NBA Live 2005 (Xbox)

NBA training camps haven't even opened yet, but that hasn't stopped Electronic Arts from shipping the latest iteration of its NBA basketball franchise, NBA Live 2005. Live 2005 offers a number of new features, such as a full implementation of all-star weekend, complete with the slam-dunk contest and three-point shootout. There's also been a revamp of the franchise mode and some tweaks made to the basic gameplay. But, as with an NBA team, a game is not just the sum of its parts. NBA Live 2005 plays a solid game of basketball, but even the flashy new features can't hide the fact that it isn't a huge step up from last year's edition.

The slam-dunk contest is the centerpiece of the all-star weekend.

The biggest addition in NBA Live 2005 is its inclusion of the all-star weekend. You'll be able to play through four events from the real-life NBA All-Star weekend, including the rookies vs. sophomores game, the actual all-star game, the three-point shootout, and the slam-dunk contest. The three-point contest allows you to pick up to eight NBA sharpshooters to compete against each other. Each player must take up to 25 three-point shots within 60 seconds to earn points, with five specially colored balls counting for two points instead of one. In practice, this mode really isn't that exciting, as it boils down to pressing the same two buttons over and over again.

The dunk competition is more interesting. In this mode, the buttons on the controller are remapped. Each of the four face buttons corresponds to a different type of takeoff, such as one-footed takeoffs or 360-spin takeoffs. After you move toward the basket and jump, you can press one of the face buttons again in midair to execute one of a host of different tricks, such as a double clutch, a tomahawk, and so on. During each of these two phases, you can press one or two different shoulder buttons to slightly modify the move your player is executing. Since the moves are contextual depending on your position relative to the basket, there are dozens or even hundreds of possible dunks. Combine these moves with the different optional tosses you can execute before your takeoff, and there are even more possible permutations. Not all the dunks are entirely realistic--it's theoretically possible to have your player kick the ball off the shot clock, do a running cartwheel, catch the ball in the midst of a 360 spin, switch hands between his legs, and then throw the ball down. It's physically impossible even for Tracy McGrady to do such a thing in real life, but you can do it in NBA Live 2005's dunk mode. And if you expect to get a high score from the panel of five NBA legends (George "Iceman" Gervin and Clyde "The Glide" Drexler among them) who judge the dunk contest, your dunks better be outrageous enough to straddle the line between fantasy and reality.

So is it any fun? That all depends on your idea of fun. Getting the timing down to perform the more complicated dunks is quite difficult. Even executing a "simple" toss off the backboard and catching it for a standard dunk (à la Tracy McGrady in the 2002 All-Star game) requires a lot of practice. Those who do have the tenacity to learn complicated dunks will find that performing them is pretty satisfying, and thankfully a practice mode is included. But in the end, a lot of folks will probably mess around with the dunk mode a little bit, get frustrated, and forget about the mode entirely.

Live 2005 also offers a completely revamped dynasty mode. The schedule of games and important events (such as the draft and the all-star weekend) is now displayed on a color-coded calendar interface. As you simulate a season, you can examine full box scores from the previous day's games. The scores of your own team's games are shown quarter by quarter as they're played, and you're allowed to jump in and intervene at any point. This is useful if you see the game slipping away from your team in an important divisional matchup, as you can simply jump into the game in progress and play out the rest of it yourself to ensure victory. You're updated on important events, such as injuries, major player transactions, and other news via a PDA, which will beep whenever you have a new message.

The dynasty mode has received a complete overhaul.

As general manager, you'll also need to manage your team's staff of scouts throughout the year. Much like in NCAA Football 2005's recruiting mode, you can scout out rookie prospects for the upcoming draft. The initial batch of players can be sorted by region, or by their rough quality ratings. By spending dynasty points to scout, you'll be able to get more-accurate stats on each of the players, giving you the information you need for the draft. The best part is that a week before the draft, you can invite players to come in for a workout with your team, and actually play as them in a one-on-one game against one of your own players. This hands-on test-drive is a great way to get a feel for your rookie prospects.

There are some annoying issues with the dynasty mode, however. The biggest of these is the inability to set an overarching team strategy for games. While managing the new-look Lakers, for example, we were looking for a way to have the team run at an up-tempo pace, to take advantage of their new athleticism and minimize their weakness in the low post with Shaquille O'Neal gone. Unfortunately, there seem to be no such options for team strategy, which is a major omission. Another irritant is that the PDA buzzer goes off almost constantly as you're simulating your way through the season. You'll feel compelled to stop simulating to check your e-mail, only to find that 90 percent of the time it's an unimportant message. But if you don't check your mail every time, you'll invariably miss something important, such as a note from your medical staff that your star player has suffered serious injury.

See pricing