EA yet again go toe to toe with 2K's NBA title, with their latest release NBA Live 10, but what improvements have they made this year and are they enough to come out as the winner in the battle of the baskets?

 

The NBA LIVE titles have been growing in their quality since the current generation of consoles were released and this years edition manages to top them all again with an amazing amount of quality gameplay and modes to keep any NBA fan happy until next year.

 

 

Fans always ask for improvements over the previous years title and EA have not disappointed. The big new mode this year is the Dynamic Season. This uses Dynamic DNA which is very cool and makes a much welcome return from last year. Every time you are on online you will receive daily stats about every player. The game will then take this into account so players who are on fire in real life will be just as good in the game. The season allows you to play the games that are taking place on that very day, allowing you to essentially right any wrongs that you felt occurred during the real game, plus you can replay ones that you may of missed.

 

The Playoff Mode also takes info from the Dynamic Season and let's you take any team on the road to the NBA finals. Finally there are the classic modes that EA have mastered over the years, the Dynasty Mode let's you pick your team and play them for the whole season, allowing you to hire and fire, organize the team roster and train for the many games in the season.

 

Online play has also been given a little spruce with an ADIDAS Live Run. Here you play in a team of five and pick your favorite player, position and clothing. This makes for some fun and very quick games as you only play to 21 with the game recording your stats for a monthly mini season. You also have the classic online leagues, team play for a full on 5vs5 online play and fantasy team games where you select your own dream players.

 

The game itself plays like a dream, with each character being very responsive to your controls, the large variety of players on court also move and react differently depending on their size and skills. The presentation of the courts is stunningly photo realistic, with each little detail of the stadium captured plus with the commentary and crowd reactions, pop this on a decent surround sound and you will feel like you are there.

 

 

There is a niggly point that needs to be addressed, just like in NBA2K10 there is an awfully large assumption that you fully understand the games rules, controls and terminology. For those of us in the UK the majority of may have played at school and we know what a lay-up and traveling is but that's about it. Basketball has always been a fun console sport but to ignore the casual gamer can be dangerous.

 

EA Sports NBA LIVE 10 is a worthy addition to console gaming with enough bells and whistles to make it standout as one of the better basketball titles on the market and it seems that EA have yet again improved on a title that needed little improving.