While EA Sports did not announce a release date for NBA Live 18 at EA Play, it did confirm the game would be making a return. EA will be giving away demos of the game in August. The game has not been released since NBA Live 16.
The focus of the EA Play presentation centered around a mode called The One. It appears to be EA’s version of NBA 2K’s My Player mode. For a game that has struggled to compete in the past, it is interesting that EA chose to focus on their response to what’s considered the strongest aspect of their competition.
The NBA 2K series has produced arguably the best sports games, and a large part of its success has centered around the My Player mode. It looks like EA plans to attack the 2K series at its strongest part.
The trailer emphasized the term “you” multiple times. EA’s plan of attack looks to be in its customization of the career mode. One of the unique parts of the mode will be its emphasis on non-NBA leagues. Players will be able take their game to the streets on courts like Rucker Park and Venice Beach.
“From the streets to the league,” the trailer reads. Players will have the opportunity to square of with NBA players in places like Rucker Park to increase your street cred.
Will this mode help NBA Live get this reboot off the ground? It remains to be seen, but competition will help the industry. NBA Live faces an uphill battle trying to focus on the career mode rather than looking to attract new gamers in an area where NBA 2K is weaker.
Game producer Mike Mahar spoke with SLAM Magzine about the reboot.
We’ve taken our time to really focus on two key aspects of the game. One is our core gameplay and control, animations, fluidity, a lot of control around the rim, contact and physicality. A lot of the player nuances and customs that the players have in the game. The other aspect we took a lot of time to focus on is The One, which is our new way to play. It’s all about you and your path through the NBA and the streets. We’re really excited to show a little sneak peak of that. We think it’s a pretty big differentiator between what we’re offering as a player experience and what other sports games have.
NBA Live 18 does not have a release date while NBA 2K18 will be released September 19. Tell us how you think NBA Live 18 will stack up against NBA 2K18.
0 Comments
![](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,<svg height="161" width="242" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"/>)
