The biggest claim to fame for the NBA Live series these last two iterations has been the Dynamic DNA system. This allows you to update team rosters according to what they do in real life as you go through the season. The game does some mathematics and uses the real life stats with your in-game stats and keeps your players and team as close to real life as possible. It is an unbelievable feature in the game, but it does come with a caveat. If you happen to rent or buy this game used chances are the code for the Dynamic DNA will have already been used. You’ll have to pay $15 to get it unlocked, much like you did in Madden NFL 10 to play the Online Franchise mode if you didn’t buy the game new.
You may think you can get away with not using this feature, but you’ll never be able to download roster updates without it unlocked. The base roster that comes with the game is woefully bad and from what looks like was current as of July. In online play you’ll be able to download updates, but then once you go back to offline play the game will revert the roster back to what came with the game. It’s maddening, but it is also a deterrent to rent or buy the game used. You may get lucky and have a used one that didn’t use the code supplied in the manual, but do you really want to take that chance?
Outside of that, the game plays very well and the arena ambience is fantastic. If you play as a lower class team, don’t expect there to be a lot of people in the seats unless a high class team shows up. You’ll hear various lines from the crowd and if you play in the Playoff mode or play as a high class team, it is an experience to enjoy. There is one small problem I’ve noticed while building up my experience and that is that you have rather loose control over your player when trying to reach an exact spot to take a shot. They don’t stop on a dime like they do in the 2K game, so you can’t just stop and pop up a three or a jumper. Instead you will move forward a bit from where you were planning and not have the shot you were hoping for. Even getting the hang of the supposed inertia doesn’t help. Then again hitting threes seems a bit too easy in this game in both regular and simluated games.
NBA Live 10 is a really good game of basketball, although probably not one you want to pick up if co-op gaming is important to you. The Adidas Live Run is enjoyable and keeps score of wins and losses, but it is only a game of 21. The Team Play is enjoyable, although you can’t play through a season that way, it’s only one game. If you like playing alone, online or with a friend on the same machine this game can be quite enjoyable and is easily one of the best NBA Live experiences I’ve had since the jump to the current generation.
Verdict
Co-Op Score
The Co-Op Experience: Play locally with up to 3 friends against the AI in quick games or franchises. Other semi co-op modes include: Adidas Live Run - 10-player online game of 21, choose your player and play with other pople. Monthly reset of squad W-L recordsOnline Team - 10-player non-ranked team play (this is not season or league)You'll play against other players, but in a co-op like atmosphere.
Co-Optimus game reviews focus on the cooperative experience of a game, our final score graphic represents this experience along with an average score for the game overall. For an explanation of our scores please check our Review Score Explanation Guide.