“When I heard about working with EA Sports and being the cover athlete of NBA Live 18 I was pretty excited for the opportunity,” said Harden. “NBA Live 18 is all about creating your own identity and making your mark on the league, and I can definitely relate to that. If anybody knows about creativity it’s me.”
For the first time in the franchise’s history, basketball fans will be able to retain all the progress they make and the content they unlock when they switch from the demo to the full NBA Live 18 experience when it launches later this year. That’s good news for players, as there’s plenty of content to hold them over.
The demo offers up access to The Rise, the prologue to the The One, the game’s main campaign. It’s all about creating a unique character, and making choices that will shape their path through the NBA, and of course, all those decisions will transfer to the full game.
The One also features a host of timed Live Events, which are special challenges that will stretch the limits of the player’s abilities in every respect. Excelling at these activities will reap big rewards, so grabbing the demo and beating the first crop of Live Events is a great way to get a head start.
The demo also features a standard exhibition match for players who simply want to jump in and see what tweaks have been made to the series’ gameplay. Play Now mode sees the Cleveland Cavaliers take on the Golden State Warriors, the same match-up that played out in this year’s NBA Finals.
NBA Live 18 releases for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on September 15. The demo will be available on August 11.
