EA chose to release NBA Live 14 to compete with NBA 2K14. This is a bad idea as the game is nowhere to the level of what 2K Sports have done with their games.
EA canceled NBA Elite 11 and NBA Live 13 because they were not up to par. EA has not made a basketball game for three years, but they finally thought they struck “gold” with NBA Live 14. The game has been released for the PS4 and Xbox One only and was expected to be a triumphant return. Sadly though, the game is horrible and even worse than I had ever imagined.
I always wanted to play NBA Live 14 just to see how bad it really was. I’ve read online reviews and seen Youtube videos, but I wanted to experience the horror myself. I gotta say after briefly playing the game, it turned out worse than I expected it to be.
This is one of the few times in my life that my expectations were low for something, but it turned out to be worse than that. The only other time this has happened was my low expectations for WrestleMania 27. I anticipated that PPV to suck, but it exceeded even “suck” level. NBA Live 14 is on the same level of “worse than suck” as WrestleMania 27.
Let’s start off by describing how atrocious the graphics are. For a PS4 and Xbox One title, you expect the game to look really realistic. I played NBA 2K14 on the PS4 and was amazed at its visuals. NBA Live 14 however looks more like an average looking PS3 game at best. The players all look like plastic dolls and everything just looks so “last-gen”.
As bad as the game looks, the animation is even worse. The players all move very stiffly and everything looks false. I doubt the game was motion-captured because players’ movements appear very robotic. Even when I’m “sprinting”, it just looks as if players are just walking instead. Please, don’t get me started on how players shoot and block in this game. It’s just horrendous thinking about it.
Some people might say graphics and animations aren’t everything as it’s the gameplay that counts. Well, NBA Live 14 fails miserably in the gameplay department too. It’s so hard to make a single bucket in this game. No matter how hard I tried, the ball would rarely go inside the hoop. I played a 20 minute game and only scored 20 points! It doesn’t matter where you shoot or what player you use, it’s hard to just get a point on the board…
Not to mention the game is a step backwards for the NBA Live series as a whole. I used to enjoy the “Slam Dunk” contest and “All Star Weekend” modes. Well, NBA Live 14 doesn’t feature them at all. I know NBA 2K14 doesn’t feature them either, but at least the actual gameplay is good. Hopefully these modes will come back in NBA Live 15 and NBA 2K15.
To end my rant, just don’t buy this game at all. I cannot believe NBA Live 14 is priced $10 more than NBA 2K14 here in New Zealand. I would even go as far as saying this game isn’t even worth renting either. Even if you were a fan of the previous NBA Live games, NBA Live 14 is nothing like the older games. I still own NBA Live 06 on PS2, and even that has got better visuals and gameplay. NBA Live 14 is “beyond-suck” level and I’d advise anyone to stay away from the game at all costs. If you a basketball fan, just stick with the NBA 2K series for the rest of your life.
