NLSC Your source for basketball video games.
Perhaps I’m easily satisfied when it comes to graphics but I have no major gripes with the faces or player models in NBA Live 09. There were a few graphics glitches in the build I played such as missing faces, holes in players and players not wearing jerseys but these are things that will all be cleaned up before the game is released. Both the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 versions will be running at 60 fps so both users of both consoles should experience the same smooth gameplay.
The cloth effects of the jerseys and shorts have been updated this year. At the time of the Event it was still being fine tuned and as such looked a bit rubbery but it still looked to be on track to be an improvement over last year. I know a lot of people like to sit and nitpick screenshots but a lot of the supposed issues weren’t apparent when I played the game.
The starting lineup intros have been replaced by a more subdued cutscene to begin the game. An overlay is displayed showing the starters for each teams with a quick glimpse of the key player on each team shown before the teams assemble at midcourt for the opening tip. I kind of miss the elaborate intros but I wasn’t a huge fan of some of the effects they’ve been using in the Xbox 360 intros as they don’t really reflect a TV broadcast. In that respect, the intros in NBA Live 09 are much better. Aside from that, the presentation is largely similar to NBA Live 08 in terms of the frontend.
Suffice to say I don’t really have any complaints about the graphics or presentation this year but I’ll freely admit I place gameplay and features (such as Dynasty Mode) first. I didn’t notice anything that is likely to greatly affect my enjoyment of the game.