NBA 2K8 (Xbox 360) Review
Posted by David Redkey on 10.06.2007
For fans of Professional Basketball, this is your Halo 3!
Over the years, my love for professional basketball has grown. In grade school, I liked the Chicago Bulls. I enjoyed everything about the team and the way they played the game (I could separate the way a player performed on the court from the way they lived off the court. **looks at Jordan**).
After the degradation of the Bulls, and Jordan retiring, I started to like the Portland Trailblazers and I began to loath Shaquille O’Neal. I started to dislike him when he was playing for the Orlando Magic. The disdain I felt for the player started when they competed against the Houston Rockets in the NBA Finals. My negative feelings towards Mr. O’Neal has continued when he went to the Lakers, and was finally traded to the Heat.
I started to like the Phoenix Suns when Steve Nash re-joined the roster after his stay in Dallas. They way the Suns played the game really opened my eyes to the sport and the enjoyment that a game could provide to the individuals watching the game. I liked teams like the Detroit Pistons; however, their games were boring to watch in comparison to a Suns game. Unfortunately, the Suns have yet to win an NBA title because there defense isn’t the best out there, and they don’t have hired thugs to weaken the team. Oh well, here is to this year.
Personal reasons opinions on the sport and some of the teams aside, the 2K series has been the forerunner when it comes to an accurate representation of certain sports for a long time. Contrary to the belief of the masses, EA doesn’t excel in that area with the NFL, the NBA, or any other sport they isn’t made by a rival company (PGA maybe the exception to the rule). My God honest opinion was that MVP Baseball was the exception to the rule. It was poetic justice that EA lost the MLB license to their bitter rival, 2K Sports, because the MLB allowed it to become exclusive for 3rd party developers. Unfortunately, I still insist that exclusive licenses only hurt the consumer in the long run because the consumer doesn’t have much of a choice. It becomes “my way or the highway.” If the game that is offered that year is god-awful, you don’t have much of a choice.
That is why I’m thrilled to continue to see that the NBA is putting the consumer first in regards to videogames. People from 2K Sports freely admit that they keep track of how competition is doing on a whole. In their opinion, they are still a few years behind and are still playing catch up. However, 2K Sports continues to strive to be the best basketball game on the market.
This year it was a pleasure to have the opportunity to review NBA 2K8. It had its share of flaws over the years; however, it was still the frontrunner, in my opinion, when it came to being the most accurate representation of the sport in question.
Was there a reason for this opinion beyond enjoying the games that Visual Concepts develop? Was I being a blind fanboy?
Agree or disagree with me, but read on and find out why I think this game is a cut above the rest.
Graphics
Graphics tend to play the most important role into conveying the excitement of a sporting event to a home experience that can be played year round (you don’t have to deal with drunks either. That would be a major plus in my opinion). Representation of a person’s favorite player can add to the fondness, or hatred, that is created in the hearts of the person that plays the game.
There is something I have to get out of the way first and foremost. This game may, or may not, satisfy graphic whores that own an X-Box 360 (or PS3) and like to flaunt the graphics of their respective console. First off, this isn’t going to be the best looking game on the 360 or the PS3. That award is still being held by a game called Gears of War. Both games look nearly identical on their respective consoles. Considering that the PS3 hasn’t been out in the US for over a year, which is pretty damn surprising.
NBA 2K8 is the closet representation of watching a real life basketball game. The players look like phenomenal overall. However, there are instances where some of the players look slightly off. Players don’t look like the zombified versions of themselves because Visual Concepts decided to stop the T-Virus this year. That was the case with NBA 2K7. Unfortunately, Visual Concepts hasn’t reached the level of photo realism that some gamers want.
Some of the player models look a bit off; however, the animation of the players is a sight to be hold. Visual Concepts added more Signature Style moves this year to immerse the player even more. They took the Signature shots from last years game, and decided to elevate it to the next level. Not only do the actual NBA players have authentic shots, they now have many of their own signature moves like free throws, shots, dribble moves, and dunks. That is truly exciting, and immerses you into the action on the court.
More than the players on the court, the game shows the coaches and the crowd (which would be a major step back if the game didn’t portray these individuals). Overall, the crowd continues to look pretty simplistic when compared to the players on the court. They have lower number of polygons, and these characters look of weird overall. However, they don’t look like the crowd found in NBA 2K5 on the original X-Box. There is an improvement when compared to years gone by, but that doesn’t mean it was a drastic improvement.
The coaches, on the other hand, look considerably better than the the crowd itself. They resemble their real life counter parts. The problem with the coaches is the fact that they tend to “resemble” the people they are based on. They aren’t spot on, and Mike D’Antoni’s representation looks nothing like him. Some of the other coaches look completely wrong (except their ethnicity) because I knew the coaches by name and couldn’t tell that it was really them until the announcers told me. On the plus side, the mascots are almost dead ringers.
The arenas sport tons of additional detail and the players react realistically towards coming in contact with their own coach or things in the environment (like the scoring table). You can bump into things that are on the sideline (if you aren’t careful) and that would cause a second or two delay for the player to recover and re-join the play. This isn’t a common hindrance to the overall gameplay (this isn’t Mutant League Football after all), but it is adding a level of realism that may not be matched by the competition to NBA 2K8. If you aren’t mindful of your surroundings, you can find your player taking out of the play.
Gameplay
Well, I mentioned the improvements to the animation? Well, 2K didn’t stop with just the graphics. They took that same effort and applied it towards the overall gameplay. They have refined and innovated the way sports games should be played. That is interesting considering the only company that forced innovation was Nintendo because of the release of the Wii.
2K Sports didn’t have to innovate the way a NBA basketball game should play. They just decided to do it to stay further ahead of their competition. The addition in question is the hot spot meter underneath the player holding the ball and the way the Association performs overall.
The Association mode has been refined, and updated, to create a level of immersion that hasn’t really been added to many other Sports games. You start the mode by defining the roles of the players on your team (ex: Starter, Backup, Role Player, etc.). The players personality also defines the way your team chemistry increases or decreases. The players on your team can be disruptive, laid back, etc. A disruptive player will be upset if you decide to bench them because they want the glory of being a starter. If you don’t please the player, this can have a negative impact on the players rating, and the way the team performs overall. A player may refuse to hustle on the court, and you may have to trade them to help your overall team.
As a player moves around the court with the ball, the meter will fill according to the likely hood that the shot will be accurate. It is a five bar meter (similar to a cell phone). When a player like Steve Nash or Dirk Nowitzki goes behind the three point line, it will be higher than having Yao Ming behind the three point line.
Besides just showing you the players hot spot, it will convey the fact if the player is on a “hot” or “cold” streak. This can actually have a negative or positive effect on the likelihood of a player making a shot because the hot spot bar increases (or decreases) depending on a player being hot or cold.
When you are on defense, the computer will attempt to take you apart and exploit the weakness of your defense. They will try to shoot up three’s if you are clogging the lane, or take the ball to the whole if your defense is spread out across the court. The computer’s offense learns from your tendency. Unfortunately, the computer’s defense doesn’t seem to be at the same level as the offense. I was adapt at scoring and didn’t really feel that the computer took advantage of the way I ran my offense. However, I did lose a few games; so, my perception may not coincide with reality.
NBA 2K8 is vastly different from NBA 2K7 because the 24/7 mode was removed. The mode is called NBA Blacktop. The games that the player could use in this mode were separated to allow players to use it as a “party” game. The Official Sprite Dunk Contest and the three point contest was added. You can decide what player you use in the contest, and you are scored on delivery, take-off, and the dunk itself. You have control of all three parts and you can even add props to increase the difficulty and make the dunk more exciting. You can even use retired greats! That is a boost to fans that would like to play as the retired greats.
The funny thing is that Visual Concepts is adept to translating the offline gameplay to the online world. You can do all of the exhibition modes like the Dunk Contest or the Three point shootout through X-Box Live (which can’t be said for NBA Live 2008). You can even have your own online season (including draft).
Overall, this is a complete game for true basketball fans. There are some missteps that can’t hurt the overall product. Increasing difficulty doesn’t impact the way the computer plays defense, it impacts the likelihood you will make a shot. That is a serious negative in my opinion. The computer shouldn’t decrease how skilled your players should shoot or play just to create an artificial difficulty. That is a cheap way out by the developers in my opinion. That doesn’t mean the game isn’t difficult, but series vets will be turned off by this. It was in last year’s game, and it is in this year’s game.
Because of all the innovation that permeates the very disk you load into your 360, it is saddening to see how some things weren’t updated. These updates make it harder to swallow some of things that were overlooked. On a side note, the instruction manual is one of the worst I’ve ever seen published. You learn everything by the loading screens (not the manual). Some of the things you need to know should be in the book. However, if you give the game your time and patience, it will not seem that bad.
Sound
The announcing team is still excellent this year. They provide an accurate representation of an announcing team that you will hear on TV. They perform adequate play by play. Unfortunately, they can fall behind the action from time to time.
The atmosphere adds tons to the overall experience of the game and makes you feel like you are really participating in a (keyword here) real NBA game. When I was playing as the Suns during a home game, my team started to become hot from sinking shots. It was cool to here the crowd yell “THHHHRRREEE” when I shot behind the line. That isn’t the only thing they do. The crowd will mimic the way crowds respond to on court play. Before I played this game, I had never seen this much effort put forth to the overall atmosphere.
Lasting Appeal
I will make this concise. If you like Basketball, this will be your game of choice ‘til next year. The options available put any other professional sport to shame. I just skimmed the surface of what the Association can offer you because everything you do is voluntary. I can go into further detail, but that is like asking me to give a square inch by inch description of The RCA Dome. The computer can take the reigns and handle all the stuff you don’t want to get into, and the depth of the game is dependant upon how much you are willing to invest into this game.
Fun Factor
Simply put, this is a very fun game. It has NBA Blacktop, the Association, and Exhibition to provide an ample amount of entertainment that can’t be adequately gauged by a few words. Your fun is dependant upon you and you alone, because you’ll be hard pressed to find a mode that isn’t as deep as you want it.
the 411
There is a reason why I like 2K Sports and Visual Concepts. They provide the type of game that a true fan of the sport will enjoy. The game has excellent graphics and animations, a franchise mode that is rivaled by no one, and even modes aimed to people want an arcade experience sans the simulation aspects.
Graphics
8.0
The players models are a small improvement over last year's game. The other side of the coin is this, the signature style adds so much to the atmosphere and the way the game is played. It almost seems like watching a real basketball game on tv.
Gameplay
9.0
An endlessly deep Association mode, NBA Blacktop, season mode, or exhibition are available offline AND online.
Sound
9.5
The announcing team and the crowd reactions are truly golden. Unfortuantely, the play-by-play can fall behind from time to time.
Lasting Appeal
10.0
This game gives back to you as much as you put into it.
Fun Factor
10.0
You would have to hate basketball to NOT like this game.
