NBA 2K8 (Xbox 360)

Still the King of the Court, but not by much.
1/31/2008 12:00 AM | 0 Comments | Page 2 of 3

When you're not trying to do a 360 over a Toyota, you can run through a familiar line-up of gameplay modes. Some hit; some don't. The Association is the mammoth career franchise mode that'll have you hiring staff, managing a budget, and generally trying to keep all of your players happy. In a nice touch, you're given plenty of options when setting up the mode. We particularly liked the Trade Override option. Sony's NBA 08 has no such option, nor -- apparently -- does it have a commissioner. You can freely trade bench players for stars and put together an unstoppable juggernaut. Being able to implement a watchdog keeps things legal. Of course, if you do just want to thrash the competition, you can turn the option off and get away with that otherwise suspect Leon Powe for Gilbert Arenas trade.

You can also play through a single game or season, skip right to the play-offs, or set up any situation you want -- time left, score, etc. -- and see how well you do. The game also lets you square off in a Rookie Challenge that pits this year's rookies versus last year's. It's a quick way to see how developers view the strengths and weaknesses of guys like Kevin Durant, Mike Conley, and Al Horford. We purposely didn't put Greg Oden in since learning he'd be out for the season. That said, if you really want to get your Greg Oden on, here's a way you can let him torch a bunch of second-year players whenever you want.

The mode in which we predict you'll be spending the least amount of time is the game's version of street ball. Take the game's elite and have them go up against each other in pick-up games in places like Rucker Park and The Cage. The gameplay is a little bit rougher than in the regular game, but that doesn't necessarily translate into much fun. If you want to have street ball fun, you need to be playing EA's NBA Street: Homecourt. The blacktop game in 2K8 doesn't fly.

Online, there's no shortage of ways to light it up. Bang away in a single game if you just want to see how your single-player skills work against a live foe, or go into it for the long haul in a tournament or season.

As far as presentation goes, movement on the court seems more fluid this year, and players have definitely been given a makeover. There are far fewer zombie-looking dudes running around. Play-by-play is generally on the mark. You will hear the same comments about certain players over and over again -- especially if you play through a season or are in Association mode -- but you do get a strong overall sense of watching a televised game.

Sports games, especially, have been known to adopt an if-it-ain't-broke mentality about year-to-year development. Many top games (sometimes referred to as "Madden") have been known to slide along either because the competition was so weak or because there was no competition at all. 2K Sports could have done just that. Its NBA 2K7 dominated the hoops scene last year, and there was no reason to believe it wouldn't do the same this year. Fortunately, for the folks at 2K -- and for gamers -- they didn't just rest on their laurels. EA Sports' NBA Live 08 offers some serious competition this year. Tweaks like the tighter controls and addition of a dunk competition, though, made an already strong game a monster. The crown remains in place.