Kevin26385

NBA Live 15 is a lot more enjoyable than NBA Live 14, but NBA Live 15 stills fall short in a lot of categories. The team clearly focused on graphics and cleaning up the gameplay. Unfortunately, the game modes are lacking depth because of this. Gameplay I am really enjoying the gameplay experience with Live the more I play it. However, this is from a casual basketball gamer perspective. I don't think Live better represents basketball than 2K, but I do enjoy playing Live more which is what gaming is all about. I am enjoying the ball handling and how fluid the controls are when setting up a play or setting up an opponent to blow right past them. I love having feedback every time I shoot the ball so I know how to adjust depending on which player I am controlling. I do feel like the post game needs work. I feel like the defenders in the post don't have any urgency and just wait too long to react to the offensive player. Graphics The most noticeable upgrade right from the start is the graphics. All of the marquee players have face scans and their body builds have been adjusted. Hopefully EA can continue improving in this field and eventually update the game so even the players deep on the bench get the same treatment as the marquee athletes. I have noticed a decent amount of clipping issues. I have seen hands go through bodies and hands go through the backboard. Presentation ESPN is back which is great, but nothing about the presentation excites me anymore aside from the camera angles and crowd noise. The broadcasters are rather boring and the only time they get excited is when they yell BANG after a three pointer. The highlights presented by Rose are great in theory, but the camera angles used are too far away. I will say that I am loving the official ESPN camera which changes based on what arena you are playing in. Also, the crowd is great. They will stand up and go nuts if you hit a clutch three or be totally silent if you are getting blown out on your home court. Game Modes Live Ultimate Team Honestly, I am worn out on these modes and LUT doesn't bring anything new to the table to make me want to invest my time. Big Moments I am a huge fan of Big Moments. Anytime you can relive a situation that happened the night before in the real NBA is a great experience to have in a video game. Online I played a couple of games online and they went smooth overall. I noticed some slight slowdown in some areas, but nothing that ruins the experience or hurts your shot mechanics. Rising Star This mode needs to have a lot done to it to make it an enjoyable experience. The only customization options that are impressive is the shoe selection. You can only choose from 20 or so faces and the lack of hair color/facial features/game face hurt the overall experience since you can't come close to replicating yourself in the game. Not to mention that nothing special really happens in the mode. It's really bare bones for the second year in a row. Overall I gave NBA Live 14 a 5 and I am giving NBA Live 15 a 7. I truly think this game is fun on the court from a casual perspective and EA just needs to continue working on the game modes and tuning gameplay/graphics to get closer to a complete product. Also, online team play missing again is really not acceptable. I think a lot more people would give this game a chance if they could hop on with 4 buddies and challenge 5 other real opponents.

NBA Live 14 is a disappointment coming from an NBA Live 10 fan. The best part of the game is clearly the dribble mechanics. You can tell that the developers spent a lot of time in that area to build a solid foundation. However, passing and rebounding is frustrating. Passing is not as fluid as it should be and it makes fast breaks in the game almost impossible to pull off. User/AI rebounding is difficult. Some plays don't even jump when you hit the "Y" button and not many of the AI box out. NBA Live 14 does have a lot of nice features with dynasty mode, Ultimate Team mode and NBA Live seasons. However, online play was not as fluid as I expected after playing other EA SPORTS games like Madden and Need for Speed on Xbox One. I played a couple of games that were laggy and threw off the shooting mechanics. Also, I was very disappointing that Online Team Play was left out of this years game. I hope that makes a return in Live 15. Overall, the game isn't as enjoyable as I thought it would be. However, the developers did say they have the ability to patch in new animations and tweak the graphics with patches. I am interested to see how the game progresses and improves down the line.

I haven't played the Need for Speed series since my childhood, but Rivals has made me a fan again. It is hard to beat an arcade racer where you are either driving away from the cops or pursuing speeding vehicles and trying to put them against the wall. The best aspect of the game is actually after the chase sequence is over with when you have to "bank" your credits by visiting the nearest command post or hideout location. This feature really puts pressure on you as a gamer when you try to decide if enough is enough or if you want to go back out there and risk losing all of your points. My only issue so far is the multiplayer experience. It runs very well, but it is difficult to find your friends with a map so large. I know they are going for seamless multiplayer, but I would rather set up matches with my friends to make it easier. However, a lot of fun is still to be had while jumping online. It is great to have 3 v 3 against friends and race through the streets going 150 mph+

I played a decent amount of Madden 25 on Xbox 360 and enjoyed the overall experience. Madden 25 on Xbox One is a great start on next-gen consoles and is an improvement on the 360 version. The line play is the biggest difference in my opinion. Running through holes created by your offensive lineman is an enjoyable experience as you can see them actually work hard. Previously, offensive/defensive lineman lacked tenacity and technique. Go into the instant replay mode on next-gen Madden and just watch the **** is the real deal. I still feel interceptions need to happen more often. There are way too many dropped interceptions by the secondary in the game. However, I have not messed around with the sliders to tweak that part of the gameplay. Another great addition is seamless online play. I think this might have to do with a combination of better servers and 60 FPS. I have already played 10+ online games without any lag. I didn't have too many issues with the 360 version. However, there was always slight lag that would make it very difficult to kick full strength or make a tackle in the open field. This is now fixed and creates a great experience online. I purchased Madden 06 on Xbox 360 eight years ago and it was a disaster. I am really excited to see where this series goes because it is off to such a great start.

Madden NFL 25 plays a solid game of football. The biggest improvement on the field is the tuned Infinity Engine. The engine plagued Madden NFL 13 with awkward animations after almost every play. There are still some instances of the Infinity Engine acting up in the game. However, it is not nearly as noticeable this year and makes the game experience more authentic. The other big addition to gameplay was the introduction of the precision modifier. I am a fan of simulation football and authentic gameplay. For the most part, this feature goes away from things you will see on the football field on Sundays. The spin move and jump move makes the experience feel like an arcade game. Not very many NFL players can execute a perfect spin move or leap over a defender. Here is a quick list of the other negatives I came across while playing the game: 1) Defenders can dive too far and trip up ball carriers. This often causes an unrealistic experience as fast quarterbacks like RGIII will be caught from behind by a leaping defensive lineman. 2) There are instances where I feel like the user has no control. I have hit the catch/interception button on numerous occasions to see the player I was controlling not react. 3) I didn't find Skills Trainer particularly helpful. Important note: I have been playing the Madden NFL series since I was in grade school so this mode was probably not targeted towards gamers like myself. Even with the negatives I mentioned above, Madden NFL 25 still plays a fun game of football. There are some issues that need to get fixed, but I will be playing this game until the next gen version releases in November.

I have been playing the NCAA Football series since my childhood. I haven't had this much fun with the game since the PS2/Xbox days. This is by far, the best NCAA Football game of this generation. The biggest and best change is the addition of the infinity engine in NCAA Football 14. The game feels less "scripted" and allows the user to have full control of their team. Other big additions for me include authenticity and improvements in the computer AI. Navy, Army, Oregon and other option heavy schools actually play like their real life counterparts. Also, the improvements in computer AI are great to see. I always play on All-American and I am struggling when I face a top tier team with a lower ranked team...which is how it should be! Finally, Ultimate Team made its debut in NCAA Football 14! This is an awesome mode and I can't wait to keep developing my team by playing solo challenges and games against real life opponents online.