2001 · EA Sports · Basketball · Simulation

NBA Live 2002

NBA Live 2002 is the 2002 installment of the NBA Live video games series. The cover features Steve Francis as a member of the Houston Rockets. The game was developed by EA Sports and released on October 29, 2001 for the PlayStation 2, October 30, 2001 for the PlayStation and November 18, 2001 for the Xbox. This game was commentated by Don Poier and former NBA player Bob Elliot.[citation needed]

Released: 18 November 2001
Platforms: PlayStation PlayStation 2 Xbox
Genres: Basketball Simulation Sports
Developers: EA Sports
Publishers: Electronic Arts
Series: NBA Live
Modes: Single-player
Perspective: Third person
Country: Canada
Age ratings: ESRB E

About

NBA Live 2002 is the 2002 installment of the NBA Live video games series. The cover features Steve Francis as a member of the Houston Rockets. The game was developed by EA Sports and released on October 30, 2001, for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation, and November 15, 2001, for the Xbox. This game was commentated by Don Poier and former NBA player Bob Elliot. It was a launch title for Xbox in North America and Europe.

Keywords

basketball
nba
artificial intelligence
instant replay
launch titles
penalties
xbox 360 backwards compatibility

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Reception

The PlayStation and Xbox versions received "generally favorable reviews", while the PlayStation 2 version received "average" reviews, according to video game review aggregator Metacritic. NextGen said in its final issue, "This Xbox version of EA Sports' hoops series is basically the same game you can find on every other platform – in other words, chock full of uninspiring graphics, plodding gameplay, and clumsy controls." In Japan, where the PlayStation 2 version was ported and published by Electronic Arts on January 1, 2002, followed by the Xbox version on March 7, Famitsu gave it a score of 29 out of 40 for the former, and 28 out of 40 for the latter.

Dan Elektro of GamePro's January 2002 issue said that the PlayStation 2 version "makes up for last year's missteps and then some. The gameplay finally matches the graphics, and the result is what basketball fans want and need in a PS2 game." An issue later, he said that the Xbox version "sets a great standard for Xbox basketball", and that the PlayStation version "comes packed with all the gameplay and features you expect: lengthy season modes, a 1-on-1 streetball mode with any player in the league, and create-a-player options."