NBA Live 10

Not only that, but the team has also reinvigorated the gameplay with a new emphasis on defense which ups the realism very nicely. Much of this is thanks to the new difficulty settings (b-ball vets should instantly up the ante to all-star difficulty) that force you to think about how you're going to attack different situations. Gone are the days of spin-moving your way to the basket for an easy dunk and you can no longer drive the lane and do a blind kick-out to your man hovering at the three-point lane. This year you're going to get stripped in the paint and AI opponents will deflect and intercept those errant passes.

Shooting the rock has been simplified to a single button press no matter how you're trying to score. The standard jumper can be modified in a number of different ways with the right trigger and the left analog stick. Driving hard to the hoop is done by holding the right trigger, whereas letting go will get you a standard jumper unless you're directly under the basket. You can check if the bank is open (using the backboard) by holding left or right on the left analog while shooting and fade away by holding the stick in the opposite direction of the hoop. Releasing the shot button at the proper time in your standard jump shot motion is thankfully back (unlike last year) and adds just a bit of strategy to scoring.

NBA Live 10, while it certainly has issues that people are going to gripe about, is exactly what the series needed to fire up its dwindling fan base and add new players alike. The gameplay is nicely refined and emulates real basketball with much greater success than past games. I expect NBA Live 11 to really step up and deliver more than this year's game did in terms of modes. Couple some sort of career mode with the smooth gameplay and the next entry in the Live series could steal the crown away from 2K Sports. - Nate Ahearn

GameFocus.com 9 of 10
NBA Live 09 came as a disappointment for me. It was hard to accept seeing the game going backwards instead of taking steps forward. I for one know that basketball games are one of the toughest sports games to develop because of the complexity of the sport. But that doesn't excuse it. One year later, NBA Live 10 arrives and while it still has a few annoyances, I'm pleased to see that EA Canada seems to have finally taken a serious step into the realm of a more realistic experience...For the first time since its arrival on next generation consoles, the NBA Live franchise brings cohesiveness to the overall gameplay mechanics by finally putting more attention to the defensive side of the game, which has always been the weakest point in the series. The fact that NBA Live 10 doesn't pack a lot of new features has certainly forced the development team to find what was really going on instead of hiding everything with an array of new and unnecessary additions. Instead, most of the gameplay mechanics from last year are back but they got tweaked...For the first time in a while, the NBA Live franchise seems to get away from their high-flying-over-the-top-superstar-bling-bling reputation and get closer to a certain degree of realism and authenticity. However, it is still lacking as hardcore basketball players won't find satisfaction just yet in what is offered. I must say that NBA Live is getting closer though. Let's just hope it will continue to improve...Basketball gamers know what they want and it seems like the step back taken by EA Canada last year is making sense this year. Improving on last year's new features, refining the gameplay mechanics, not adding anything major and removing what wasn't necessary, it resumes what NBA Live 10 is. Fans of the franchise will certainly love this year's game and basketball gamers in general will spend a few quality hours with it. - Jay Acevedo