NBA Live 08 - Better Basketball Game All-Around for the Money
There were some significant changes that were made with regards to NBA Live 08 that made this game a winner over the last version that was released in 2007. The first thing that really made this game stand out for me was the massively improved graphics that it offers—which truly are eye popping, exceptional and very high definition. The players will actually sweat, and beads of their sweat will fall from their bodies and hit the floor—yeah it is that realistic. The fans in the crowd are more realistic as well, and actually look the best of any sports game crowd that I have ever seen, adding more to the feeling realism; and something which most sports game entirely overlook.
Next on my laundry list of improvements are the vastly bettered computer artificial intelligence which offers a much more challenging game during the playtime, and when compared to the AI of the last few games in this franchise, there really is no comparison – a decent portion of their budget obviously went into developing a far superior AI then they had ever offered before in this awesome basketball dropper. The computer can actually learn how you play and accommodate with a challenge that will match your wits, making ever game harder to beat and more interesting. For example, the computer will quite often learn who your favorite players are and before you know it you are dribbling through a double team just to get to the net, and from time to time you will see your ball get stolen from your star player hands by computer AI.
The controls have been refined and now there are new ball handling options that you can take advantage of. This creates a more dynamic controlling aspect when you are running around the court trying to win big games for your team. The live mode, however, still needs some more fixes as the AI somehow seems to go retarded when you are playing live, but this is overlookable in light of the many great innovations that they have uncovered with this newer game. And still the best mode all around is the Dynasty mode, which always takes the fore in any sports game, and is rocking in this one. And, it does somehow make up for a crappy live mode on Xbox 360.
“NBA Live 2008 is one of the better basketball games that you will see in a long time. The graphics are stupendous, the game play is as realistic as it gets, and the added modes, AI tweaks and control sets make this game one of the better ones out there for the money. An awesome game and a job very well done! I can’t wait to see what they have to offer with the 2009 version of this game, but am optimistic that it will be even better….can’t wait”
My Score: 7 out of 10
View the NBA Live 08 trailer below
