When I hear the name NBA Live it brings back memories of my childhood as my brother and I would always battle it out on the court and at that time EA Sports was the only house hold name for basketball games and that would continue for years to come until 2K games came out and shocked us all with a new line up of basketball games. The year off for EA sports and the NBA Live series actually helped it out but not as much as fans thought it would. NBA Live does take some huge steps forward with this release but it is in no way shape or form a direct #1 contender for the title of best basketball game which is currently being held by the NBA 2K series.     NBA Live has some huge flaws but also some great moments as well. I did enjoy progressing through “The One” mode and it actually had me coming back to play a bit more. Where I found NBA Live 18 stood out the most was in The One and the progression tree skills system. The crate system which is currency based is where you can find items to build up your player and change his generic clothing to something more street ball worthy. The one also has a major focus on the street locations like Rucker Park and Venice Beach. I really enjoyed battling it out on the street courts and felt like I was actually making head way leveling up. Small details like this will be noticed by basketball fans and helps the story progress. I would have like to see a similar story line like we saw with Longshot in Madden 18. From the streets to the league is the tag line and the mode is fantastic. You can even battle some friends in multiplayer which we had fun in doing as well.   [embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcNqzazrg94[/embedyt]   With EA Sports main focusing being The One we saw some decline in a very popular mode in Franchise Mode. This mode seemed really watered down to me and actually didn’t enjoy playing this mode at all. You had no control over editing existing players, no action really happened on the court and CPU controlled teams made no trades or trade offers which seemed really meh. Skip over this mode if you can as you won’t get much out of it. Ultimate team is EA Sports new must have in sports games now and does have a spot in NBA Live 18. Although I didn’t spend much time here I do enjoy Ultimate team across all EA titles. Another huge add-on to NBA Live is the debut of the WNBA in a sports game for the first time. They could have done a little more with this but it’s a great addition to the game and for all fans to enjoy.     The controls for NBA Live are very easy to pick up and make it more like an arcade style game but that didn’t bother me at all. I played with a friend who never really plays basketball games and he made that comment about how easy this game was to pick up and play. Graphics in my eyes look polished and player likeness was good but not great.   Rundown NBA Live 18 takes huge steps into reviving the franchise and it looks like we are finally getting somewhere with this new installment. Although game modes like franchise mode seem boring and bland The One comes in and saves the day by keeping you coming back to play over and over. The NBA franchise has some life and needs put more juice into the next installment to keep fans coming back to play. Overall the experience with NBA Live 18 is mediocre at best but improvement this year will have fans looking forward to see whats next.   Cheers Folks!