PlayStation 3
Released in 2009 by EA Sports
Grade: C-
This game is style over substance. Who needs a gazillion features when the action is sticky and slippery in all the wrong places?
Where it falls in the series
This game is notable for being the last EA basketball game before they gave up … the first time they gave up. It’s the third on PS3 (and somehow the fifth on Xbox 360). Live returned for 14, 15, and 16, then no-showed again for 17. EA released Live 18 for PS4 and Xbox One, trying to compete with 2K by lowering the price from $60 to $40.
Praises and gripes
Like most basketball sims throughout the years, this doesn’t feel enough like basketball. Controlling your players is a breeze one second and a headache the next. You’re often “stuck in an animation,” doing things you didn’t quite intend to do. The game awkwardly stitches together movements, trying to make the action look good, instead of feel good.
Even worse is this game’s woeful attempt at recreating genuine basketball plays. Aside from a decent pick and roll, the plays aren’t fluid, clear or effective. You feel like you’re running them just to get your team moving around a bit.
The dribble moves aren’t easy to use. Blocking shots requires an overly precise sense of where your player is positioned. It’s easy to pass to the wrong guy. This game just has a lot going against it.
Meanwhile, this game has a lot of pizzazz. The menus are pretty, the shootaround screen is cool, the commentary is fancy, the baseline camera has a useless swiveling behavior, and the game boasts about its “Team DNA” feature, which includes elaborate charts that show team tendencies. It’s all pointless with gameplay this messed up.
It’s odd, because this came out in the same season as EA’s NCAA Basketball 10, a flawed but very fun basketball game, which has rich basketball logic and responsive controls. NBA Live 09 also has easier control and slightly more fluid action.