Changing numbers often marks a turning point in an athlete’s career. Amare Stoudemire changed from number 32 to number 1 and Kobe Bryant changed his number from 8 to 24, which was his first high school number. Of course, NBA Live has a new number, 07, and with it a slew of new options.
First off, you’ll notice new and improved Freestyle Superstar controls. Now mapped to the right Analog stick, this option gives you full control over your player’s moves.
The Freestyle control is a way to make plays, from simple to flashy, without pressing just one button. This feature helps you control what kind of pass, dunk, lay-up, shot, and low post moves you want to use. This system allows your Superstar to excel over the average Joe. It shows why the Shaqs, the Kobes, the T-mac’s, and the Lebron’s are getting paid the millions of dollars, while putting on a show for the fans. The higher the player’s skill level, the more complex moves you can pull off.
There are five different freestyle controls that are available in the game. There is the High Flyer for dunks, Play Maker for passing, Scorer for lay-ups, Post for the power moves, and shooter for the sweet J’s. The Superstar players will have a few of these in their arsenal. To cycle through the different controls, simply hold down LB and tap RB.
There are 3 Levels in the game, depending on the player and their skill. There is also something called “In the Zone” which is based on your team’s momentum. During the game, when your team is cooking on all cylinders, the “In the Zone” logo will appear above your display on the bottom right hand side of your screen. To get momentum simply get a few buckets in a row, while making a few defensive stops. Rebounds and assists wouldn’t hurt either. Achieving “in the zone” will give the superstar some insane dunks and fancy passes.
To perform Freestyle controls on the 360, hold down the LB button and move the Right Analog stick in different motions. Let’s break it down.
High Flyers are the dunks that you control. A Level 1 athlete can perform simple dunks, such as a power dunk. Simply hold down the LB button and pressing, up, down, left, or right on the right analog. Level 2 athletes will perform slightly more difficult dunks like the windmill dunk. To perform these moves, rotate the R stick in a 45 degree angle. Finally the Superstars, aka Level 3, have more difficult dunks like the 2 handed power dunk. To perform these, rotate the R stick in a half circle motion.
Once you are in the zone, you can perform insane dunks like the eye covered dunk by rotating the Right Analog 360 clockwise. SWEET!
The same motions can be used for the other four freestyle sets but with obviously different results. So check out this sweet educational montage while mama gets tipsy.
