NBA Live 15: Expert Reviews, Player Comments, Team Ratings and More
Basketball fans and video game enthusiasts alike are excited about Tuesday's release of EA Sports' NBA Live 15.
The competition between the NBA Live series and the NBA 2K games has been intense, but EA Sports has amped up the battle with one of the best editions to date. While the game is only available on Xbox One and PlayStation 4, the graphics and gameplay improvements make this a must-own release.
Here are the team ratings, expert reviews and player comments for NBA Live 15.
| 1 | Cleveland Cavaliers | San Antonio Spurs |
| 2 | Chicago Bulls | Los Angeles Clippers |
| 3 | Washington Wizards | Oklahoma City Thunder |
| 4 | Atlanta Hawks | Golden State Warriors |
| 5 | Charlotte Hornets | Portland Trail Blazers |
| 6 | Toronto Raptors | Dallas Mavericks |
| 7 | Miami Heat | Memphis Grizzlies |
| 8 | New York Knicks | Houston Rockets |
| 9 | Brooklyn Nets | Phoenix Suns |
| 10 | Detroit Pistons | New Orleans Pelicans |
| 11 | Indiana Pacers | Los Angeles Lakers |
| 12 | Milwaukee Bucks | Sacramento Kings |
| 13 | Boston Celtics | Denver Nuggets |
| 14 | Orlando Magic | Minnesota Timberwolves |
| 15 | Philadelphia 76ers | Utah Jazz |
Expert Reviews
Many gamers who purchased NBA Live 14 were disappointed by some of the aspects of the game, but EA Sports went back to the drawing board and decided to focus solely on the next-generation consoles.
With wholesale changes to the graphics and the basic gameplay, fans of basketball games will find more joy in this year's upgraded version of the series. Robert Kollars of Operation Sports talked about the visual improvements:
"Some of the biggest improvements you will notice right away is in the graphics and animations department. NBA Live 14 suffered horribly from the lack of contextual animations, and the flow of the game suffered because of it. In Live 15, the amount of newer animations is noticeably better from the minute you fire the game up. That's not to say Live 15 is perfect in that department, because it's not. Users will still notice a lack of proper animations in the paint, and some of the ones that are there are just flat out - well, wonky looking.
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The fact that EA Sports is focusing solely on the next-gen systems may rub some gamers with older consoles the wrong way, but it's the smart plan so that the company doesn't spread itself too thin as it continues to make an impact in the basketball game market.
One of the biggest complaints last year was the gameplay and how hard it was to control the players effectively. With a revamped system on offense and defense, NBA Live 15 plays much better than last year's release.
As Phillip Martinez of iDigitalTimes pointed out, though, the gameplay may actually be too easy now:
"While playing NBA Live 15, I found the offense to be a little too easy to control. You can easily drive to the hoop on every possession and shots are rarely contested by the AI.
But if you are controlling a player and plan to defend, you'll have a hard time. Stealing seems random, with most of the time you try to swipe the ball resulting in a reach-in foul. Blocking is all about anticipation as the mechanics won't allow for quick reactions. It got frustrating when my opponent constantly threw up alley oops and no matter where he threw it from -- one case, Kevin Love hooking an alley from the deep wing -- someone would come in and dunk.
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Every game has its issues, but it's clear from the very minor complaints that this year's edition of the NBA Live series is a major improvement over last year's game. Basketball fans think of the NBA 2K series when talking about video games, but EA Sports is forcing its way into the conversation.
Gamers should give NBA Live 15 a chance to prove them wrong.
Player Comments
While video game experts and fans alike are talking about the release of NBA Live 15, players around the NBA are also getting in the mix. The player featured heaviest during the buildup for this game was cover athlete Damian Lillard.
Lillard told Brett Molina of USA Today about his experience during the motion-capture sessions for the game.
"It was a fun experience," Lillard said. "I was in the arena going through my crossovers, my moves and my shots. The entire time I was doing it, I can see on the big screen the character doing every single thing that I did."
Fans of the NBA Live series enjoy seeing talented players like Lillard adorn the front cover, and his genuine excitement over the honor has helped many fans who were on the fence about his game make the commitment.
If the cover athlete is excited, the gamers at home will be pumped as well.
One of the best parts of each basketball game is the ratings and the friendly competition it sparks among teammates. When asked about player ratings, Washington Wizards star John Wall told John Gaudiosi of Fortune.com:
"It's fun. It's just like every year you want to see if your status went up. You might not have been as good last year. You think you should have been better. So that gives you more motivation to work out in the summer time to try to improve and get your status bigger and better, so when you play the video game you can be like your real self.
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Fans of video games love hearing about how the top athletes in the sport enjoy the basketball games just like they do. Any time the players can relate to the fans who make the NBA possible, it's a connection that builds the bond between the league and its supporters.
With Wall and Lillard playing the new NBA Live 15, even the most jaded gamers should give the latest release a try.
*Stats and info via EASports.com.
