NBA LIVE 08 Review - Xbox 360

7

Gameplay: 7
Graphics: 8
Audio: 7
Multiplayer: 7
Innovation: 6

Basketball is a sport that isn’t highly recognised in Australia, however in the United States, basketball is without a doubt one of the biggest sports. With famous stars like Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, and Dirk Nowinski, basketball is quickly becoming world renowned for its giants that can jump. EA’s NBA LIVE series has continued to progress through the years getting closer to a realistic experience, and NBA LIVE 08’s graphics demonstrate just how far the series has come, but does its gameplay live up to the increasing pressure from the gaming community to have realistic sports games without any hiccups?

Gameplay

NBA LIVE 08’s menu system works the same way as all the other EA 08 sports games, and it shows gamers what new features NBA LIVE 08 has to offer. Gamers can simply jump straight in to a game with the Play Now mode, or they can try other modes such as Slam Dunk and 3-point Shootout competitions. These two modes may not be new, but they definitely provide unique mini-game style gameplay that requires gamers to learn a new control layout. The dunking system has a very steep learning curve, but it is very rewarding once mastered.

New game modes include FIBA World Championship where players can compete in an 8 team tournament with any of the top international teams in the world or any NBA teams, Quick Pick Play where you can play with any 10 players on any 2 NBA teams, and Scenario Play where you can create and save your own scenario. Scenario Play basically makes it easier to jump in to a custom offline game with all your favourite settings, instead of having to continually change them in Play Now mode.

Dynasty Mode is back and even more complex now, as you can control a team from the pre-season training right through to their glory days as champions. One of the great features about Dynasty Mode is the ability to simulate basically every event throughout the whole year. When simulating a game however, it shows the scoreboard and takes a few seconds for each quarter, but it actually allows you to interrupt the simulation in case it looks like you’re going to lose and you want to change the outcome by actually playing. In Dynasty mode you can also recruit and release players as you see fit, and there are loads of different customisations, making NBA LIVE 08 a must have for any basketball manager lover.

NBA LIVE 08 kicks of in a similar style to FIFA 08. You get a few basketballs at your feet, and half a court to play around in. If you switch on more controllers, more players become available and you can have a bit of fun around the court, playing (continued next page)