You might have forgotten about NBA Live, the premier basketball simulation game in the land during the days of PlayStation 1 and 2. By 2010, the NBA2K series had made leaps and bounds in closing the gap between the two, and EA Sports decided to change developers and retool their stagnant franchise. They took some time off to do so.
Then NBA Live 13 was cancelled, with EA admitting that the game’s quality wasn’t up to par. They promised that the next iteration of the series would be “great.”
Well, here’s their version of great, compared to what we’re seeing for 2K14:
LeBron.
#NBALIVE14 vs #NBA2K14 pic.twitter.com/GSY3EWHh0i
— The NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) November 20, 2013
Just go home, NBA Live. RT @sharapovasthigh: RT @pastapadre: Derrick Rose w/ Bulls Christmas jersey in NBA Live 14 pic.twitter.com/8vTGdReayP
— Caleb Nordgren (@chisportsguy41) November 20, 2013
y’all see what nba live 14 looks like? filthy pic.twitter.com/xer6BaxpcD
— zeek (@zeek) November 20, 2013
(At least that ESPN scoreboard on the bottom looks life-like.)
Not only does the game look bad, but according to IGN, it plays poorly as well: “For an experience built around the basketball itself and the physics that power it, the players handling said rock feel sluggish — as if these ballers only do what you want well after you tell them to.” The words “poopy presentation” and “underneath the garbage heap of problems” are also used. Their final verdict:
NBA Live’s flaccid return is made all the more disappointing because we waited three years for it. After all that time, NBA Live 14 in no way advances the basketball sim genre and, worse, leaves little to be optimistic about for next year. Here’s hoping EA figures something out, otherwise this series’ comeback is going to be short-lived.
Finally, the game just came out yesterday, three weeks after the season started. Imagine not showing up for your kids’ birthday party three years in a row, and when you do, you come late, bringing a cake made out of rotted lettuce. Meanwhile, the stepdad is LeBron. And he brought a 24/7 DJ.
Sorry, NBA Live. I liked you once, when you were, you know, good. But it the cutthroat world of video games, there can only be room for one good basketball sim, and it looks like you aren’t it.
[Extra Mustard]