NBA Live 15

NBA Live 15 returns after a few years to bring an enhanced basketball experience! This sports simulation game features all of your favorite NBA teams, including the Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons, and more. Damian Lillard from the Portland Trail Blazers marks the cover, indicating a hot season for the west coast team. It's not all just on-court play, as NBA Live 15 also has management and fantasy card modes. There are some problems with the gameplay, but this is still a fun sports title!

Main Game Features

• Realistic NBA basketball
• Stunning high-definition graphics
• New Big Moments mode

Gameplay

NBA Live 15 is a simulation of NBA basketball, containing the same rules and regulations from the 2015 – 2016 season. Unlike NBA Jam and other crazy basketball games, this is a much more realistic and true-to-life portrayal of the game. The basic rules are easy enough to understand, as two teams of five players compete to score the most points. Two points are awarded for any point scored within the arc on the court, while big three-point shots can be scored by shooting from afar. Improving over NBA Live 14, this game now has a unique shot-accuracy counter, which appears at the athlete's feet.

You'll often run directly into other players when you're gunning for the rim, showing off the game's new physics system. Players react naturally to being shoved or stepped around, adding to the realism. Game strategy has also become more realistic, as players can now call for a pick and roll, using their teammates to block oncoming defenders. The slow controls and weird animations can make it hard to do this properly, but the feature helps a lot during tight matches.

Modes of Play

There are a lot of modes to choose from in NBA Live 15, covering many different aspects of the NBA world. After completing the “Learn Live” tutorial, a good place to jump in is Rising Star mode, which has you create your own athlete and try to get drafted to the NBA. You can customize all sorts of things with your player and then choose your favorite role on the team, playing in matches and trying to increase your rank. Dynasty mode lets you manage an NBA team across a season, working on player trades, training guidelines, and more.

If you feel like a true wizard of the court, you can take your dribbling skills online and compete with other players. Head-to-Head Seasons give you the full experience of an NBA match while Best of Seven draws out the competition a bit longer. Ultimate Team is another place you can compete by collecting player cards, which you use to create the best team deck you can. An auction house has also been added to Ultimate Team, so you can buy new cards or sell ones you don't want. The coolest mode is Big Moments, which lets you play memorable moments from big NBA games, making clutch shots and winning the championship in style.

Conclusion

For the average gamer, NBA Live 15 might not be the smoothest, but it's still fun to toy around with. If you're someone who enjoys a variety of modes, including management simulation and virtual trading cards, there's more here for you to enjoy.

Pros

• Players and stadiums look real
• Decent sports commentary
• Lots of modes to choose from

Cons

• Glitchy animations
• Shots are inaccurate
• Laggy controls