When EA releases a new sports game it’s rarely a surprise. That doesn’t mean, however, that I was any less excited to get my hands on NBA 08 and give it a try. I have found that recently EA, for their 360 titles at least, have tried to create game play which has a much more authentic feel than some of the previous arcade type games. This trend has continued with NBA 08.

All new EA Sports titles have a free roam mode which appears as soon as you pop in the game. I played around for a while as Gilbert Arenas, who appears on the cover, to try and get a handle for the look and feel of the game. The first thing anyone notices is how a game looks; and I am no exception. The game looks awesome. Players can be easily identified by NBA fans simply by their appearance, as virtually every detail was captured.

More difficult to achieve than accurate looks is accurate movements and it is here that NBA 08 really shines. Virtually every player has their own unique movements in the game. Shawn Marion shoots like Shawn Marion, Arenas fades away like Arenas and Lebron dunks like Lebron. Little things that had always been a little dodgy in previous versions of NBA, like quick break passes, have mostly been taken care of as well. If you watch the NBA than you will be sure to appreciate the depth of visual detail in the game.

The next thing you notice when picking up any new game is the game play. A game can look great but if it isn’t fun to play it will soon be gathering dust on the shelf. Fortunately for all of us I don’t think NBA 08 will be collecting dust bunnies anytime soon, or at least not until NBA 09 comes out.

The game play is really good, not great, not amazing, but really good. Before all the new movement options are mastered, like the complete dribble control and signature move ability, the game play can be a little choppy. After spending a few hours playing the game though the choppiness I had noticed earlier seemed to be disappearing with my increasing skill level. In the end, NBA 08 provides a very realistic feel, while still managing to provide smooth, fun game play.

NBA 08 offers the gamer a choice between quite a few game modes including a Franchise, Dynasty, Online, All-Star Weekend and the FIBA league.

I love playing games in Dynasty mode. Dynasties start with your choice of taking over an existing franchise, with their current rosters, or truly start from scratch and complete a fantasy draft. I really appreciate games that allow you to draft your own team. I find that I have a much stronger emotional attachment to created teams, and therefore enjoy the long 82 game season that much more.

The only thing more satisfying than sinking a buzzer beater against the computer is doing it against a real person online. In my opinion, the most fun can be had playing online and if thats all the game came with I’d probably still buy it. It’s that good.

As for the other modes, they are fun the first couple times around but they lose their appeal and grow repetitive quite quickly. But nobody really cares about the International League or the dunk competition, do they? I sure don’t. While it is nice to have the option, I don’t foresee too many 3 point contests in my future.

One of the few complaints I have with the game is that the cross over rating system must be changed. Every point guard who is good enough to play in the NBA is capable of performing a crossover. EA apparently does not agree. Bottom tier point guards, like Jose Calderon on the Raptors, frequently, too frequently, loses the ball while trying to perform a simple crossover. I am not saying those players should never lose the ball but they are clearly under rated. EA allows you to remedy the situation, however, by allowing you to edit anyone’s ratings. The obvious problem being that the newly rated Jose Calderon is now as good as Jason Terry at doing crossovers so it kind of throws everything out of whack, but to a very minimal degree.

Another minor annoyance that should be mentioned is the in-game play calling and substitution interface. It requires the use of the D-pad, which in turn forces your thumb off the main joystick. In time, I am sure that I will be able to efficiently call a play on the fly, but for the novice gamer play calling can be a handful.

The last negative aspect that is worth mentioning manifests itself in the form of the new Hot/Cold feature which, when a button is pushed, reveals where the current ball handler is either hot or cold shooting the ball. In theory this is a great feature, but beyond the marquee players the hot/cold zones seem to be arbitrarily selected. Only die hard NBA fans will notice this though.

I must say, however, the good definitely outweighs the bad. All in all, whether playing a season against the computer, a game against someone online or simply having a dunk competition with friends, NBA 08 is a must have for all basketball fans.

Graphics: 4.5
Gameplay: 4.5
Sound: 4.0
Replay Value:5.0






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