NBA 2K8 reviews and opinions.

More importantly, does it affect your gameplay. Who cares what the reviews says. As long as you enjoy it, thats' all that matters. Don't get too caught up on that. Just because you can use lock on D to use a center to guard a guard doesn't mean you have to do it. I'm just enjoying the game as it is right now, though I only rented. No funds to buy any games right now, but I would definitely consider purchasing if i had the cash.

Just as I thought-there won't be a b-ball season this year. Both 2k8 and live 08 both are both bad games. What's happened to sports games?!

Lock on D is not as easy as the guy makes it sound. Sure you can use a big guy to play D on a point guard.. But the AI will see this and pass the ball to the mismatch you have down low and score an easy bucket. Plus lock on D doesnt stay locked on. you can run screens and lock on d will unlock.

That IGN guy made something big out of nothing.

I think they've completely screwed up the pacing of the 2k7 with 2k8. No more stop and pop shooting. The flow just seems really crappy. They took away some of the cheap spin moves down low, but they changed a great title into something not so good. Maybe they should have focused on having all the guys shorts stay on and their hair not turning white to start with. Fix those glitches...add a new roster...make the game a little deeper...leave the gameplay alone.

Live 08 is just stupid. They should go sim or arcade... instead it's lost in the middle. If it wasn't for SKATE....i'd say EA should go hang themselves. Madden and NCAA football are alright...but EA sucks nonetheless.

I like it...it is no longer a dunkfest like all of the previous versions. You actually have to set plays to get those much deserved points. The animations are spot on, and the crowd noise is awesome(great with surround sound) over last years. Please don't listen to ign on this. They tend to be rather weak when reviewing sports games. Great game

OK, after comparing 07 to 08, I must say this version is much better than 07. The AI in 08 is head & shoulders better than the AI in 07. This game is very unforgiving if you make mistakes. Especially on defense. The AI makes you pay. Mismatches are exploited by the AI(smaller players on taller players) This is a True Basketball Simulation & people looking a Simulation Experience will get-1 with 2k8

Graphics: The Player Models are updates & the Cloth Physics are toned down, but the jaggies are evident. This has always been a problem with 2k sports. The player faces are recognizable, but some of the Face-Mapping done is like WTF.

The Stadiums have been re-done & it shows. Man the Stadiums look nice. Here they've also toned down the Court Shine & the floors making it look much better than Last Years version.

Animations/Game Play: Man I found myself pausing the game more than often, due to some of the stuff I saw. Simply breath-taking. From players Jump Shots, to Dunks, to Passes, to the way Players move on the court. Once in a while spacing can be a problem, but I found this to be true only when I broke a Called Play & tried to go on my own. Players show emotion anytime they make a nice play or score. They also show emotion when also burned on a play.

As for Game Play, 2k has done this title justice in the game play dept. Who would've thought after last year, but they did it. Like I said before the AI is unforgiving on Offense & pays pretty good defense. The user will have to work to score. For those who love to just run up & down all game long, you will be in a frustrating experience. Like to run 1 play all game long. I think not as the AI will adjust & force you to do other things.

They've also added a D Lock feature which is useful for the user. This activated once a Diamond like Icon appears next to the player by pulling the L Trigger

2K has also change the way the ISOMOTION works as many who downloaded the DEMO know. No longer do you have to HOLD the R Trigger in order to engage the ISOMOTION. ISOMOTION is all mainly done with the L Analog Stick. BTW the ISOMOTION has also been toned down

You also can have off the ball Player Control(didn't use it much so I can't say how it works & how well it works, sorry)

Presentation: The Presentation is nice. Again this year no Pre-Game Intro's. The Half-Time show has changed also as Kenny "Stamp of Approval" has been removed for a more generic Half-Time Show.(Quick Stat Overlay with Kenny Smith & Kevin Harlan giving Player Stats)

There is a Player of the Game with video highlights playing in the background, but that's not all. You now also have a Game Wrap-Up option which allows you to select from different options for reviewing the game you just played. 1 of the options is the ability to review every highlight available for every player that has played in the game. A very nice addition IMO.

Overall, this game plays a helluva basketball game. If you enjoyed 2k7, your are in for a treat with 2k8. As solid a Basketball Game that you'll ever find. This-1 might be the greatest basketball game ever made.

9

I will agree about the stop and pop; while not that big of a deal to me, it's still irritating. I really don't understand IGN's hang up with the lock on D, seriously, they made something out of nothing. I tried my hardest last night to abuse the lock on D with Bruce Bowen, arguably the best defender in the league; I even tried with Shaq, and the cpu would either get by me eventually if it was a mismatch, or they would pass the ball, or the lock on D would unlock like a previous poster said. I've even had opponents that I locked onto, and they would back me down for a layup or shoot right over me!

Honestly, besides the pop and stop and bad faces, this game is a masterpiece, and those things don't really bother me. It seems that most people who are whining about this game either A- want to have a dunk/highlight fest, B- haven't even played it yet or enough and listened to IGN's crappy review, or C - can't abuse the computer like you could last year with crossovers and etc.

Lock on D works perfect as far as I'm concerned, it's hard to anticipate a guard's move, and lock on D finally allows a human player to play defense on a player in a basketball game. This game is leaps and bounds better than 2K7 (which I didn't think would happen in a year).

Are the jaggies as bad in the real game as the demo ?

They are there but I seem not to really notice them that much as i did in the demo. I would say they are not as bad as in the demo, or at least after a while playing I didn't notice them as much.