NBA Live 16: Expert Reviews from Around the Web

Most seem to agree that NBA Live 16 is a step in the right direction for the franchise, but it doesn't have the depth required to contend with the best sports video games on the market—namely its chief competition NBA 2K16. 

Bryan Wiedey of Sporting News scored it a three out of five. He wrote: "NBA Live 16 is a fun game to play. That may in itself be an achievement for the series. However it has considerable deficiencies and a disappointing feature set that simply doesn’t measure up to the other major sports gaming franchises."

Wiedey pointed to NBA Live 16's shot meter as the best feature in the game. There's now a meter that looks like a thermometer used to gauge the proper release point for a jump shot. When you shoot from the outside, you'll see a percentage meter that tells you the chances each attempt has to be successful.

The percentage is impacted by the position on the floor, the proximity of the defender and, of course, the shooter's ability to make a shot from that range.

Perhaps the most flattering review of the game came from Phillip Martinez of iDigital Times. Martinez scored the game a four out of five. Despite the fact that the Rising Stars mode was virtually untouched—with the exception of the GameFace HD face-scanning edition—Martinez was very impressed.

He wrote: 

"

Rising Star is the creme of the crop in NBA Live 16. This returning mode puts the player in the game as you become a highly touted rookie and eventual NBA Champion.

GameFaceHD allows for players to scan their faces into NBA Live 16 and I was definitely impressed with how it worked. While getting your head in the right position to get a facial scan can be a pain, I had no problem getting my desired likeness on the first try.

"

EA Sports took its face-scanning process to the mobile world as opposed to depending on the PlayStation 4 camera or the Xbox One Kinect to capture gamers' faces. It might have been a smart idea considering the issues NBA 2K15 had with its face scanning last year.

The lowest-rated review I've seen on NBA Live 16 came from Chad Goodmurphy of We Got This Covered. He scored it a 2.5 out of five. Goodmurphy took exception to the game's graphics—among other things. He wrote:

"

From one net to another, NBA Live 16 struggles with fluidity. Its graphics are flashy, its players get appropriately sweaty and its arenas look quite lifelike, but it plays as if it’s stuck in limbo. That, and a step behind. The best word I can think to use while describing Live’s gameplay is “clunky.” It’s simply not as fluid or user-friendly as other major sports games, many of which come from the same company.

"

No matter how good the gameplay, gamers will still usually cry foul when the graphics of a game aren't up to par. For Goodmurphy, that was the case in NBA Live 16. It seems that element caused the score to plummet in his eyes.

NBA Live 16 officially released in stores on Tuesday. These reviews can serve as a guide of sorts, but ultimately, you'll need to play the game yourself to know if you'll like it. The free demo is still available for download for those who aren't sure.

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