Review by: Shawn Quigley

There are 4 seconds left on the clock:

Mark Price dribbles the ball past half court….

Price head fakes the first defender off….

Takes two dribbles to the three point line and shoots….

As the buzzer sounds you can hear the roar of the crowd as the ball swishes through the net….

NBA Live is EA Sports’ next installment in its NBA series of professional basketball simulations. This version has received some major enhancements since its last incarnation. EA has added full motion capture technology combined with texture-mapped polygon players to add more realism to the game. It is hard to look back at any EA Sports release that did not graphically blow away its predecessor.

After installing the game, you are treated to another one of EA’s awesome introduction movies. Although it does not add anything to the gameplay, it is still cool to watch. This version is not a Win95 only version of the game and will still allow those with DOS to run it. Once into the game, you notice the first of many face lifts that NBA Live 97 has received. The menu systems are now more on the radical side. By radical, I mean that the menus are not your everyday menus but are rich in color and graphics. From the main menu you will have choices to either go right in and play an exhibition game, start a season, view both player and team stats, set the difficulty levels, change rules, do transactions, or set all your graphics options.

The statistical section of NBA Live 97 is, as always, very thorough. All stats and rosters that ship with the game are current up to September 25, 1996 and can be accessed through “Stats Central.” You can compare players or compare team statistics and there even are audio facts for certain players. If you are playing a season, NBA Live 97 will keep track of your standings and the leader statistics on a team by team basis throughout the season. During gameplay there is also a wealth of statistical information at your fingertips. You can look at your usual team and player statistics as well as your shot statistics. One of the nice features is the ability to graphically look at your shot distribution.

There are different styles and levels of difficulty within NBA Live 97. If you want to get right in and play a game, then Arcade is the way to go. Arcade is a fast paced style of basketball where players don’t tire or foul out. There is also simulation mode for those looking for a more realistic style of play. Difficulty levels range from Rookie to All-Star, with noticeable differences between them. It is now much more difficult to win when playing the All-Star mode.

There are more settings than anyone could possibly use in NBA Live 97, including everything from the amount of fouls a player can have before fouling out to illegal defense calls. All of these can be changed from within the rules and options menu. Included within this version of the game are the new slow motion dunks. When there is a spectacular dunk, the game will automatically go into a slow motion replay of the dunk before continuing the game. However this can be easily turned off to speed up gameplay. Some of the other options are fatigue, injuries, traveling, likelihood of fouls, and many others.

While playing a season, there are now options to make multiplayer trades with up to three players being involved. This makes the game much more realistic to today’s trading ways. Player transactions allow you to view and trade players as well as sign and release free agents during the season. You also have the ability to create your own player, with his own attributes. The attributes range from years pro, to which hand they use to dribble the ball. There are even 239 different player heads from which to choose. So, if you chose to, you could create a 350 pound, 7’7″ giant with a unique head and draft him onto your team!

NBA Live 97 also supports multiplayer modes. You have the ability to play with another person either through the modem or via a null modem cable. You also can play through an IPX compatible network. After getting two systems connected, you can then have four players on each system, allowing a total of eight players.

NBA Live 97 continues to lead the way when it comes to setting the stage for an NBA game. It shows throughout the game with the different NBA logos that are shown. You almost get the feel as if you’re watching a game on TV!