NBA Live 2000

With each iteration of NBA Live, the artists and programmers at Electronic Arts bring us closer to the heart of what is, in my humble opinion, the most dynamic professional sports league on the planet. Saying that, I'd be the first to admit that pro-basketball would be nothing without its personalities.

The pros in the game today are some of the world's most adored celebrities. Because of intrusive, nay, invasive, on- and off-court camera placement, we've been given a front row seat on much more than a sporting event. Thanks to wire-cams, bucket-cams, bench-cams, locker room-cams and the usual flotilla of lenses that surround a hoops game, we can get right inside our favorite basketball players' heads. During live telecasts of games you can catch it all. You can see what the pros are saying, how much determination they have, how much they believe in themselves or disbelieve what the ref has just called.

Until last year's NBA Live '99, the videogame recreations of NBA basketball perpetually missed their collective mark by failing to deliver the personality of the game. Live '99 was the first basketball videogame to reproduce the emotion that takes place on the court. Since Live '99, and thanks to continued technological advances, things have changed forever in the world of interactive hoops. After taking a look at EA Sports' NBA Live 2000, it's not hard to imagine a world where the videogame version of basketball actually has more spark and, gulp, personality than the real thing.

A CLOSER LOOK

The athletes assembled for EA Sports' latest edition of Live now not only open and close their mouths to simulate on-court hysterics; they actually play to the camera. They also incite the crowds above in the stands. And, in the superb 1-on-1 contests, they try to rouse the "we-get-next" guys sitting at the edge of the playground court. After the 1-on-1 game, which is perhaps the most electrifying new addition to the series, the animation of a beaten b-boy moping about is worth the price of admission.

Now take the visuals, the impressive stats-packaging, the incredibly deep franchise options, the create-a-player editor, the fun gimmicks like the three point contest and the collection of all time NBA heroes (including Michael Jordan!), and of course, that killer 1-on-1 game, and throw them all away.

Now listen to what I'm about to tell you next: Live 2000's online multiplayer games actually work!

You can slap your Live disc into your suped-up system (don't even bother if you can't come to the party with a PIII and a sweet 3-D card) and plug into a game with a bunch of hoops fans anywhere in the world. Obviously, you'll want as fast a net connection as possible (my ADSL line worked great) but once you get into it, you'll never have to play solo again. This game rocks!

TELL ME HOW PRETTY

Live 2000 ought to have been illegal, it's so damn good lookin'. I had the resolution up to 1024x768, while running full textures and lighting, and I was literally falling out of my chair over how gorgeous the graphics were. The animated fans, perfectly blurred in the background on the tight zooms of pros strolling and stretching for the next quarter, actually looked like they were getting into the action. On those same close-ups, the faces of the pros had just the right amount of shading and subtlety to make you feel uneasy, particularly when they looked directly at the camera and opened their mouths in defiance. To really spook yourself, I'd suggest you throw in a picture of your own face and map it onto a custom created character--yikes! Sports games aren't supposed to look this good already, are they? The whole effect of the camera zooms creates an absolutely believable illusion of NTSC broadcast clarity. Amazing.

When the cameras are pulled back for gameplay, the visuals retain their polygonal stability but the hyper-charged colors and the high resolution detailing that a computer monitor allows actually makes the game look cartoon-like. Most importantly, though, making out all of the players and their flashy moves is easy to do. You won't be screaming, "Hey, where the heck is the ball?" The ultimate test was to stand my girlfriend in front of the computer and asked her what she thought of the visuals. She said, "Wow, they're getting a lot closer, huh?"

Now I have to preface this touching little family tale by letting you know that her usual reply to this question in the past has been, "Pfff, they've got a long way to go. Why can't they make these games look more realistic?"

With Live 2000, she's not exactly a true believer�but I am.

THAT'S NICE BUT DOES IT HAVE GAME?

Thanks to years of fine-tuning the Live engine, the pacing of 2000 is absolutely stellar. Spins, hesitations, stutters, first step moves, cross-overs, behind the back dribbles, no-look passes, alley-oop dunks--all the good stuff--are all seamlessly woven into the motion captured goodness. I don't mean to be disrespectful when I say that this is the first time since the 16-bit days of Live where your focus during a game isn't on the technology but rather on the activities of your sim-players themselves. As great as it all looks, this game is a gas to play. It just feels right.

The AI in Live is where the game sets itself apart from the other hoops titles out there. In most other games, the players off the ball are essentially EPCOT Center automatons. They stand around waiting for the ball to come within their (virtual) six-foot radius before they wake up and try to set up for a play. In Live, every player on the court is alert, watching for openings, working off of the defender, backing away from the hoop, rolling to initiate a simple give and go or prepping to set a pick for you. The computer feels like a teammate, not a pylon. Much appreciated, EA. Basketball game developers guilty of sloppy AI, pick up this disc and take note. You know who you are.

As far as control goes, I used Interact's nifty Hammerhead FX and Microsoft's shiny Sidewinder Game Pad Pro and had nary a problem. Running, gunning, sliding and slamming all came easily. I'm not one of those wankers that plays sports games with a keyboard, so I can't comment on that, sorry.

NO BOOMBOX NECESSARY

Without question, Live 2000's soundtrack is the finest the series has ever had. EA Canada's resident maestro, Traz Damji, was clever enough to bring in some big name rap and hip-hop artists to accompany his already fabulous NBA Live orchestra. Now, in addition to the sweet intro blast and the transitional music throughout the game, you'll also hear hits like Naughty by Nature's terrific, "Hip Hop Hooray," George Clinton's, "Mothership Connection Starchild" and Run-D.M.C.'s, "Don't Stop." Additionally, brand new tracks by Rahzel are also on the album, uh, game disc.

Sound effects in Live have never really been something to complain about, so I'm not going to start here. The only thing I could suggest is that it would be great if EA could work out the licensing details to throw in the pros' actual voices into the game. In Michael Jordan's 1-On-1 mode, for example, it would have been swell if the guy throwing out the taunts was actually his Airness. 'Course I know it costs money to grab the big guys and get 'em to scream into a mic but, man how much cooler would the game get if the pros didn't just meekly mouth out their angry accusations at the blind refs but actually shouted at them? Am I dreaming here? Somebody hear my prayers!

WHAT, YOU'RE STILL READING THIS?

Now's the part where I'm supposed to neatly sum up exactly what I feel about NBA Live 2000 for the PC. Big surprise. It's the best basketball videogame I've ever played. Meet you at EA's online matchmaker in an hour. You bring the Gatorade.

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