play by play. I'm sorry and I'm not a 2k Fanboy but you would be hard pressed to say that Live comes anywhere near what the competition is doing. Again it feels rushed, half-assed, and robotically stitched together. But to be fair to EA on this one... I feel when you use celebrity commentary you also have to worry about just HOW involved these real NBA personalities want to work with your developers and you as a game publisher. I read more than one article a couple of years back with the NBA personalities that do the play by play and commentary for 2K.. they talked about how dedicated they were to the process of 2k making that game. They gave 2k A LOT of their time to give 2K what they needed to give what is arguably the greatest commentary in any sports game ever. Part of me feels like Jalen Rose and Crew agreed to work with EA but only gave them so much of their time because you know.. they are so "busy".. and thats what EA got... on top of that, even if those guys gave EA enough of their time to do this stuff right.. those guys are kind of fail in real life commentary too.

I can't help but feel NBA Live is a prime example of when bigger isn't always better. What I mean is, there are probably so many uneccasarry "business" people and VP's of things that have nothing to do with the production of the game at EA that it hurts their development process. I cant help but feel like they HAD to put a game out for next gen especially after one of the big shots did all that grandstanding about why they cancelled Live 11 (or Elite, or whatever the heck they were calling it). I cant help but feel that the really low (and well deserved) scores they have been getting is a combination of the fact that the game is pretty sub-par AND the fact that they really have no excuse to put a game out like this.

I would have rather EA waited and put this out even if it was during all star break and it was a stellar title than one again rushing a half-assed game out because a bunch of share holders and board members want it out with the console. If the final nail isn't in the coffin.. there's probably only one more nail to go.

# 237 El_Poopador @ 11/21/13 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boilerbuzz


	1. Players standing around doing nothing 2. Very laggy and unresponsive controls 3. Unbalanced shooting 4. Bad ball targeting for rebounding and blocking 5. Slow movement contributing to few fastbreaks. 6. Bad pass targeting - players need to stop to catch some passes. 7. Unnatural ball physics 8. AI players making odd decisions or reacting very slowly to what's happening on the court.

1. there is a toggle to turn on/off off ball movement. its off by default. poor decision from ea but it is one issue that is fixable. my only guess is that it was done to encourage playcalling. either way not a good decision to have it off by default.

2. i have to play the game to see if thats the case. cant say anything one way or another.

3. can you elaborate? what do you mean by unbalanced?

4. from what ive seen ball targeting looks ok. i only saw one clip from the shakedown video that had a bit of an odd block but other than that it looked ok. the players seem to be aware of the ball.

5. cant really say much on this. movement does look a little slow. i would have to go back and really watch for potential fast break opportunities that is affected by that.

6. can you give a few examples?

7. i agree with this one to a point. it seems to be hit or miss. sometimes the ball reacts naturally and others it looks off. usually when it hits off the rim is when it looks off.

8. i havent seen too many oddities in the ai. there have definitely been some bad decisions but overall it seems ok. i would also like to see videos showing different difficulties. that may be the cause of some of the slow reactions i would hope.

i finished watching shakes video and it is strange how easily he was driving the lane at the end. i say that because i saw other videos where players tried the same thing and were shut down. maybe a difficulty thing? if that is consistent it definitely needs to be fixed though.

# 238 Boilerbuzz @ 11/21/13 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by El_Poopador


	1. there is a toggle to turn on/off off ball movement. its off by default. poor decision from ea but it is one issue that is fixable. my only guess is that it was done to encourage playcalling. either way not a good decision to have it off by default. 2. i have to play the game to see if thats the case. cant say anything one way or another. 3. can you elaborate? what do you mean by unbalanced? 4. from what ive seen ball targeting looks ok. i only saw one clip from the shakedown video that had a bit of an odd block but other than that it looked ok. the players seem to be aware of the ball. 5. cant really say much on this. movement does look a little slow. i would have to go back and really watch for potential fast break opportunities that is affected by that. 6. can you give a few examples? 7. i agree with this one to a point. it seems to be hit or miss. sometimes the ball reacts naturally and others it looks off. usually when it hits off the rim is when it looks off. 8. i havent seen too many oddities in the ai. there have definitely been some bad decisions but overall it seems ok. i would also like to see videos showing different difficulties. that may be the cause of some of the slow reactions i would hope. i finished watching shakes video and it is strange how easily he was driving the lane at the end. i say that because i saw other videos where players tried the same thing and were shut down. maybe a difficulty thing? if that is consistent it definitely needs to be fixed though.

1. Is THAT the "AutoMotion" option? good to know.

3. Missing more WIDE open mid range shots versus making HEAVILY contested layups. An issue I had that was echoed in one of the reviews. I think it was Game Informer. I could be wrong.

4. Indicative of rebounders watching the ball fall to the ground right in front of them. It's mentioned a few times.

6. There was video and mention of outlet passes going players ahead of the crowd, and them having to stop or slow down to catch it. Also, there were mentioned cases where the pass was thrown to player on the perimeter and he would have to move or get moved to a point out of bounds to perform the catch.

8. One example, the onball defender gets beat from the point, but the dribbler flairs to the wing because there is help in the paint. The onball defender takes a cutoff angle that takes him deeper in the paint than the helper, leaving the dribbler WIDE open for a jumper that he could have recovered to and contested the shot.

# 239 GisherJohn24 @ 11/21/13 02:34 PM

Rebouding is atrocious. There is no organic flow and the A.I. is equal to 5 high school teens playing at a local high school gym over their lunch hour. Is this an NBA game? Serioulsy though, 3-4 defensive guys pile in under the basket after a missed shot, then basically stand there and watch the ball hit the rim and hit the floor and the offense picks up the ball while they continue to stand there. Again, it's no joke about the following: You can take a 6'9-7'0 center on any team, dribble down the court, do spin moves, crossovers, etc and nobody seems to mind this? I supported Live over the years, but I can't be the defending of this game that is going on here. What else? How about the commentary being pretty bad? Players like Lebron James looking like a zombie from a left for dead game? No sliders? Are you kidding me?

# 240 jyoung @ 11/21/13 02:57 PM

I've been playing with auto motion turned on from the very beginning and it doesn't seem to make a whole lot of difference.

There's still a lot of standing around off the ball on both ends of the court.

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