EA Access members can avail of an early trial for NBA Live 15 beginning October 23.
In a report by IGN.com, the trial will be limited only to six hours, similar to other EA Access trials. However, trial gamers can save their stats and progress then transfer these into the full game version when NBA Live 15 officially releases on October 28 in North America. Xbox One players who are non-members can avail of the trial, while PlayStation 4 users will receive a standard demo on the release date.
PS4 gamers will find a tutorial as well as a "matchup between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder, featuring an atmosphere that resembles the NBA Finals and each quarter lasting five minutes. The tutorial, dubbed "Adidas Learn Live Tutorial", features cover star Damian Lillard.
According to GameSpot.com, the official launch day of NBA Live 15 was pushed back for three weeks to coincide with the start of the NBA regular season. Some people were concerned about how the new game might perform, considering the various issues of its predecessors. EA Sports, however, is giving potential buyers the opportunity to try all aspects of NBA Live 15 for a limited period to help them decide whether they should get the full version.
The trial version will allow players to try different player moves and assess the controls. According to an IGN game tester, the graphics and controls of the new game have improved much since Live 14. The graphics were enhanced with players not looking like shiny plastic dolls anymore and the environment looking like a real game. The lighting has also improved for the better and most NBA players were fully recreated to pass the eyeball test. The controls are also more responsive and input lag was significantly reduced. More focus was also given to playcalling, tutorials and halftime shows. Most importantly, the animation of the game has drastically improved as motion captures were redone showing more fluid movements of the players. Previously, EA shared that they wanted to showcase realistic visuals to give fans the impression that they were watching an actual NBA game.
The delayed launch also gave EA developers more time to make the final adjustments to the latest version. Overall, NBA Live 15 is set to be the best release by EA Sports in the series in a decade. A patch is said to be available on October 28.
Nonmembers can sign up for EA Access to avail of the six-hour trial. The membership costs $4.99 a month and provides players with a variety of perks and benefits such as discounts and pre-release trials.