I was not the best because I killed quickly. I was the best because the crowd loved me. Win the crowd, and you will win your freedom.-- Proximo, Gladiator

EA Sports' NBA Live franchise reminds us of the resurgent Boston Celtics. Once the benchmark of excellence, the series plummeted to the bottom of the basketball community, the target of angry critics and jaded fans who jumped ship, in this case, to NBA 2K. Then all of a sudden, EA made some moves and jumped right back into contention with NBA Live 08. That carried over to NBA Live 09, where addictive gameplay was paired with Dynamic DNA, daily roster updates that brought fans closer to the NBA experience. Now we have NBA Live 10, a game that features numerous upgrades guaranteed to please hoops fans who love rainbow threes and rim rattling dunks. On top of that, it has one of the most impressive sounding crowds this side of FIFA 10, and those 20,000 screaming maniacs make all the difference.

Dwight Howard takes Rasheed to the hole.Click to see more images of the game.

Most sports fans agree that a crowd can make or break an experience; just ask the New York Knicks, where fans fall asleep in Madison Square Garden. Well, the same holds true for sports video games. For decades, developers have failed to give the crowds life. Either they don't cheer loudly enough, cheer for the wrong reason (the away team wins) or in the worst case, don't cheer at all. All that's in the past, because EA got it right with NBA Live 10. Its designers recorded over 200 arena noises from actual NBA games, and this audio dramatically boosts Live 10's appeal. When Kobe steps to the free throw line in Los Angeles (or someplace else), the fans chant "MVP, MVP!" When Vince Carter touches the ball in Toronto, the crowd boos; Raptors fans hate him for jumping ship. When Chris Paul scores at home, you'll hear former WWE Champ Ric Flair's signature "Whooo", and the fans respond in kind.

Aside from those impressive little touches, the crowd goes bananas for just about everything while swinging their white towels. They'll cheer a rebound, boo for non-calls, roar whenever you hit a three-point shot and grow increasingly louder as you come from behind. It's so intense that we have trouble playing NBA 2K10, a phenomenal basketball game, but one that suffers from listless crowd syndrome. NBA Live 10 will get the adrenaline flowing each time you play it; if you really need a boost, we suggest selecting to play with the NBA Finals crowd, over the regular season and playoff fans.

On the court, you'll notice quite the few changes, the most important being increased defense. Although you'll still be able to run the fast break and dunk, EA ratcheted up the difficulty to give the game a more realistic edge. Now, instead of spinning into three defenders, you'll cough up the ball (especially if you're tall and clumsy). Open lanes close within seconds, the opposing team blocks shots like Dikembe Mutombo and can make genuine stops.

Conversely, it has the skills to run you out of the gym. Several times, we watched (in horror), as the computer-controlled team chipped away at our 17-point lead, tied and eventually beat us; we could feel the momentum slipping through our fingers. Video game veterans will still be able to run up the score, but for the most part, we think that players will be in for a shock when they attempt to dominate NBA Live 10.

EA also included Freestyle Passing, where players can hold LT (L2 on PS3) and tilt the right analog stick towards the intended recipient; this is much better than icon passing. We're also fans of Direct Pass Receiver Control, a feature that allows gamers to control two players at the same time; it's a great way to make sure that Kobe Bryant has wide open threes.

Detroit's still reeling after the Allen Iverson debacle, even in NBA Live 10. Click to see more images of the game.

In addition, the defense will adjust to pick & rolls (you can no longer exploit teams with it 90 times a game), refs will call illegal screens, you can block shots from behind (so much for LeBron's breakaway jam), players move according to skills (no more coast to coast Shaq), players box out more effectively, you'll see replays for fouls, guys dive for loose balls and now you choose who to give alley-oops to. And really, that barely scratches the surface of the game's numerous improvements. That's not to say it's perfect. We noticed some choppy player animations, guys still randomly walk out of bounds (as they receive passes), the free throw shooting meter lags between shots and some trick shots look ridiculous (though EA cut down on the number of them), but overall, this is one heck of a game.

Unfortunately, you'll have to wait a few weeks to enjoy some its other features. Dynamic DNA is useless until the season kicks off, and the same goes for Dynamic Season. In this new mode, you treat the 2009-2010 NBA season as your sandbox, playing alongside it and dramatically changing the outcome. It runs off the Dynamic DNA stats, so you can not only play the day's upcoming games, but go back and replay ones that have already taken place, and the game will adjust team records accordingly. It's an interesting way to be a part of the actual season and affect the outcome; you'll dig it.

In the online arena, you'll still be able to challenge players from around the world, except now you can also form a Brotherhood comprised of five gamers. This also comes with stat tracking, leaderboard support and medals for the best teams.

It also helps that NBA Live 10 looks attractive. EA Sports relit all of the arenas, remodeled players' heads, updated tattoos, included player specific animations (yes, LeBron does the chalk ritual), added throwback and cultural uniforms, threw in over 500 shoes and ditched the team practice facilities for The Hanger, a basketball court featuring the most popular players from the NBA (Dwight Howard, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, among others), as well as screens that let EA push streaming video into your home. Of course, if all you care about is sweat, the players sweat profusely, but by no means as bad as Patrick Ewing.

Obviously, the debate between which is better, NBA Live 10 or NBA 2K10, comes down to personal preference, but we're here to say that Live 10 offers plenty of thrills, modes and most importantly, fun. It's both incredibly entertaining as well as an early look at the future of sports games, and we expect to play it nonstop until NBA Live 11, where we fully expect EA's greatest crowd feature, Malice at the Palace.