Boy, NBA Live has come a long way over the last few seasons. After the abject failure of NBA Elite (which ended up never seeing the light of day) the entire franchise was rebooted, in hopes of competing with the consistently high quality NBA 2K series. It was a constant uphill climb, but it appears that there may finally be a light at the end of the tunnel. Now whether that?s the light of the stadium on the horizon or the headlights of oncoming bus is still up in the air, but rest assured we will get to the bottom of it.
Evolution
It somewhat goes without saying for yearly iterating sports franchises, but the theme of NBA Live 19 is evolution. Everything that was remarkable in last year?s bounce-back release is present, along with a few additional enhancements to boot. One area that continued to receive excessive amounts of TLC was The One mode. Where the previous installment only allowed for the creation and use of male characters, this has now been expanded to include the fairer sex as well. This is a welcome step in the right direction. However, it still feels like a bit of a half step considering that female created characters still cannot participate in The League?s branch of the campaign. That said, designing an entire WNBA career path might be a bit too much to ask in a single off season. Another significant emphasis, at least in The Street mode, is recruiting players to join your squad. Trouncing marquee players like Joel Embiid or Allen Iverson on their home court...