The NBA Live series has seen changes year after year and now it seems they have started over... again.
User Rating: 7 | NBA Live 08 X360
The NBA Live series always has something new up its sleeve. The basketball sim returns this year with something definitely new... a basic game of basketball with no special effects or anything, which for a basketball hardcore fan, is good. It gives you what you want. But as a video game, it is not the greatest. Bugs from the previous two entries have been fixed for the most part. The game does run super smooth once your into the game, and it is one of the smoothest games on the platform at that matter. The problem I have with it is, the blocking is back to the Live '00 days and so on... it is nearly impossible to block. You are almost forced to use the right thumbstick to play all defense. Another annoying issue that seems to facing all EA Sports 2008 games is that if you do not have a widescreen or big television set, chances are, text on the screen is hard to read and is in some cases, illegible. Player models are fantastic though and overall, the graphics in this game are good. The arena and surrounding things could use some work though... flashy introductions (they are not flashy enough!), when someone dunks on the home team, they NEED to play LEEEBBRRRROOON JAMMMES!! not just the generic.. Lebron James with the assist, etc. This was present in older versions... what happened to that (what I feel) realistic vibe? Also what I noticed is that in NBA 2K8 the crowd acts realistic. Fans get up to go to the concession stand, restroom, etc. and all these little perks that really make the polish of the game seem super cool. EA Sports needs to take a hint from 2K Sports in that regard. Overall, I am impressed with the visuals... they just need a few tweaks. This is, though, the best NBA Live game on the Xbox 360 hands down. 
