CityOfAngels

As a basketball player, I thoroughly enjoy ESPN NBA 2K5 a lot more than EA's NBA Live 2005. For basketball games, I'm all for realism, and although ESPN NBA 2K5 has glitches that sometimes kill the realism (such as passing the ball off of your opponent's head into the basket), it is a lot more realistic than NBA Live. I like the controls better, too. There's one button to shoot, one to pass, one to cross-over, and another to find the open man. In ESPN, you don't have to worry about whether or not you're pressing the dunk/layup button or the shoot button.

Each games have their own problems. I recently found that NBA Live's trading/roster management system is a farse. There is a thread that I started in this forum in regards to that. Also, NBA Live doesn't even start with full rosters; I had to patch the game to get the #4 draft pick, Shaun Livingston, on my Clippers. ESPN already has updated rosters up to when the game was released. Although I must say: NBA Live is less glitch-prone. I never find myself shooting a full-court shot when I'm thinking I was going up for a rebound. Also, so far, I haven't seen any of that "bounce the ball off of your opponent's head into the basket" rediculousness. NBA Live also gives you some slack when it comes to deciding whether or not your shot is a three or a two. You don't have to make sure you're 3 feet behind the line before you shoot.

Dunks in NBA Live are generic, besides the occasional 360 jam by LeBron or Vince Carter. The Slam Dunk Competition is another story. That side-game is off the hook. I love it! There's nothing like boosting Earl Boykin's dunk rating to 99 and then stuffing his arm down the hoop just like Vince Carter. Also the fact that you can do Dee Brown's "Eyes Closed" dunk is just insane. ESPN NBA doesn't even have a dunk contest, and I played the one on last year's ESPN College basketball, and it was garbage.

If you are a fan of basketball in general, get BOTH games. They both have their ups and downs. If you're a basketball player, get ESPN NBA. If you're neither, and are just looking for a decent arcade-style sports game to play, get NBA Live.

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