After a few months, what do you think of NBA Live 2002, also NBA 2k2

I was impressed, after all of the negative comments I'd heard, at how well they captured the little things compared to last year. In the same way that I see Cat shoot and immediately know it's Cat, I see him shoot in the game and know it's him.

I also think it's very difficult to correctly capture basketball for a game. Lots of AI work.

 

I wonder how much I'd get trading in Live 2002...

 

I've played NBA Live 2002. The game was decent but there is a great deal of room for improvement.
I was frustrated that they took so many camera angles out of the game. There are no views from the sideline that allow you to see most of the frontcourt, so I normally couldn't even see where I was passing the ball to.
I also don't like the fact that they call so many fouls. And the game is really slow. The game flows well, but whenever I try to go to the menu during a game, it takes like 20 seconds to do anything.
Finally, I'd like to know if anyone else had this problem: whenever one of my really good players gets in foul trouble (let's say his third of the first half) and I try to stop the game to take him out, the other team inbounds the ball before I can do that and my player often gets called for another foul even if he doesn't do anything. (I got called for a lot of offensive fouls in this situation)

 

As far as NBA 2K2 -- yes, Dream does wear the gold and red

I *LOVE* this game -- it rocks. The things that suck about it are:

I'm having a difficult time making it a challenge to win anymore -- I steamroll most teams (with the Rocks) by 20 or more on the highest level.

It's easy to push someone out of bounds and get the ball.

Sometimes your players do dumb things, like stand in the back court for no reason, and when you pass it to him, it turns out he's still under the other team's basket, and you get a backcourt violation.

The franchise mode sucks IMO.

You make shots too easily -- I routinely shoot about 70% at least, and the AI shoots about 50%

But,

This game is just plain fun!

The faces on the players are PERFECTLY DONE.

Easy to use crossover, spin move, and post up with numerous shots.

I've never seen this in any other game (I must not've paid attention, or maybe it's just not there), but they recreated each stadium. Not just the court, but the seats and exits, rafters, etc. are just like in the real stadiums.

The announcers are actually pretty good -- they screw up like any other game, but they're not bad at all.

Gameplay is just LOADS of fun.

Graphics are good for a console sports game. I wish this were ported onto PC -- I'd love to see it at 1600x1200

All in all, I really, really like NBA2K2. It's insanely addictive, and the gameplay is arguably the best I've seen in a basketball game.

 

I totally agree. Maybe they should consider a widescreen format.

 

Basketball games have been out as long as football games, and I see no reason why the basketball games should be inferior to the football games. Both games have very similar issues, but football seems to have worked out the game play. All of us can see the problems with the basketball gameplay. Someone just needs to sit down and do some serious programing.

 

'98 seems to be the last really good version.

 

NBA 2k2 was good for the first few months, but now it is ridiculously easy. I picked the twelve lowest rated players in the league, put them on a created team, and still won the championship.

The AI is extremely annoying. Players rarely shoot until there is at least five seconds on the shot clock. Even if I leave good three-point shooters like Reggie Miller or Steve Smith WIDE open, they never shoot until the clock runs down. This has been a problem with all three installments in the series.

Another little problem I have- the announcers won't say the names of at least 30 percent of the players in the game. Rasheed Wallace, Ben Wallace, Terence Morris, and others are always introduced and called by their numbers.

When Rasheed dunks the ball, I hear: "Thirty, with the jam."

That may seem minor, but it really takes away from the experience.

The crowd sound effects are also poorly done. If a road player makes more than three shots in a game, the crowd boos on every subsequent shot. Every single shot brings on a "boo" sound effect from the crowd. After a while, I have to put the game on mute. There's also a delayed cheer following a goal-tending call.

Also, the crowd cheers at inappropriate moments, like when a player on the road team is fouled, but misses the shot. Or when the home team makes a shot to cut the lead to 35.

Finally, the offense is too inconsistent. Often players will drill ten jumpers in row, and then miss an uncontested layup.


The game isn't all bad. The effects are bad, and it can be quite pleasurable to play when your team gets on a roll. It just gets boring after a few months of play, because it is too damn easy to win.

 

Yeah, I'm still looking for a way to make it a challenge again -- but I find it to be a really fun multiplayer game, and the single-player is entertaining.

Oh, another problem with the game is that the crowd LOOKS horrible. There are these guys who are LITERALLY green. They look like they have dysentary or something like that . . .

 

The problem with the basketball and football comparison is that basketball is free flowing and real time, while Football is turn based.

Football pauses to give you time to think, while basketball is on the fly.

The real issue is that the court is not wide enough, and the figures cover too much space.

Basketball and Soccer are a more accurate comparison, and the soccer games are the best sports games on the market.

I think that they should alter the perspective of the basketball games and make the court bigger, this would allow more space for the players, and passing etc.

Just my .02

DaDakota

 

Athough, Hockey games do extrmely well, depite having a playing area not much bigger than basketball. Really, NBA2K2 did a good job of gameplay, but it's just too easy, and you make shots too easily. I think the key is to have a simple method of doing a wide variety of things (like crossovers, post-up, spin moves, hook shots, etc.).

 

The NBA Live series to me, is just the same. I mean the gameplay and even some of the graphics have been the same since the Super NES days (they adapted the "Live" name after 95 with the ORena was on the cover when the Rocks swept the Magic , before it was usually called "Bulls vs. Blazers", "Bulls vs. Lakers", and "NBA Showdown".) . I am REALLY tempted to buy Live 2002 for XBox just because Franchise is on the cover but NBA 2K2 is just a better overall game. I own the Dreamcast version and is probably the best basketball game ever released.

One thing I would like to see in Live is what they do in Madden where you can play champioship teams in the past. In Madden u can play the early ninties Cowboys when they were good. It would be cool if we can play the '94 and '95 Rocks teams.

Dream is in the game as a Rocket under the 80's West Team.

The only thing is that, I seem to play more street ball than the actual simulation mode. The street ball mode is addictive and fun as hell. I made my own team and usually play 3 on 3 with McGrady, Franchise, and Griffin.

I am eager to see Microsoft's attempt at NBA Simulation with Inside Drive 2002 for XBox with Vince Carter on the cover.

 

Dumb question...what system does the game run on?

 

Does the rebounding still suck on Live?

 

The biggest problem I had playing NBA Live 2002 was how overrated some of the players were. Whenever I played the Lakers, Shaq just could not miss, no matter where he shot from. And don't even get me started on Austin Croshere (why the hell do they keep calling him Austin Powers?).

 

Which game, NBA LIVE 2002? It is on PlayStation, PS2, and Xbox I believe.

 

The weak defense makes a lot of players look overrated. Example Jahidi White. I played against a guy who kept passing it to White whenever I came over to support the cpu man covering Jordan. White is unstoppable in the paint. At a certain point I was like F it and dared him to use White. Needless to say I got beat.

 

I could've sworn I heard that a couple of times when I played the Pacers, but I shrugged it off because the volume was low, and I didn't think the game could be that stupid. Apparently it is!

The two main problems I have are these:

1. Outside shooting. If you aren't using a great shooter, forget about it. Even if you're left open, it's extremely difficult to make outside shots on 2002. It was fine on 2001, and I'm not sure what the deal is this year.

2. Intelligence by my own players. Why can't they stay put and play a two man game? Usually, I dump it down low, wait for the double team, and kick it out. I often draw the double team; however, when I look for my teammate, he won't stay outside. Actually, for some odd reason, he follows the defender into the lane, gets it all clogged, and usually the ball gets stolen away.

 

Check out this screen shot from NBA Inside Drive 2002



What I am amazed at is the detail of the stadium. Check out the far left background, you can see the Red and Gold banner for Midwest Division and Conference Champions. Its a minor detail but very cool!