The last few season, the NBA Live series has been in serious decline, and EA has worked hard towards getting out of that slump with NBA Live 2010, finally giving some competition for the rival NBA 2K10, which we reviewed yesterday.

You’ll notice right away that NBA Live 2010 does improve on a few things quite drastically, like the presentation. The visuals have received an overhaul, everything from the animations to the crowd and the stadiums look great, the player models however, while improved over last year’s edition, still lack behind in detail and realism compared to NBA 2K10, but overall, it’s still a pretty game. Gameplay wise, the action is definitely more fluid, and while some animations can seem out of place, it’s still better than last year. However, it’s not about being better than last year, where NBA Live 09 was virtually the low point of the series the past few years. Instead, it’s about how the gameplay compares to the rival NBA 2K10. The Live counterpart does have a more fluid play, but the 2K version seems far more immersive, mainly due to the realistic look and feel of it. However, NBA Live 2010 does feature a lot simpler gameplay, a lot easier to get a hold of, and you’re only using one button to shoot, regardless whether it’s a dunk or layout, jump shot or hook shot. However, this too has its flaws, as your player will often do something else than you intended. If you’re looking for a short jumper, the player on screen might take a hook shot if the defender is too close to him, and thereby take a much tougher shot when a simple one would have done the job.

NBA Live 2010 once again features Dynamic DNA, which updates players stats and rating every day, based on their real life performance. This is also added to the dynamic season mode, where you can play any of the real world games on that particular day, while the rest of the games will receive the stats according to the real game results. However, as cool as that is, you can’t manage a team, you can’t control any aspects of it, nor can you use your own created player. You’re basically thrown into the game, as if it was a random exhibition. We would have loved for EA to fuse his with the regular franchise mode, which would make for a compelling experience.

Multiplayer wise, the game has the same features as last year, with the addition of “Live Run”, actually, it’s called “Adidas Live Run” (dammed be product placement), where you’re put together with 9 other players online for a match in a training gym, where each player wears slightly different clothes, just as it would be if you got together with 9 buddies at the local basketball court. While this feature is great, however, most of the time it’s utter chaos, as everyone is looking to shoot the ball and no one is passing, and everyone is rushing after the ball and rebounds. It’s like a group of unorganized 7 year-olds playing for the first time, but it’s still a lot of fun, especially if you can find a few teammates that pass the ball once in a while.

Overall, NBA Live 2010 is a noticeable improvement over last year, however, it’s still comes short in certain aspects. The gameplay, presentation and features are a little notch lower than on NBA 2K10, so if you’re in for basketball this holiday season (and the upcoming NBA season), we recommend 2K10.

The Good:
Noticeable improvement over last year
Dynamic DNA is great
Live Run mode is a lot of fun
Good multiplayer

The Bad:
Too much product placement
Occasional AI issues
Not much depth
Lacking commentary

Overall score: 7/10