NBA Live 07

EA Sports

3.5 stars out of 5

For every New York Knicks fan on the Syracuse University campus that has some gripe with Isaiah Thomas – and there are many – NBA Live 07 provides a chance to top him.

Of all the improvements and enhancements in this year’s version of EA Sports’ NBA video game, the deeper dynasty mode is the strongest. To start off, gamers have the opportunity to undo last June’s draft. So if you think the Portland Trailblazers made a mistake by passing on Adam Morrison, or if you can’t stand the fact that David Stern announced ‘Renaldo Balkman’ for the New York Knicks, you can start at ground zero and fix it.

But the newly-created team chemistry and playing time distribution adds intrigue, as does the advanced scouting and overseeing of general manager’s administrative staff. EA Sports uses ESPN’s integration well, both with a bottom line ticker and an ongoing mock draft and rumor central. That helps in the off-season come draft time and free agent period.

All the new dynasty gadgets are only applicable, though, for those gamers willing to go through day-by-day or week-by-week in the fictitious NBA season. For those that simply like to simulate the season until the off-season, your fake e-mail box will begin to pile up with assistants looking for their next task.

If you play the games, you’ll realize NBA Live 07 continues to try to jazz up the gameplay – perhaps a bit too much. It features Total Freestyle Control, which allows for player-specific moves. But in order to master it, one must become an advanced NBA Live gamer. If you’re willing to take that time, it could pay dividends. If not, it’s just an odd-looking icon.

The same could be said about features like The X-Factor – a tribute to the Robert Horry’s of the world, the underappreciated player who always seems to hit the big shot or make the clutch play; Intensity, in which players become more alert when the game becomes tight; Momentum, which is the old college football/basketball video game feature of the game swinging one way or the other when on key runs; and Touch Passing, which is basically being able to pass like Jason Kidd.

All these features must be neat for someone who is going to devote the time to learning them, but for the average gamer who wants to settle the Pistons vs. Bulls debate, it might be tough to learn.

Where NBA Live 07 is particularly impressive is with the other game modes, like the Dynasty mode and All-Star Weekend. The latter is the series of events in Las Vegas in February (which is a whole other story). But the 3-point shootout and Slam Dunk Contest are as fun to play as they are to watch. Plus, gamers can use legendary players, so they can have Larry Bird take on Dirk Nowitzki in the 3-point shootout or Michael Jordan face LeBron James in the dunk contest.

Unfortunately, those legendary players aren’t available in a Dynasty mode, meaning those fictitious Knicks GMs are out of luck.

Published on October 15, 2006 at 12:00 pm