NBA Live 16: Release Date, Top Player Ratings, New Features, Preview and More

Brian MaziqueSep 24, 2015

It's been a rough week for EA Sports' NBA Live 16. A little over a week after the release of its robust demo on September 15, the game took a beating online as fans found odd glitches and some inaccurate player renders. That wasn't ideal considering the full release is scheduled to hit stores for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on September 29.

These issues unfortunately took attention away from the fact that the Live Pro-Am game mode was actually pretty fun to play. This tweet and attached link breaks down everything included in the demo:

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It's pretty clear, NBA Live 16 won't deliver anywhere near the depth that NBA 2K16 will bring to its fans. There's been no information about major improvements to Ultimate Team, franchise mode or Rising Stars—beyond how it loosely impacts the Live Pro-Am feature.

Still, there's hope that Live Pro-Am can be the game's saving grace.

For those who aren't aware of what Live Pro-Am is, here's a brief description of the mode: It's much like NBA 2K15's MyPark feature that allows gamers to create a photorealistic version of themselves to take online to play with and against other gamers in five-on-five gameplay.

Instead of using the Xbox One and PlayStation 4's camera peripherals to scan your face as NBA 2K15 did, Live allows gamers to use their mobile device and GameFace HD app to capture and transfer the render to the game. The app went live just before the demo.

Here's my render:

image from NBA Live 16

Once you've captured yourself through the GameFace HD app, there's a good amount of customization available, though you can't adjust skin tones.

The demo is offering fans the chance to not only outfit their players with gear and tattoos, but to also level up their attributes. All of the changes will translate to the retail copy.

Live Pro-Am consists of two modes: Live Run and Summer Circuit. Live Run is the previously detailed users-versus-users action; Summer Circuit is co-op.

You team with friends online to take on NBA players in a summer-league environment. Fans love co-op play, so if the servers are working properly, this could help gamers look past what looks to be a lack of new features.

Top Player Ratings

Oklahoma City Thunder star and Live 16 cover athlete Russell Westbrook is tied for eighth in overall ratings. He, Golden State Warriors star and reigning MVP Steph Curry, the San Antonio Spurs' LaMarcus Aldridge and Sacramento Kings' center DeMarcus Cousins are rated a 94 overall.

You can see the ratings for every player in this video from DLloydTV:

To no one's surprise, the Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James is the top-rated small forward and player in the game with a 97 overall. The Los Angeles Clippers' Chris Paul and Blake Griffin are the highest-rated players at point guard and power forward, respectively—both players are rated a 95 overall.

New Orleans Pelicans star Anthony Davis is tied with Griffin.

The top-rated center is the Memphis Grizzlies' Marc Gasol, while the best shooting guard is the Houston Rockets' James Harden. Both men also have 95 overall ratings. Here's a list of all the top players in the game: