NBA Live 08 (PS3)

1/31/2008 12:00 AM | 0 Comments | Page 2 of 2

When it's finally time to hit the floor, we hope that you either like hoops trivia or dig "loading" screens, because things take a while to get rolling here. To their credit, both 2K's and Sony's games avoided such lengthy load times. On the plus side, your knowledge of questionably important NBA information will increase thanks to the number of trivia answers you'll be forced to come up with before every game.

Control-wise, the game does a lot of things that you'll like and some that you won't. As in previous versions of Live, shooting is split between the square and circle buttons to handle dunks and jump shots, respectively. It gives you more command of your guy and lets you do some cool stuff like opting for a short fade-away jumper instead of trying to stuff it if you're having trouble down low. On the negative side, it just doesn't feel as cool as being able shoot with the right stick like you can in 2K's game. Having the right stick free to do some funkier ball-handling is a pretty good consolation prize, though. In the future, when we develop a second right thumb, we'll be able to have the best of both worlds. In the nearer future, I also wouldn't mind seeing some motion-based controls using the Sixaxis. Sony's NBA 08 uses it, and while it doesn't feel completely intuitive, I'm guessing that some developer somewhere will figure out a way to incorporate it.

The look of the game falls somewhere between 2K's and Sony's games. There's some definite slowdown, which we didn't find in either of the other games, but some of the player movements seem more fluid than in the other games. Players seem more like they're a part of their environment. In 2K8, it sometimes seemed like they were skating over the court as opposed to running up and down it. The player models and faces are sharp, as well, and if you need to settle a bet with a friend about anyone's tattoos, you'll be able to do it here.

In the real world, this is already shaping up to be an exciting hoops season -- except, of course, if you're a Blazers fan whose season was dashed when Greg Oden went down. In the virtual world, things are just as exciting. While NBA 2K8 might be the overall winner in the hoops war, EA Sports' NBA Live 08 isn't too bad as a runner-up. This definitely doesn't feel like the franchise's debut on a new system. Things are good and can only get better from here.

This review was based on a retail copy of NBA Live 08 that was supplied by the publisher. Surprisingly, they sent it to him without first making sure he had a current and valid Game Reviewer's License.