[HTML1]

In late 2014, EA Sports hoped to revitalize their NBA Live brand with NBA Live 14, the first basketball title the developer had delivered in almost three years. Unfortunately, while NBA Live 14 had some promise, it fell almost completely flat. So much so, in fact, that the developers behind the game had to issue a public apology to fans.

That poor reception out of the gate wasn't enough to discourage EA Sports, though, and the team is back with NBA Live 15. They're hoping that this time around the team can deliver on those initial promises, while also stealing some market share from their competitors. We have the first trailer for the game above, and more details about NBA Live below.

The NBA Live 15 trailer focuses exclusively on the next-gen animation, player likenesses, and backgrounds in the game, which EA Sports hope will be enough to draw gamers in. The developer also specifically explains that any and all moves gamers see in the trailer are 100% possible in game, although they might require a little more than your average skill level.

Visually, NBA Live 15 looks every bit the part of a next-gen sports experience. Player likeness and detail are top notch, and the movements are much smoother than what we saw in last year's game. However, NBA Live 14 did have a pretty appealing set of trailers as well, but the end product did not meet expectations. Not even close.

NBA Live 15 Trailer

Also, we would be remiss not to mention NBA 2K 15, the major competitor for Live moving forward. 2K just released a new trailer as well, and as expected it's stunning. 2K Sports' series has been the banner holder for the NBA for almost a decade, which will make Live's job even harder.

So while a flashy new trailer might be a great start for NBA Live 15, the game still has a steep uphill climb. Fans were none too happy with the clunky mess that was last year's game, and they'll likely be very reticent about jumping back into the Live franchise so soon. Trailers are by and large deceptive pieces of marketing, but they can also help highlight what makes a game unique.

That being said, those gamers who are looking for something a little different out of their basketball games might end up finding a lot to like in NBA Live 15. We'll have to wait and see.

What do you think of the first trailer for NBA Live 15? Does the game look like a major improvement over last year?

NBA Live 15 releases October 7, 2014 for PS4 and Xbox One.

-

Follow Anthony on Twitter @ANTaormina