Another year brings another series of NBA basketball games. 2K Sports and EA both have games for basketball fans to enjoy, the last couple years 2K being the graphical winner. Finally this year EA Sports has released a true "next" generation NBA title. The 2006 and 2007 versions of Live were obvious rehashes released for the 360. Now with NBA Live 08 you actually have an EA basketball for this generation of gaming systems.

There isn't a whole lot new in this title in features compared with previous years. You get the new rosters and a couple new modes. They involve an all-star dunk function and 3-point contest. The graphics as previous stated are vastly improved over the last titles though the shooting is a bit off at times and the computer still "cheats" once if you play on superstar difficulty. An example is in the 3-point shootout, where you can have a player completely maxed out for 3-pointers but you will only hit around five shots. Lower the difficulty by one notch and hitting all of the shots is simple.

Dynasty mode returns with no real changes, though players, if you don't pay attention, will jump ship after every season if you aren't careful. Online play is unchanged this year. Lag is almost none existent in the game play so it makes an enjoyable experience if one enjoys playing sports titles online.

The soundtrack is vastly improved from last season as there is a bit more non-rap songs to listen to while you play, which is a good thing. The commentary is actually fairly entertaining at first, but after a few games it does start to get tiring.

Achievements are an easy affair once again. The good news is that none of the achievements are online achievements, like last season's 1000 players online achievement which only about 1% of all the people that have played the game have actually received. There are only a couple difficult achievements, one of which is winning the 3-point shootout on superstar mode. The inconsistent shooting in that event is the biggest downfall and reason for frustration. Other then that practice and luck will net 1000/1000 points in the game.

If you are a basketball fan and have been a fan of the EA Live series you will not be disappointed with this title. If you are new to the series you will find a very enjoyable basketball game, the first in a few years from EA Sports.


GameXYZ is rated E (Everyone) by the ESRB for Content Descriptors. This game can also be found on: GBA, GameCube, Nintendo DS, PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360 and Mobile Phone.