
	Platform Playstation 3 Genre Sports Publisher SCEA Developer SCEA ESRB E (Everyone) Released October 2007

- Good shot meter - Look great most of the time - Some diversionary mini-games are cool

- Spotty controls, especially the shoehorned motion controls which add nothing to the experience - Herky, jerky animation all over the place - Very weak commentary - The "fun" never shows up

Review: NBA 08 (PSP) Review: NBA Live 08 (360) Review: NBA Street Homecourt (360)
Newsletter
Be notified of site updates. Sign-up for the Newsletter sent out twice weekly. Enter E-Mail Address Below: Subscribe \| Unsubscribe

NBA 08

Score: 4.5 / 10

My expectations were not unusually high but I started to ask myself if I was expecting too much – for NBA 08 to be at least a passable game. But I expect every video game to be somewhat passable. In that respect, my expectations were definitely not too high. What we get here in an un-fun mess of a game shoved out to hit an arbitrary ship date.

Even before the main menu screen, there’s no escaping this uneasy feeling that you’re about to plunge into the abyss. You get a snippet of an old guy riffing about how awesome NBA 08 is, about how much fun you’re about to have, about how good it looks…

NBA 08 does look good, particularly the details on the court; however, the players suffer from the same plastic look that plagued most of EA’s sports titles for the

Advertisement

- Sports Game Reviews
- Games Published by Sony

last few years. The clothes they wear reacts to changes in momentum and speed, but they look like a bunch of Ken dolls. It also doesn’t help that the animations suffer from a distinct lack of variety and situational awareness. You can have defender well out of the play and rather than stand up like any normal player would, he side-steps everywhere in a defensive stance!

Advertisement

And does it slowly! I will give NBA 08 credit for providing a smooth transition from offense to defense as the camera swings around so you always have a good view of the court. And the dunks look pretty good, too.

But a few sparkles don’t make up for a poor basketball experience. Even the play-by-play and color commentary feels weak and limply delivered. There’s also a common problem of the audio not matching up with what’s actually happening in the game, or so far behind the play that you’ll wonder what they’re talking about.

Some will have deduced my next statement. NBA 08 feels like an almost finished game. While a year’s delay might have left a hole in Sony’s PS3 sports line-up – easily filled by EA – it might have resulted in a more fun basketball game; a game you wouldn’t have to simply tolerate because you mistakenly (and unfortunately) dropped $60US on it.

- D.D. Nunavut

(November 8, 2007)