BB's NBA Live 08 PS3 Review
Sun Oct 07, 2007 8:14 am
I got the game yesterday, I have played it enough for a valid review 
Regarding Jao/Qballer's ASW
1) I tried the dunk contest, don't really understand what's wrong with it I think it's a lot more realistic than the current gen dunk contest.
2) I have not done anything else in ASW
I noticed the gameplay feels different in dynasty versus a plain exhibition game. I played my first game a quick game the cavs against dallas, me being the cavs. They played a bit too much on the perimeter, and it was on superstar and I pounded them and won by 12 with 5 min quarters.
In dynasty however, it felt MUCH more realistic, Dirk had 28 points (he was hot in and out of the paint), terry had about 18 (both games were 7 minute quarters). (I played dallas in dynasty because it's the first game of the cavs season). But the mavs played very much like themselves, whereas in the quick game they moved the ball slowly and would chuck up shots, in dynasty they moved the ball and on superstar I ended up losing the game by 12 (with a realistic score which was about 80-68 but it was only 7 min quarters). I found myself playing catch up and I got VERY into the game and it was FUN even though I lost bad, it was closer than that. I was down by 18, rallied back to be down by 4 (i had hot and cold streaks, and so did they, it was up and down and at the end I got hit with a cold streak and the gap got bigger)
LeBron had a lot of dunks in my control (5-7), ended up with 36 points which might sound alarming, but it really isn't. Most of his points I scored in the 3rd and 4th quarter, then he got cold like the rest of the team while dallas got hot.
Dynasty in general: I'm only one game into it, and there are 4 players around the league who are averaging over 40 points (kobe bryant - 48 points, rashard lewis - 44 points) I think that seems a bit unrealistic, but I'm only 1 game into it, I'll keep you guys posted if it stays that way. But there's like 9 people who scored over 30 points around the league in game 1, and a lot were over 40.
All I have to compare dynasty to is 2k7 (ps3) and live 07 (pc). It's 100x better than 2k7's association, and it's largely unchanged from live 07 current gen, I havent tried the free-agent signing mini games because I have no cap space, there are minuit differences for the better, it is better than 07 current gen for minor reasons, I like the interface a lot better than 07's current gen dynasty interface too.
Dynasty = 8.8/10 (IMO - I think it's been good, it got better with the new message center, the simulation is better, etc --- I would like real mini games like training which I dont think are included like they are in 2k, and head coach replacement, etc.)
2k7 Association = 6.9/10 (IMO - it is missing more things than dynasty, it has a few things dynasty doesn't, but overall it doesn't feel deep enough and plain and simple it's just not fun like dynasty is) --- I haven't played 2k8 association yet, I don't know what's changed in it but it will be hard to top dynasty.
Graphics-general: The graphics are amazing, you will be amazed. Animations are overall very good, but few dunks (mainly under the basket) are a little funky and the player stops and then goes up for the dunk and it's not fluid, sometimes the player shifts in the air crazily which doesn't look right, but not all dunks are like this some are very good, but a lot are not so good.
I don't really have a problem with the graphics, the best i've seen in a sports game. Animations are very good overall, the dunks and layups can be funky but it's not a big deterring factor. I'd rather have that then uncontrollable animations which 2k8 has.
Live 08: 8.8/10 (IMO - smooth at 60 FPS, sometimes jagginess can be noticed on 1080i for me, haven't tried 720p, beautiful faces, player textures --- big shorts dock some points, same with dunk animations.
2k8: 7.4/10 (IMO - step backward from 2k7, they improved the faces, but everything else has taken a step backwards --- lower poly counts, and for those of you who havent played the final version of the game --- there is no sweat on the players just like the demo -- Animations are beautiful especially dunks, but other animations although beautiful limit control over players)
Presentation: Short and sweet, Live 08 is good because: better menus, i like practice gym, trivia game is nice, pre-game is good. 2k8 is good because: better half time/post game shows, live 08 has almost nothing.
Live 08: 7.9/10 (IMO - it's good, the addition of cheer leaders/mascots and half time/post game shows would make it near perfect, but I'm not upset they didnt include it because they needed to work on other things)
2k8: 7.7/10 (IMO - it's good, but the menus suck)
Sound: Live 08 has much better commentary, 2k8 has much better crowd noise, and every other noise (probably to make up for the repetitive commentary)
Live 08: 8.5/10 (IMO - commentary is more important, and it's the best i've ever heard in a game)
2k8: 7.9/10 (IMO - commentary is too repetive, but the arena noise is spectacular)
Gameplay: Live 08 has good gameplay, it's a lot deeper, the post game is a valuable weapon this year in BOTH games, AI is good in live 08, teams play like themselves in live, but not quite as much as they do in 2k8. 2k8 has a lot more ball rotation which is an A+. Live is faster paced, 2k8 is a bit slower (not a bad thing for either one, but sometimes in 2k8 some animations play faster than others so when you do a move the D can recover too fast, but in real life they wouldnt recover that fast)
Live 08: 7.8/10 (IMO - Sometimes players stand around and watch a ball fall that they could easily rebound, too many charge fouls some dont even exist, goal tending exists but isn't called, occasionally you'll find the CPU have a possession where they pass once or don't pass at all - but in general the CPU makes good decisions and rotates enough like the real-life teams, hot spots are neat and help you decide where you may want to set up a play to free a shot up, go-to moves may be over powered but are a nice addition to make some players play more realistically)
2k8: 8.5/10 (IMO - Don't question yourself about shooting a contested shot, if you have a good release point it doesn't matter if nobody is in your face or if you're shooting over yao ming the shot has an equal chance of going in as long as the release is good ---- Seriously, shot contesting doesn't affect whether the shot will go in or not, so why do it? ---- live 08 is the exact opposite, it's ALL about getting open ---- this is the biggest nack on 2k8's gameplay because it takes away a great deal of realism ----- The only other knock i can come up with is the hook shot has a 90% success rate, so if you need points quick pass it to anybody and get in the post and shoot a hook)
Online: I havent done 2k8 online (i don't own 2k8, but i've played it), live 08 is good online and has no lag which is surprising for any sports game, and another + is there's not as much cheese as 2k.
Anyway, both are good games, me personally I bought live 08 because I'm that kind of guy, but they are both good regardless.
Regarding Jao/Qballer's ASW
1) I tried the dunk contest, don't really understand what's wrong with it I think it's a lot more realistic than the current gen dunk contest.
2) I have not done anything else in ASW
I noticed the gameplay feels different in dynasty versus a plain exhibition game. I played my first game a quick game the cavs against dallas, me being the cavs. They played a bit too much on the perimeter, and it was on superstar and I pounded them and won by 12 with 5 min quarters.
In dynasty however, it felt MUCH more realistic, Dirk had 28 points (he was hot in and out of the paint), terry had about 18 (both games were 7 minute quarters). (I played dallas in dynasty because it's the first game of the cavs season). But the mavs played very much like themselves, whereas in the quick game they moved the ball slowly and would chuck up shots, in dynasty they moved the ball and on superstar I ended up losing the game by 12 (with a realistic score which was about 80-68 but it was only 7 min quarters). I found myself playing catch up and I got VERY into the game and it was FUN even though I lost bad, it was closer than that. I was down by 18, rallied back to be down by 4 (i had hot and cold streaks, and so did they, it was up and down and at the end I got hit with a cold streak and the gap got bigger)
LeBron had a lot of dunks in my control (5-7), ended up with 36 points which might sound alarming, but it really isn't. Most of his points I scored in the 3rd and 4th quarter, then he got cold like the rest of the team while dallas got hot.
Dynasty in general: I'm only one game into it, and there are 4 players around the league who are averaging over 40 points (kobe bryant - 48 points, rashard lewis - 44 points) I think that seems a bit unrealistic, but I'm only 1 game into it, I'll keep you guys posted if it stays that way. But there's like 9 people who scored over 30 points around the league in game 1, and a lot were over 40.
All I have to compare dynasty to is 2k7 (ps3) and live 07 (pc). It's 100x better than 2k7's association, and it's largely unchanged from live 07 current gen, I havent tried the free-agent signing mini games because I have no cap space, there are minuit differences for the better, it is better than 07 current gen for minor reasons, I like the interface a lot better than 07's current gen dynasty interface too.
Dynasty = 8.8/10 (IMO - I think it's been good, it got better with the new message center, the simulation is better, etc --- I would like real mini games like training which I dont think are included like they are in 2k, and head coach replacement, etc.)
2k7 Association = 6.9/10 (IMO - it is missing more things than dynasty, it has a few things dynasty doesn't, but overall it doesn't feel deep enough and plain and simple it's just not fun like dynasty is) --- I haven't played 2k8 association yet, I don't know what's changed in it but it will be hard to top dynasty.
Graphics-general: The graphics are amazing, you will be amazed. Animations are overall very good, but few dunks (mainly under the basket) are a little funky and the player stops and then goes up for the dunk and it's not fluid, sometimes the player shifts in the air crazily which doesn't look right, but not all dunks are like this some are very good, but a lot are not so good.
I don't really have a problem with the graphics, the best i've seen in a sports game. Animations are very good overall, the dunks and layups can be funky but it's not a big deterring factor. I'd rather have that then uncontrollable animations which 2k8 has.
Live 08: 8.8/10 (IMO - smooth at 60 FPS, sometimes jagginess can be noticed on 1080i for me, haven't tried 720p, beautiful faces, player textures --- big shorts dock some points, same with dunk animations.
2k8: 7.4/10 (IMO - step backward from 2k7, they improved the faces, but everything else has taken a step backwards --- lower poly counts, and for those of you who havent played the final version of the game --- there is no sweat on the players just like the demo -- Animations are beautiful especially dunks, but other animations although beautiful limit control over players)
Presentation: Short and sweet, Live 08 is good because: better menus, i like practice gym, trivia game is nice, pre-game is good. 2k8 is good because: better half time/post game shows, live 08 has almost nothing.
Live 08: 7.9/10 (IMO - it's good, the addition of cheer leaders/mascots and half time/post game shows would make it near perfect, but I'm not upset they didnt include it because they needed to work on other things)
2k8: 7.7/10 (IMO - it's good, but the menus suck)
Sound: Live 08 has much better commentary, 2k8 has much better crowd noise, and every other noise (probably to make up for the repetitive commentary)
Live 08: 8.5/10 (IMO - commentary is more important, and it's the best i've ever heard in a game)
2k8: 7.9/10 (IMO - commentary is too repetive, but the arena noise is spectacular)
Gameplay: Live 08 has good gameplay, it's a lot deeper, the post game is a valuable weapon this year in BOTH games, AI is good in live 08, teams play like themselves in live, but not quite as much as they do in 2k8. 2k8 has a lot more ball rotation which is an A+. Live is faster paced, 2k8 is a bit slower (not a bad thing for either one, but sometimes in 2k8 some animations play faster than others so when you do a move the D can recover too fast, but in real life they wouldnt recover that fast)
Live 08: 7.8/10 (IMO - Sometimes players stand around and watch a ball fall that they could easily rebound, too many charge fouls some dont even exist, goal tending exists but isn't called, occasionally you'll find the CPU have a possession where they pass once or don't pass at all - but in general the CPU makes good decisions and rotates enough like the real-life teams, hot spots are neat and help you decide where you may want to set up a play to free a shot up, go-to moves may be over powered but are a nice addition to make some players play more realistically)
2k8: 8.5/10 (IMO - Don't question yourself about shooting a contested shot, if you have a good release point it doesn't matter if nobody is in your face or if you're shooting over yao ming the shot has an equal chance of going in as long as the release is good ---- Seriously, shot contesting doesn't affect whether the shot will go in or not, so why do it? ---- live 08 is the exact opposite, it's ALL about getting open ---- this is the biggest nack on 2k8's gameplay because it takes away a great deal of realism ----- The only other knock i can come up with is the hook shot has a 90% success rate, so if you need points quick pass it to anybody and get in the post and shoot a hook)
Online: I havent done 2k8 online (i don't own 2k8, but i've played it), live 08 is good online and has no lag which is surprising for any sports game, and another + is there's not as much cheese as 2k.
Anyway, both are good games, me personally I bought live 08 because I'm that kind of guy, but they are both good regardless.
Last edited by cheater1034 on Sun Oct 07, 2007 9:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
Sun Oct 07, 2007 8:48 am
Sounds good. 
I have Live 08 on PS3 but I'm overseas so won't be playing it until tonight tomorrow. This gives me a good idea about the game.
BTW, do you have a PSN ID (and what is it)?
I have Live 08 on PS3 but I'm overseas so won't be playing it until tonight tomorrow. This gives me a good idea about the game.
BTW, do you have a PSN ID (and what is it)?
Sun Oct 07, 2007 1:27 pm
Yeah NBA live is great, gotta get more into the realism through I just got it today. Last year I got 2k7 instead of live 2007 and I diden't like the controls ( I could never get used to them.) So thats why i got nba live 08 this year
Sun Oct 07, 2007 1:58 pm
PSN ID = joegitler