NBA 2k6 vs NBA Live 360 Review

Having played both games now extensively (well, 2k I've only played one night but about 5 or 6 games including 2 online) I have to say the bar gameplay wise is about as close as it has ever been for Live vs 2k.

If anything they are morphing into each other, the pace of 2k6 is much much faster than the pace of Live 360, in fact, I'd be compelled to say that it is closer to Live's of past where you had to turn the speed down a little bit. Overall, they really do feel so close gameplay wise that its going to be the other things that push the respective game over the top. Other things like game features, graphics, rosters, online features.

Graphics: 2k just isn't even in the same class as Live. Live's characters/player models look so far beyond 2k's that it seems like 2k is on the PS2. I played a Bucks game and the Andrew Bogut in the 2k version has one color black hair and his skin is all one color as well with not much muscle definition. I popped back in my Live and played a Bucks game and Bogs has long hair that has frosted tips :), blended skin and beautiful, errr, eyes. Overall, the player models just look like the players in 80% of the cases. Here are some pics of Dwyane Wade in Live and Dwyan-O in 2k6. Maybe not the best comparison but its all I could find!

*Sidenote, Brian Scalabrine looks nothing like his fire-crotched self in either game, a favor I think worth noting on both games packaging*

I know, I know, my online buddy (damn that sounds gay but that's what our society comes down to, buddies online with no real names but surnames) Bucfan concurs that I do notice every single difference between the two games, albeit I'm somewhat more biased to harp on 2k's weirdness when their players flex after every basket. The replays after each play in 2k are awesome, very smooth, I remember one instance where Mike James had a sweet azz no looker on a 3 on 1 fast break to Jalen Rose and it looked amazing in the replay, just really really smooth.

The smoothness of animations in 2k are a bit better than Live but that is to be expected as 2k 's engine is a few years old and Live's is about 6 months old. I like how different animations would pop up here and there and some random hijinks would happen from time to time. I can see that over a course of a 82 game season you play you'll see some pretty cool stuff.

Control wise, I just can not enjoy 2k's controls. I feel like I have no control honestly. I'm using alt B so its more like Live's controls and it seems like the right stick is a useless contraption that I keep hitting and throwing up shots accidentally :). Only did that a few times honestly, but man , I miss the freestyle, just being able to use the stick to spin, cross, go behind your back so easily and naturally, I've said it before and i'll say it now, "the single most greatest control addition to any video game is Freestyle control by Live", added in 2003.

I'm slowly getting down the controls ,but 2k needs to admit their system blows and go with what Live has, unless Live has exclusive rights to the right stick. The way they have it is completely unnatural and just downright goofy.

Online, 2k has a lot of features, including one feature that Live doesn't: A challenge opponent button! How clever! Playing Live online is a nightmare because its impossible to challenge anyone you want to play, you just have to hit quick match and hope you get connected with whomever you want, which usually isn't' a problem as there is hardly anyone online when I've been online but just enough to piss you off when I can't connect to anyone you intend to online.

My 2 games with Bucfan included a game with the Jazz vs Magic and Rockets @ Celts, and I must say, I'm pretty damn good at this game to begin with, I dismantled Bucfan (sorry Buc :) ) with the Jazz and was hammering him with the Celtics when I froze on yao's ugly mug, so I did get a disconnect online that froze up the game for some reason, damn buggy 360.

One thing I noticed online, maybe we weren't playing at the right settings, but there is absolutely no defense and the AI help defense is non existent. If your guard gets in the lane, he's hammering it home, no center comes over to slam him or put him on his back. This my friends , is where Live kills 360, I'm sorry if you don't believe it, but the non controlled players in Live far exceed what I've seen so far in 2k.

Buc and I ran a few plays to try it out and the lane is just unprotected, a major problem when that is usually where you go to score points

My review is too long, but if you read just bits and parts of it, hey, enjoy, I'm enjoying both games, 2k is easily the more polished finished game at this point and deserves all the praise it gets, its a full game.

Live is a demo at this point, but what screams out to me is the fact that Live is becoming more like 2k, 2k is more like Live, soon, we're going to have 2 legitimate choices for NBA games. If you haven't tried Live out, rent it or trade some stuff in to get it when it gets cheaper.

If I had to give scores, I'd give NBA Live a 7.5 and NBA 2k6 a 7. Nothing extremely impressive about either game other than NBA Live's amazing graphics. If I had to make a prediction I would guess that most 2k people will be jumping ship next year when a full version of Live comes out with the ESPN presentation and all the bells and whistles, nothing will be able to touch it.