By Anonymous on Oct 14, 2015 11:09 pm
Rewards for completing Destiny's new Nightfall Strikes are, in creative director Luke Smith's own words, "underwhelming." As such, Bungie is going to adjust the system through a future update to deliver more substantial rewards to players who complete the challenging missions. "Nightfall Rewards can be underwhelming," Smith said on Twitter. "Runes/low # of coins/no reputation burst/weak legendaries all feel like losing. We're gonna fix it." The Taken King received high praise at launch in September, but not everyone was happy with the changes made to Nightfall events. Before, drops were random, but you always received a reputation buff with whatever you received. With The Taken King, however, this reputation buff was removed. Instead, players receive consumable items like Strange Coins or an allotment of Three of Coins for their efforts. With the current rewards system, some feel like they wasted their time doing the new Nightfall Strikes because the reward isn't as compelling as it once was. Thankfully for fans, this is going to change in the future. However, Smith has not provided any specifics regarding how Bungie will "fix" the existing setup. In other recent Destiny news, the game now supports microtransactions by way of 18 different emotes that you can buy using the new in-game currency, Silver. There is even an emote based on "the Carlton" dance made famous '90s TV show Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. In addition, update 2.0.1 nerfed shotguns.
By Anonymous on Oct 14, 2015 10:45 pm
ArenaNet's PC MMO Guild Wars 2 is the latest game to have its own dedicated competitive league. The developer on Wednesday announced a partnership with the ESL Pro League for a professional tournament series with $400,000 in prizes. The initiative is officially called the ESL Guild Wars 2 Pro League.  League play begins in November with open qualifiers, culminating in a Season Finals LAN event held at ESL studios. A second season will run later. The $400,000 in prizes is divided between the two seasons. After the two seasons wrap up, ArenaNet will hold a World Championship event to determine an ultimate winner. Further details, including the specific timing and venue, will be announced later. The ESL Guild Wars 2 Pro League replaces the previous World Tournament Series "We're seeing massive growth in players joining Guild Wars 2 and competitive play is the fastest growing segment in the game," game director Colin Johanson said in a statement. "Working with ESL to develop this tournament is a natural next step for us, inviting more players from this growing community to come take their shot at being elite." An open qualifier tournament to determine four of the eight teams to be featured in the ESL Guild Wars 2 Pro League will begin in mid-November. The other four teams will be drawn from World Tournament Series finalists and the best-ranking teams of October's Go4GuildWars 2 Cups. Every team that makes it to the finals is guaranteed a slice of the $200,000 prize pool for each series. For more on the ESL Guild Wars 2 Pro League, check out a full rundown of rules, schedules, and eligibility information here. The Guild Wars 2 base game recently became free. Its next expansion, Heart of Thorns, arrives on October 23, featuring Destiny and Uncharted voice actor Nolan North as its main bad guy. The ESL, meanwhile, recently made headlines for its anti-doping measures put into place after an Adderall scandal.
By Anonymous on Oct 14, 2015 10:30 pm
Blizzard has announced the start date of the closed beta for its upcoming team shooter, Overwatch. The closed beta will kick off on October 27 in the Americas region, with a small number of testers to get regular access to the beta. More players will be gradually added to the testing phase. The closed beta test phases will be coming to the Europe region next, and the Asia region will be getting it at "a later date." Blizzard will also be conducting numerous Beta Test Weekends for a second, wider group of players. These will be for the purpose of testing the server hardware to make ensure "they can withstand the assault." The Beta Test Weekends will be available for various parts of the world, and the first one will kick off not long after BlizzCon ends. The Overwatch beta will be accessible from the Battle.net desktop client for Windows users only. Selected users who are invited to participate in the closed beta phase or Beta Test Weekend will receive an email with further instructions. Participants will be chosen from Battle.net users who have opted in to the beta on their account. Overwatch was first announced in November last year, debuting with a Pixar-esque introduction video. The game is Blizzard's first new franchise in 17 years. More recently, the studio release new 1080p gameplay footage featuring the characters Hanzo, McCree, Mercy, and Zenyatta. Overwatch does not currently have a release date, but is being developed for Mac and PC. The Overwatch beta kicks off shortly before the start of Blizzcon, which takes place on November 6-7 this year. GameSpot will be covering announcements from the event as they roll out, so be sure to stay tuned to the site for more information.
By Anonymous on Oct 14, 2015 09:30 pm
Grounded in Reality
The legwork done by Crystal Dynamics in researching locations for Rise of the Tomb Raider is impressive. Over the course of a few weeks, the team visited locations across Turkey, scouring for the perfect look and feel for their Lost City of Kitezh. Determined to lend a visual legitimacy to the in-game tombs, the team extensively researched Byzantine culture, melding their findings with a subtle dash of Greek architecture. After visiting cities including Cappadocia, Istanbul, and Ephesus--with a brief trip to Yosemite--the team pieced together their vision for Rise of the Tomb Raider's wild Syrian and Siberian lands.
(Shown above: the hills of Cappadocia, photo taken by Crystal Dynamics) "The great thing about working on a game like Rise of the Tomb Raider is you have this world that is basically our world, something that you can relate to, and characters that are human and believable," game director Brian Horton told GameSpot. "But you want to take the player on this fantastic journey, and make them feel like they're going someplace that they couldn't normally go on a tourist trip. So we take things from the real world and we twist them to bring myths to life." He continued, "In doing so, we have to do a lot of research. We really want to make sure that the foundations and roots of these myths have some kind of tie to the world that we know. We bring this fantastic Russian myth that we bring to life with Russian architecture--which has been influenced by Byzantine culture, this ancient Christian late-Roman period--and we wanted to use that as a fusion between what we see in the real world and what hopefully we can make our Kitezh to be. Real locations served as a blueprint for our designs to draw upon and bring legitimacy to the world that ultimately would make up our lost city of Kitezh." What follows is a collection of never-before-seen concept art for Rise of the Tomb Raider, with detailed descriptions of what inspired each one.
The Flooded Archive
Brian Horton: We call this the Archive. This is one of our tomb locations. What we wanted to sell was that this is a place where a lot of the records of Kitezh were stored. We wanted to make sure that it had a sense of being in ruin and a creepy factor; the idea of it being flooded and in disrepair is a part of the aesthetic on top of the ancient space. The more Greek-inspired roots of Byzantine culture, which is really just late Roman, are the aesthetic point of contact.
Ephesus
Horton: The flooded archive was inspired by a library in Ephesus, an ancient Greek town in Turkey. That was the primary source of reference for this structure, along with a film called Agora. These were good points of inspiration because these places don't exist anymore. Agora featured a hybrid of Greek, Roman, an influx of different cultures. It was this mix and match of different cultural influences, including Egyptian. (photo taken by Crystal Dynamics)
The Ice Tomb
Horton: These are the gates to Kitezh, a threshold the player must go through to get to the inner, lush valley. The inspiration for this was Hagia Sophia, a palatial Byzantine church that became Islamic when Istanbul was taken over. We were really interested in taking what was known as desert architecture and juxtaposing that against this wintery, frozen landscape. We did a lot of research on ice caves and we wanted to create a tomb that had that architectural mix in the ice. These caves are inspired by a type of volcanic ice caves with very specific formations that appear on ceilings. We created this space as a more of a rock cave with impacted ice. The other thing that's important about this is that the path to the gates has been torn apart, so there's unstable activity. In the game, when the Soviets came into mine after discovering this location, cave-ins happened and put this whole area in disrepair. There's a huge gorge between where you start and where you need to go, and part of the story includes how you get across that gorge made by the Soviet's hasty excavation. Remnants of the excavation equipment are still in there as well.
Hagia Sophia
Horton: Our goal, always, with Tomb Raider is taking something that's known and somehow finding a way to flip it and make it unique. The juxtaposition between the architecture and area is against what you expect to see. It was also cool to throw in ties to Syria, which is very much a desert location, so there's some sort of familiarity threading through those two locations. The biggest challenge in this is making it feel like an old, ancient space with this layer of Soviet history. How much Soviet occupation had happened in there, and how much of that is still your archeological find? (photo taken by Crystal Dynamics)
"Bear Valley"
Horton: This is the beginning of the sequence after the avalanche, where Lara finds the old camp. Internally we call this place Bear Valley. We wanted to really sell the hostile forces of nature, the danger of the avalanche's aftermath with those exposed broken branches and trees, and some hint at civilization. Instead of going straight into a wilderness, she's realizing that there is hope she's on the right track because she sees evidence of a camp. On the way she'll see those Byzantine and Mongolian ruins. There were certain things we did research on site, but there were others where we just gathered research. We found so many references that informed our Soviet installation, great references for Cold War Russian archeology and the ghost towns left behind.
Syrian Village
Horton: These are ruins that the local population currently lives in. You'll see stands and tents and shops with food. There's this local population and there's a Trinity invasion, and this particular scene shows an opening section to that sequence. We call these 'living ruins'; we wanted to show that a new civilization was living on the bones of an even older one. So even though they have ancestry with this ancient culture, they've evolved their ways and no longer occupy these ancient structures the way their ancestors did. They have a more nomadic quality to them.
Ephesus
Horton: This Syrian village was heavily inspired by a combination of Ephesus in Turkey and evidence of decayed ancient structures I found along my travels through Istanbul. We especially used those references for the building materials and the way the new grass grows over them. The areas weren't as well maintained. (photo taken by Crystal Dynamics)
Vista View
Horton: This is a vista of the previous villages. Lara will be at a vista point looking at this tower and the lower courtyard. It's her approach to these remnant ruins. There's an aqueduct and old towers, for which we referenced structures in Istanbul.
Tomb Deluge
Horton: This is an old concept that informed our deluge scene, where Lara survives the Prophet's Tomb washout. We ended up adding more color to the palette, but we always wanted this exterior to look like Petra, a landmark where people carved a facade directly into a living rock face.
Sherpa Base Camp
Horton: This is a Sherpa base camp, the point of no return where Lara and Jonah strike out on their own as they make their way up the mountain. They've gotten as far as they can possibly go with their guides. We wanted to showcase the Arctic wasteland. We looked at a lot of movies for reference for what it's like getting to the edge of the world, where dogs and sled crews don't go and you're on foot in rocky high places. In this instance here we knew we wanted to feel as remote as we possibly could. No civilization anywhere around. The only way to get where they needed to go was through the locals.
The Climb
Horton: This showcases Lara at the top of one of her large climbs as she makes her way into the Archive location. There is a landmark that we see at the very beginning of the game: right before the avalanche, Lara sees this cathedral off in the distance. We see that again later in this level, and over and over again. This is her finally making that climb up to that location where she finds the Archive. It's one of those moments where we wanted to sell the drama of extreme weather on a very high location. It's one of the game's action spikes, where she's in a race against Trinity to find the next piece of the Kitezh puzzle.
Rural Russia
Horton: This shows a bit of the more middle history of the area's remnant population. We were very much inspired by Russian rural constructions. We did a lot of photographic research on Russian communities even though this population actually comes from a migration from the south. Over time it feels like a Slavic-esque culture, with these very rural roots. We were inspired by the log structures. The building in this artwork is a church built in a flooded area of the valley, in the lusher portion of Siberia.
By Anonymous on Oct 14, 2015 09:30 pm
GunpointSteam has kicked off a new stealth-themed sale offering some nice deals, such as Gunpoint for $2.49, Volume for $13.39, Mark of the Ninja for $3.74, and Splinter Cell: Blacklist for $7.49. Although it remains in early access, you can now download Dungeon Defenders II on Steam for free. You can get the Super Mario 3D World Wii U bundle (which also includes Nintendo Land) for $250 from Best Buy's eBay account. Target has both the Mario Kart 8 and Super Mario 3D World Wii U bundles on sale for $270. Below you'll find the rest of today's best deals divided by platform. PlayStation 4Spend $100 or more on PSN between now and November 3, and you'll get a $15 PSN credit. Check out all of this week's deals on the PlayStation Store here, and all of the PlayStation Plus member-only deals here. Other PS4 game deals: The free PlayStation Plus games for October are now available and include Super Meat Boy and Broken Age. Xbox OneThe Microsoft Store is throwing in free copies of Assassin's Creed Unity and Project Spark with the $399 Madden 16 Xbox One bundle. It's unclear what value (if any) the copy of Project Spark has at this point now that the game has gone completely free. If you're a Gamers Club Unlocked member, get a $15 gift card when you purchase the Spartan Locke Xbox One controller from Best Buy's website. Amazon Prime members can get a 3.5mm jack-equipped Xbox One controller with a Play & Charge Kit for $58. Just add the bundle to your cart and proceed to checkout to see the discount. EBay has a one-year subscription to Xbox Live Gold for $35. This week's Deals With Gold are now available and include sales on GTA V, Dragon Age Inquisition, SteamWorld Dig, and more. Other Xbox One game deals: The first of October's free Games With Gold games, Valiant Hearts, is now available. You can also still get Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition for free. PCThe new Humble Bundle is comprised entirely of Capcom games, letting you get a handful of games for any price you choose. You can get more if you beat the average, or everything included if you spend $15 or more. A portion of the proceeds go to charity. Humble Bundle recently announced its new Humble Monthly Bundle, a LootCrate-style subscription service that delivers mystery games on the first Friday of the month for $12. If you subscribe before the first one launches in November, you'll get a free copy of Legend of Grimrock II right away. Preordering a Steam Machine, Steam Controller, or Steam Link right now will get you free copies of Rocket League and Portal 2. Buy select Nvidia GPUs (or Nvidia-equipped laptops) and get a free copy of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Other select cards come with a Heroes of the Storm bundle. If you have a free Green Man Gaming account, you can access the VIP area, where you'll find deals like Rocket League for $15, Zombi for $10, and FIFA 16 for $38. You can save 20 percent at Green Man Gaming using the voucher 20PERC-HARVST-SAVING. Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 is Origin's next free On the House game. Other PC game deals: - Mount Your Friends -- $3 (Steam)
- Toy Soldiers: War Chest -- $10 (Steam)
- Far Cry 2: Fortune's Edition -- $2.49 (Steam)
- Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon -- $3.74 (Steam)
- Anna's Quest -- $12 (GOG)
- The Crew -- $13.49 (Steam)
- The Marvellous Miss Take -- $5 (GOG)
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt -- $40 (Amazon - Prime only) / $50 (Best Buy)
- Hatoful Boyfriend -- $2.49 (Steam)
- Titanfall -- $5 (Best Buy)
- Diablo III -- $20 (GameStop) / $18 (Walmart)
- Civilization: Beyond Earth -- $20 (Best Buy)
- The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited -- $48 (Amazon) / $40 (Best Buy) / $48 (Walmart)
- The Evil Within -- $10 (Amazon)
- Batman: Arkham Origins -- $10 (Amazon)
- Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel -- $23 (Best Buy)
- SimCity -- $7 (Best Buy)
- Diablo III: Reaper of Souls -- $24 (Amazon)
- StarCraft II: Battle Chest -- $20.39 (Amazon)
- Evolve -- $20 (Amazon)
- Watch Dogs -- $10 (Amazon) / $10 (Best Buy)
- Dragon Age: Inquisition -- $25 (Amazon)
Wii UIf you don't mind buying a refurbished system, Nintendo's online store has a Wii U bundle with Nintendo Land for $200, Nintendo Land and Super Mario 3D World for $225, or The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD and Nintendo Land for $235. - Splatoon -- $45 (Amazon) / $45 (Best Buy) / $45 (Walmart)
- Mario Party 10 -- $35 (Amazon) / $35 (Best Buy)
- Super Smash Bros. for Wii U -- $45 (Amazon) / $45 (Best Buy)
- Hyrule Warriors -- $48 (Walmart)
- Kirby and the Rainbow Curse -- $32 (Amazon)
- Just Dance 2015 -- $27.48 (Amazon)
- Yoshi's Woolly World -- $43 (Amazon - Prime only)
- Lego Jurassic World -- $38 (Amazon)
- Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge -- $10 (Amazon)
- The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD -- $39 (Walmart)
- Wii Fit U + Fit Meter + Balance Board -- $25 (Nintendo Store)
- The Wonderful 101 -- $30 (Nintendo Store)
- Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate -- $18 (Amazon)
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut -- $14.50 (Amazon)
- Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two -- $11 (Amazon)
- Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition -- $18.69 (Amazon)
- Watch Dogs -- $18 (Amazon) / $12 (Best Buy)
- Sonic All-Stars Racing Transformed -- $24 (Amazon)
- Scribblenauts Unlimited -- $15 (Amazon)
- Transformers Prime: The Game -- $14 (Amazon)
3DSNintendo's online store is offering refurbished 2DSes for $60. - Mario Party: Island Tour -- $25.54 (Amazon) / $20 (Walmart)
- Super Smash Bros. for 3DS -- $33 (Amazon)
- Code Name: Steam -- $20 (Amazon)
- Fire Emblem: Awakening -- $34 (Amazon) / $34 (Walmart)
- Animal Crossing: New Leaf -- $28.50 (Walmart)
- Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth -- $30 (Amazon) / $20 (Best Buy)
- Angry Birds Star Wars -- $5 (Best Buy)
- Etrian Mystery Dungeon -- $20 (Amazon)
- Disney Infinity Starter Pack -- $15 (Amazon)
- Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance -- $20 (Walmart)
- Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2 - Record Breaker -- $37 (Amazon)
- Steel Diver -- $5 (Best Buy)
- Tetris Ultimate -- $12 (Amazon)
- Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate -- $11 (Walmart)
- Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion -- $12 (Amazon) / $5.36 (Walmart)
- Conception II: Children of the Seven Stars -- $20 (Amazon)
- Sonic All-Stars Racing Transformed -- $19 (Amazon)
- Hometown Story -- $11 (Amazon)
PlayStation Vita- Metal Gear Solid HD Collection -- $20.39 (Amazon)
- LittleBigPlanet -- $15 (Amazon)
- Persona 4: Golden -- $19.69 (Amazon)
- Super Monkey Ball: Banana Splitz -- $14 (Amazon)
- PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale -- $11.34 (Amazon)
- Gravity Rush -- $29 (Amazon)
- The Wolf Among Us -- $11 (Amazon) / $7 (Best Buy)
- The Walking Dead: Season Two -- $7 (Best Buy)
- Mind Zero -- $26 (Amazon)
- Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed -- $18 (Amazon)
- Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F 2nd -- $20 (Amazon)
- Xblaze Code: Embryo -- $30 (Amazon)
- Arcana Heart 3: Love Max -- $25 (Amazon)
- Conception II: Children of the Seven Stars -- $22 (Amazon)
- 16 GB Memory Card -- $33 (Amazon)
- 32 GB Memory Card -- $64 (Amazon)
The free PlayStation Plus games for October are now available and include Super Meat Boy and Broken Age. Hardware- Insignia Dual-Controller Charger for Xbox One -- $20 (Best Buy)
- Xbox One Limited Edition Halo 5 Spartan Locke Controller -- $60 (Amazon - Prime only)
- PDP Xbox One Kinect Mount -- $8 (Walmart)
- PlayStation 4 Camera -- $45 (Walmart)
- Wireless Xbox 360 Controller for Windows -- $42 (Amazon)
- Wired Xbox 360 Controller for Windows -- $22 (Amazon)
- DualShock 4 PS4 Controller -- $45 (Amazon - Prime only)
- Xbox One Controller -- $50 (Amazon)
- PlayStation Silver Wired Stereo Headset -- $22.49 (Amazon)
Amazon prices are accurate as of publishing, but can fluctuate occasionally throughout the day. GameSpot's gaming deals posts always highlight the best deals we can find regardless of retailer. We also occasionally use retailer affiliate links, which means that purchasing goods through those links helps support all the great content (including the deals posts) you find for free here on the site.
By Anonymous on Oct 14, 2015 09:30 pm
 After getting hands on Deus Ex Mankind Divided Scott talks about his time with the game and how Mankind Divided changes up Deus Ex for the better.
By Anonymous on Oct 14, 2015 09:30 pm
Mary is back from Tokyo and she's brought back a ton of awesome goodies from Japan. So we're putting it all together in a fabulous swag bag for one lucky GameSpot member. How do you enter to win? Simply fill out our forum for your chance. But, if you REALLY want this amazing swag bag and are looking for some bonus entries, go ahead and follow us on Twitter or on Instagram for bonus entries to win! It's important to note that some of these items are in Japanese.
By Anonymous on Oct 14, 2015 09:28 pm
Apart from a single shot from an international teaser and a 15-second Instagram clip in August, it's been many months since there was any new footage from the forthcoming Star Wars movie, The Force Awakens. This may be about to change however, with reports that a new trailer could appear within the next week.  ScreenCrush are reporting that the trailer will drop on Monday October 19, which will also be the day that tickets for the sci-fi blockbuster go on sale. The site's sources state that the trailer will debut online, before hitting theatres alongside the James Bond movie Spectre on November 6. This will be the final trailer before the film opens in December. In addition, there are reports that theatre chains are gearing up to sell tickets to The Force Awakens on the same day. Earlier this week, Cinemark accidentally released a Spanish-language graphic announcing the October 19 sale, before pulling the information. ScreenCrush also states that the managers of several AMC theatres have informed staff that tickets will go sale that day. Star Wars Episode 7: The Force Awakens will be released on December 16 in France and December 17 in the UK, before rolling out across the US on December 18. It stars John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Max von Sydow, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Mark Hamill.
By Anonymous on Oct 14, 2015 09:10 pm
Cloud Imperium Games has released the opening cinematic for PC space game Star Citizen's campaign mode, Squadron 42, showing off veteran actor Gary Oldman's character delivering an emotional speech. Watch as Admiral Bishop addresses the senate with a moving speech about war and its costs. Oldman is not the only A-list actor featured in Squadron 42. He's joined by Andy Serkis (The Lord of the Rings), Mark Hamill (Star Wars), Gillian Anderson (The X-Files), Ben Mendelsohn (The Dark Knight Rises), and Mark Strong (Kingsman), among others. Even more actors will be announced later. The crowdfunding campaign for Star Citizen started three years ago. To date, Cloud Imperium has raised more than $92 million. A release date for the final version of the game has not been announced. What do you make of this cinematic? Let us know in the comments below.
By Anonymous on Oct 14, 2015 08:52 pm
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes is currently available as a free download on Xbox 360 for Xbox Live Gold members. But very soon it won't be. You have all day today and tomorrow to download the game before it returns to its full $20 price on October 16. Start your download on the Xbox Marketplace here. Even if you don't have an Xbox 360, you may want to pick Ground Zeroes up anyway, as it could one day be supported on Xbox One through backwards compatibility. Ground Zeroes is free right now on Xbox 360 as part of Microsoft's Games With Gold promotion. It will be replaced by Telltale's The Walking Dead, starting on October 16. Xbox One owners, meanwhile, can download a free copy of Valiant Hearts: The Great War all month long, while The Walking Dead will be free October 16-November 15. Ground Zeroes was released in March 2014, earning an 8/10 score from GameSpot. Its follow-up, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, was released in September this year.
By Anonymous on Oct 14, 2015 08:30 pm
 In its latest DLC update, Rocket League brings a bunch of goodies to the table. Including two new cars, a shark fin hat, and a power chord rocket trail. The Revenge of the Battle-Cars pack is available now for PlayStation 4 and PC.
By Anonymous on Oct 14, 2015 08:30 pm
 Editor Mike Mahardy talks about his time with The Witcher 3 Expansion, Hearts of Stone, and why he thinks it deserved a 9/10.
By Anonymous on Oct 14, 2015 02:39 am
NBA Live 16 is an improved game from last year's offering. But while shooting, passing, and dribbling all feel a bit tighter this year, the changes are too minor to push the total package beyond mediocrity. Some of the core gameplay modes are almost unchanged, and visually, NBA Live 16 floats in an awkward space between an outdated basketball sim and a poor attempt at an arcade classic. The series continues to inch toward relevance, but its deficient game modes and stunted systems fail to propel it off the bench and into the starting lineup. If you consider each element of the on-court action--from the act of shooting to playing tight on-ball defense--it's fair to say that NBA Live 16 is a much more playable basketball game than its immediate predecessor. Executing crossovers or hesitations and pulling up a quick jump shot actually feels good, with a new shot meter giving you a much more accurate sense of your player's optimal release point. The previous gap between the peak of a player's jump and the correct spot to release the ball has been tightened to eliminate any visual disconnect, and the smoother dribbling means you can fake and spin without always sloppily losing the ball or getting stonewalled by poor AI defenders. The halftime reports by Jalen Rose are helpful and aesthetically sharp. One-on-one, NBA Live 16 is a responsive push and pull between offense and defense. But with two full teams setting screens, rolling to the basket, crossing from corner to corner, and attempting to execute double-teams, this smooth operation capitulates quickly into a disjointed, jagged knot. Off-ball players set strange screens in the paint when called on to hold off immediate defenders, and limited layup animations force easy buckets to devolve into odd low-percentage shots--leading to offensive rebounds that send just about every player in the paint into an odd state of shock. Maybe more importantly, making long jumpers is just too easy. I put up 56 points in my first ever Rising Star game as a mostly unskilled created player, and that was from using simple screens to create just enough space to jack up a shot. Each of the individual systems has been tightened, but when it's all put together, NBA Live 16 has very little mechanical rhythm or consistency. This is most apparent when running the fastbreak, where you'll often struggle to corral your team to fill gaps and take advantage of defensive breakdowns. There tend to be wonderful moments in good sports sims when it almost feels like the game knows exactly what you're trying to do before you do it. In NBA Live 16, it can feel like the game isn't just a few steps behind, it's actively working against your train of thought. Even the commentary, which features noted ESPN analysts Jeff Van Gundy and Mike Breen, can come off as sporadic audio clips recorded in separate buildings. Sometimes, a player decides to leave his jersey and abdomen on the bench. Despite a few minor gameplay improvements, the quality and depth of game modes remains disappointingly low. The modes start with the Rising Star campaign, where you create a rookie player primed to become a top draft pick. You adjust his height, weight, appearance, and position--with the welcome addition of a specific shooting, slashing, or post play concentration available within the five traditional roles. After that, though, you just run through season after season of regular and post-season basketball without any story or gameplay variation to drive you. Rising Star is just a vehicle for you to boost stats and focus on a single position rather than on the entire team, and with the recently released NBA 2K16 putting such a heavy emphasis on story, Live's Rising Star variation feels woefully undercooked and inadequate. NBA Live 16's Ultimate Team and Dynasty modes suffer similarly from being largely the same as last year. Collecting players in the form of cards in Ultimate Team booster packs still holds an undeniable charm, giving you hope that each booster pack will include some new, top-tier player primed to turn your entire team around. However, since it's relatively easy to find your shooting rhythm, I nearly doubled the score of the championship Golden State Warriors in my first game with volatile shooter J.R. Smith acting as my star player. I still felt compelled to earn new cards, but the massive impact of one sharpshooter makes the collection process feel a bit unbalanced. Dynasty, which lets you run team operations as a general manager, is still just as bare-boned and uninteresting as last year. Setting up a fantasy draft, proposing trades, and signing free agents gives you something to do off the court, but without any real standout new features, there's little draw in taking on the managerial role. Thankfully, the addition of the online Pro-Am and Summer Circuit at least gives NBA Live 16 a whiff of freshness. Here, you take your created player and either run through progressively more difficult co-op challenges in Summer Circuit, or join a full five-on-five pickup game against nine other online players in Pro-Am. It's in this wild, fast-moving streetball jamboree where NBA Live 16 has the ability to shine brightest. Sure, you might run into a group of ball hogs who prefer taking deep, contested threes rather than spreading the ball around the floor. But when my stitched-together team of diverse created players actually came together to form at least the semblance of a real basketball squad, I actually found myself having fun with NBA Live 16's unpolished systems. Plus, this mode gives you much more reason to care about building up your NBA talent in Rising Star. Beyond choosing between being a point guard or a power forward, Rising Star lets you determine style of play. Even with improved on-court control and an online Pro-Am mode that can lead to pockets of outlandish fun, NBA Live 16 still fails to justify its existence. Its Rising Star and Dynasty modes are too underdeveloped and unvaried to remain interesting beyond the first few hours of play, and the basic dribbling, passing, and shooting tend to trip over themselves during offensive rebounds or fast breaks. NBA Live 16 is heading in the right direction, but at this pace, the series will never be able to challenge--let alone surpass--its only real contemporary.
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