Others say...

"Fun Game but Still Has Shortcomings"
I definitely have some gripes about this game but they weren't enough to make me put my controller down. It is fun but how much the little things bother you will certainly be a factor in how much you enjoy this game.

GAMEPLAY (the most important part): The controls are nice. I don't have any problems getting my guys to do what I want them to do. The use of the right stick to do crossovers, spins, etc. is nothing new but still works really well.

- The CPU will still violate your personal space when you are trying to maneuver, making it hard to get past them unless you can blow by them before they get to you. As far as the Pro-Hop feature, or whatever it's called, it doesn't seem to work for me. I've coughed up the ball each time I've done it.

- As a previous reviewer mentioned, jumpers are hard to come by and scoring your points in the paint is the optimal way to do it. I have more success with mid-range jumpers than long-range and 3s. One possible reason for this may be the addition of the Hot Zones, which tell you where a player is prone to making/missing shots. I don't pull it up all that often but it's very possible I'm taking shots from the cold zones.

- Easy layups are still missed far too often. The split isn't 50/50 but I'd guess it's somewhere near 80/20 (making/missing).

- Rebounding is more evenly distributed than in past games. I've never been able to grab rebounds and my CPU teammates always got out-rebounded as well. This year your teammates will do a very good job at grabbing those boards to get you started on your fast breaks.

- Fast breaks work pretty well, provided you adjust your Transition Style to allow for more fast breaks. By default it, it is a 50/50 split for fast breaks and taking it up the court slowly.

- Reach-in fouls are called a little too much in this game but offensive and shooting fouls are called just about as much as you would see in a normal game, maybe a bit less. Adjust the sliders to fit your preferences. As far as shooting fouls go, you definitely get your share of "and 1s."

- There is a slight learning curve with free throws. I didn't play Live 07 so I'm not sure if it is the same system or not. It consists of you pulling down on the right stick and then pushing up at the right moment to successfully make your free throw. If you miss, there is an overlay that pops up giving you hints on what you did right and wrong. Overall, it works pretty well once you get the hang of it.

- Alley-oops looks a little cheesy because the flight of the ball is like half of a McDonald's arch. I know they are supposed to be lob passes but the trajectory just looks funky. I've yet to miss an alley-oop though.

AI: The CPU AI still makes the PG the one you have to worry about the most. Who needs Elton Brand when you have Sam Cassell? Kevin Durant? The Luke Ridnour/Delonte West combo is what will bring the Sonics to the promised land. They will also use up most of the shot clock, so you can forget about both teams consistently pushing it up and down the court.

ANIMATION/GRAPHICS: I think the graphics are great. Everything just looks really clean. The lighting is great. Player models work out well, for the most part. Baron Davis looks spot on, as does coverboy, Gilbert Arenas.

The animation is great too. Baron Davis' stepback jumper looks just like it does in real life. Gone are the days when the CPU would set a pick and your guy runs into him and just looks like he is running in place. Now you actually see some effort by your player to get around the pick.

MISCELLANEOUS: Commentary by Marv Albert and Steve Kerr is done pretty well. You won't hear too many repeat phrases in one game but they will probably repeat it in the next game.

- The menu system works well, as you use the D-pad to navigate pre-game and in-game menus.

- The music hasn't been too inspiring yet, but this is all subjective. I prefer to hear more upbeat music but so far I've only heard lower BPM songs.

- There are online leagues as well. I believe you can go with a public league or create a private one. There is also supposed to be a patch released in the near future which will allow for 5v5 games.

OVERALL: It's the things like the frequency of missed layups and CPU PGs being beasts that make me give this game 3/5 stars. The former shouldn't even be an issue and I can't understand why EA wouldn't address this. It really is a downer. Despite the missed layups, I rated the fun factor higher because of the improvements in gameplay. These improvements compensate for the shortcomings, leaving you with a fun, yet slightly frustrating experience.

"Better than i thought"
i have this game for playstation 3 so i bought it as a present for a friend of mines who owns a 360....i use to constantly read forums who claimes that the game was crap. My advice is to play it for yourself and find out.....no matter how i try i cant put the game down. i love the go to moves....anyway...you wont be disappointed it is a better game that people is giving it credit for.

"Average at best."
I am one of the many former Live fans, Live 95 being one of the best and funnest games of the series, but with recent iterations of the game being lackluster I have moved onto to greener pastures, also known as the NBA 2K series. So when I saw that Live 08 had made some big improvements over the disaster that was Live 07, I figured why not give it a chance. While this game is significantly better than Live 07, it still isn't that great a basketball sim. Certain animations seem to be missing making the game seem not as fluid as you would hope especially from a game running at 60 frames per second. Dunk animations in particular are just not right. Guys can go from running or standing still to a dunk in a very quick leap, essentially making the shot unblockable. At best when someone dunks it's either a foul or a dunk. Blocking the dunk is definitely not an option even with some of the best shotblockers in the league. Also jumpshot animations really have no rhythm so it does not feel very fluid when shooting a jump shot. Watching the game also isn't that fun. The way players move on the floor has a wonky feel to it, not like watching a real game. All in all I'd have to stay skip this Live and pick up 2K8. Even though 2K has its flaws, one being a terrible roster glitch that screws up all player match ups on defense, it is still a far better gameplay experience than Live. While I was hoping Live would hit its stride next year, I think we'll have to wait for NBA Live 2010 before this game is relevant again.

"Great game, but not quite a slam dunk!"
Every year, it's the same debate. Should I get the newest incarnation of NBA Live with all it's promises of better gameplay than the year before or should I stick with the reliable, yet bland 2k series? Well this year, I actually find myself playing NBA Live 08 more than I do NBA 2k8. That's not a knock to 2k8, but I find Live 08 to be a more straight-forward basketball experience. There are no crazy gimmicks that detract from the gameplay.

So what's new this year? Everything. The game has been completely rebuilt from the ground up with gameplay being the biggest improvement. Low post players can now dominate the paint with a variety of offensive moves (spins, hook shots, pump fakes, etc.) Cross-overs and juke moves using the right thumbstick are more fluid and realistic and new signature moves are also a nice addition. For instance, while holding the right trigger and pushing either the dunk or shoot button, your superstar will pull off a power move only unique to him that increases the chances of having the shot go in. There's even a nice video tutorial during the shoot around session at the main menu which shows each superstar's primary signature move.

The graphics have been given a complete overhaul and surprisingly, I found that the player models in Live 08 were much better than the ones in 2k8. Facial modeling is superb and dead on. EA really went out of their way to create eaThe courts look accurate and are cleanly rendered. The crowds are also very nice and don't resemble spray-painted card board boxes as they do in other sports titles.

Despite the vast improvement in this year's game as opposed to the year before, there are still a couple of glaring problems that are downright maddening. The worst is the ridiculous loading times before a game. I once clocked it at four minutes. Online games are not much better.

The A.I. substitutions can also be a little loopy as point guards will occasionally be substituted for centers. Point blank shots near the rim tend to clang off the metal and there are instances where a player with the ball will be standing clearly out of bounds and nothing is called.

Despite these bugs, I still enjoy playing Live 08. It's not much better than 2k8, but I appreciate the fluidity of the controls and the excellent visuals and player models. Good job, EA.


"NBA 08"
Man i was almost fooled in to geting the cartoony, NBA2K! Live is just much better. I've been a live fan for yrs, and yes last years version sucked. But i think EA got there head out of their azz, and took thier time on this game. The game play is so much better, the controls are not like your playing a fighting game(combos) Its striaght forward! So if you were a live fan since the 90s, you can rest assure this is far better then the SEGA game. Only prob is which one to get ti on PS3-XBOX360?