NBA Live 08 review (X360)

EA got a lock of flack from the gaming community for last years NBA title. The graphics weren't good but, most importantly, the gameplay wasn't fluid or responsive. They've had a year back at the drawing board and, at first glance, they seem to have come up with the goods. The graphics are bold and detailed and the game looks pretty smooth. Have they managed to go more than skin deep with this refresh of one of the most popular basketball sims or are they in for another critical bashing this year?

The first bite is with the eye

When NBA Live 08 loads up you're put straight into the game .The menu takes place against a backdrop of the training court. You can control a single player from your favourite team and get to grips with shooting and ball control before you pick up the game proper. This is almost useful but not completely unfortunately. It helps you to quickly get to grips with the sprint and shoot buttons but that's not the only part of the game. It's a nice touch but after the first time it's a bit wasted. You generally want to just find the appropriate game mode when you're in the menu screen not throw some easy baskets. It does ensure that you get to see the graphics as soon as you switch on the game. The graphics are quite striking. The players are detailed and the camera angle really helps to show them off to their best. It's a close up view allowing you to see the effort that's gone into the player models and the animations.

Great ball control

NBA is packed with game modes. Alongside the expected modes like quick play and dynasty you'll find some unexpected modes like slam dunk competition and fantasy draft. All of these modes have their positives and negatives, the slam dunk competition is basically a button timing game while the fantasy draft allows you to select 10 players for your team from across teams. The only problem is that there's nothing to stop both teams selecting the same players or even one team having multiple instances of the same player. That does mean that both teams can be evenly balanced but it's also a bit unrealistic. The other modes on offer are the rookie sophmore game, the three point shootout, NBA all star game, FIBA tournament and scenario play. The scenario mode allows you to set various game parameters like starting score, time left, time on the shot clock, penalties and so on. You can make the scenario as difficult for you or as easy as you like.

Forging a dynasty

There's quite a few game modes but you'll probably spend most of your time in the dynasty mode trying to carve out a name for yourself. You start out the dynasty by hiring your staff. That's a trainer, a scout, an assistant head coach and an assistant. From here you can supervise your staff and set a training schedule through the preseason. You can take control of the team throughout the season and from the GMs you can monitor the perfomance of the team from the team chemistry, injury report and, of course trades and free agency. If you aren't interested in the game play particularly and you just want to manage the team you can elect to simulate the games. If you want to take a more active role then you can play the game as normal.

Taking care of business

Regardless of the game mode the important thing is that it plays well. EA got a lot of criticism last year for lousy gameplay and they've tried to turn it around this year. The camera angle gives a broadcast feel to the game as it's quite low and tight. This does make it difficult to see enough court for breakaway passes. It does really help to show off the effort that's been spent on the graphics. The animations are very smooth and there is plenty of variety in the animations for shots, dunks and passes. This is all helped by a smooth control system. On offence you have a pass button which goes to the nearest player, a jump shot and a lay-up/dunk button. On top of this there's a sprint trigger which also allows you to direct passes in combination with the directional left stick. The right stick is used for quick break moves. On it's own this is used to try and beat defenders during a run to the hoop. This is pretty effective and can sometimes make it too easy to beat the defenders. When you're being blocked by a defender you can hold down the left trigger to turn your back and protect the ball. Combining this with the right stick tries to throw the defenders off. The controls are well placed and easy to access at the right points which helps to keep the game flowing.

It's all about the team

Up to now it's all been pretty good. The first let down from NBA Live 08 is a pretty big one. The AI just isn't up to the job. It's too easy to get past them sometimes but that's not too big a deal. More of a problem is the little things. Pass to a teammate on a 2 on 1 breakaway and far too often you'll find that your pass goes straight to the player with a lofty pass. That tends to stop the other player and gives the defence time to regroup and rather spoils your breakaway. Shooting is also pretty hit and miss. There's no user control over the shots but you can pull the left trigger to see the hot-spots on the court. This shows you where you're player is most likely to score from. This adds an element to the game because you'll be trying to work your player to their hotspot and even give up the ball to a team-mate because you've got an open shot from a cold spot on the court. Unfortunately, the players have a tendency to miss from their hotspots and even miss on open lay-ups during a breakaway. Top NBA players just don't miss those easy shots. Since you can't control the shot that can be pretty frustrating. The most irritating thing about this game though is the loading times. EA has thrown in an NBA trivia game while the game's loading but, seriously, this reminded me of loading games on the spectrum from cassette. It wasn't that long but it feels like it took forever. That really destroys the momentum and anticipation for the game.

Sounding off

NBA Live 08 is a big improvement over last year. EA has put a lot of effort to get a well presented, well commentated game of basketball. The presentation is pretty great but there are too many holes in the gameplay. It's very difficult to intercept passes even when you're in the passing lane. Easy shots get missed too often and passing while on a breakaway too often cause the breakaway to fail. These gameplay annoyances make a good looking game too frustrating to play. If you're really keen on the management of the team then the dynasty mode will hold your attention. You can skip the games if you want to in which case you won't notice all of the annoyances. In general, NBA Live has come a long way on the next gen consoles this year but it still has a long way to go for next year. The controls feel fluid and well designed. The animation and graphics are great. The gameplay is good but not great. If EA can fix these annoyances with the game then next year this could be the basketball game to own for the Xbox 360.