PlayStation 4 Critic Reviews

NBA Live 19 fully expands on its The One mode while adding a little more weight and momentum to its actual gameplay. While its in-game presentation and distinct style of gameplay might turn off players looking for a strict basketball sim, NBA Live 19 consistently rewards players for actually playing without trying to gouge them for more money.

NBA Live 19 finally steps out of the shadows of the competition and makes a name for itself as the best "basketball" game on the market, as opposed to the best "NBA" game.

NBA Live 19 continues to trend in the correct direction in terms of overall success. The product on the court plays a fun and excellent game of basketball thanks to Real Player Motion. It might not be as detailed and sim-focused as NBA 2K, but it offers all the options needed to compete. In terms of career modes, nothing touches The One. Varying ways to make your player better while playing online with or against other players is fun. It’s also not behind a micro-transaction wall, either. The One, however, is still where the money is and inevitably is leaving the actual NBA modes an afterthought. Players still want an innovative Franchise Mode.

Another step forward for NBA Live, which although still far from the historical rival NBA 2K, manages to reach good levels with this new episode.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked playing NBA Live 19. The core basketball game and its various modes offer plenty of chances to have a fun basketball experience. The new animation system makes action on the court look and act more realistic than ever, and a robust training mode gives plenty of opportunity to improve. Unfortunately, lifeless, canned commentary and little in the way of capturing the feel of basketball culture holds NBA Live 19 back. In the world of basketball games, it’s the Eastern Conference to 2K’s Western Conference – good, but at the end of the season, the odds are heavily in the opponent’s favor.

NBA Live 19 is another step forward on the path to redemption for this franchise. NBA 2K may still be too far, but this game has now its own identity.

There are many things to appreciate in this year’s installment of NBA Live. The addition of mixed gender rosters, female created players, the introduction of Court Battles, and the new commentary team all help the game keep pace with their previous improvements. It is not going to raise the quality bar anytime soon, but they’ve managed to deliver an authentic NBA experience. If you’re looking for a solid alternative to 2K’s offering, look no further.

Electronic Arts has managed to deliver yet another solid entry to the NBA Live franchise. Despite the fact that there are still some rough edges and that the game certainly has room to grow, the gameplay has been refined and ‘The One’ is even better than it was before. It may not be on par with other elite sports games, but NBA Live 19 still is a good and fun basketball game.

As expected, NBA Live 19 it's a fairly interesting basket sim with an arcade tuning thrown in it. The CPU AI isn't perfect by any means, but in spite of that it's a fine basketball game.

We hoped for a step forward, but what we found is a Harden's step back for EA's franchise. As with last year's game, it's not a bad basketball game, but not good enough considering the competition in NBA 2K. A lack of improvements is its primary weakness, being a too iterative offering.