NBA ’08
Sony’s Next Gen Effort Returns for Round 2
NBA ’07 wasn’t what many expected when Sony released their next gen titan the PS3 last year. While it was good to have next gen basketball that was exclusive to one console which means that the developer would be taking advantage of the new hardware at hand as opposed building it on one console and then porting over to the rest of the consoles it could have been the breakthrough that for this series as it was getting to be a fairly good representation of basketball on the PS2. Here in 2007, Sony has made some tweaks and upgrades to the gameplay engine helping make this years release a much more enjoyable experience this year, but there is much work that is still needed to be done here if NBA’09 will really rear heads next season.
I usually start my reviews off with the gameplay which is the most important part of a game, but I want to first focus on one of the better aspects and improvements to NBA’08, the graphics. The graphics this year have received an upgrade as it runs at 60 FPS @ 1080p. This helps make the game look crystal clear and everything looks so nice with no jaggies present at all. One thing that bugged the living lights out of me in last years game was that the players looked like G.I. Joe action figures, meaning they had a very plastic, glossy look to them as if they were sun tanning more than playing ball on the court. I am glad that they were able to get rid of this as it just really hurt the look of the game, it felt like a bunch of action figures running up and down the court last year.
The arenas look good and seem to have a bit more detail in them, but not what I was expecting here at year two. One thing that Sony needs to realize is that since your running this game at 1080p, anything that lacks detail will show up on that TV screen. There are parts of the arenas that you can tell are missing details and even on the players themselves to a degree. I would recommend to look for any areas of the game where some colors might looked washed out, and right there is where you will see the lack of details. Player faces are starting to look much more accurate than last year, but we still have a ways to go here as I saw too many guys that didn’t look as good as the person their representing. Yes, Mr. Nash looks like himself in this game but something about his face is off and I can’t put my finger on it. Like in my other NBA videogame reviews, I like to use Steve Nash as a benchmark.
Only real graphical issues that I have are in part with some clipping issues with the players on the court. At times to make it worse, it feels like I just saw a ghost on the screen as a player will go through another on the floor which looks like we have a ghost, but this is more during a replay.
In NBA’08, we have a new feature that has been integrated into all the modes and it’s called the Upside Progression System, which you will be collecting points from playing the various game modes. These include exhibition, season, playoffs, NBA replay, the mini-games, and your online modes. By completing the special tasks or objectives, you collect points which then you use to unlock jerseys, arenas, upgrading your create a player, etc. Also you will also be rewarded with trophies, player cards, etc. by default as you accomplish these tasks. This is a very nice system that is used which I refer to as Achievements, does that sound familiar.
This year, Sony has taken the Sixaxis controls and tightened up under a feature called the Free6 system. I’m not a fan of the Sixaxis controls period, but they work fairly well here in NBA ’08. If you tilt the Sixaxis backwards, your defender will raise their hands up in front of the ball carrier to try and prevent them from shooting or passing the rock properly. Tilt it forward, which the defender will put their arms down blocking any of the passing lanes. The Sixaxis controls work in a similar way when on offense. I am glad that we can use our regular control schemes too since some games on the PS3 require Sixaxis controls.
There are a few issues that I had with the AI and even gameplay in some areas, especially with how the CPU plays defense. At times defenders will get in front of your player out of nowhere when their running neck to neck with you, which is like a weird sideways sliding motion. This is very strange that this occurs and makes me wonder if it has something to do along with the new Free6 controls. When games get fairly close, the CPU goes in frantic mode and they start to intentionally foul you as if you just said something horrible about their mother. This to me is a big issue that needs to be resolved for ’09; it drove me nuts trying to get the ball up the court as by the time I passed it on to one of my teammates they would get fouled. This only occurs in close games, but it is annoying.
Turnovers are a big issue that needs to be fixed for the passing game. If you are not using manual passing, you will wish that you did. Way too many passes get intercepted or deflected resulting in turnovers. I’m not too sure what in the world happened here as this wasn’t that big of an issue last year. I recommend that if your teammates aren’t near by that you use manual passing.
Fatigue? Where is the fatigue in this game Sony? I’m baffled here as it seemed like none of my guys were getting tired as much as they should have. I checked the options and fatigue was on so I’m guessing that this might be a bug. Albeit some of these issues, the gameplay isn’t so bad and there is a decent game under the hood for people to enjoy.
NBA Replay makes its return from last year, bigger and badder than before. Replay features real challenges from 34 weeks of the NBA season of last year + the playoffs. There are 2 challenges a week that you can partake in which makes things very interesting.
While were on the topic of game modes, there is no franchise mode or even “The Life” which is a big PS2 feature for this title. This is year 2 of this franchise on the next gen systems; you would think a franchise mode would have been incorporated already. There is a season mode which only runs the length of a regular season, but there is one glaring issue here that bugs me. This issue has to do with the trade logic in season mode, there is none at all. You can go right ahead and trade anyone and everyone to make an all-star team that would be untouchable on the court. Please Sony, if there is going to be a franchise mode next year can you fix this goofy trade logic.
Kevin Calabro and Mark Jackson provide the commentary for NBA’08. While they are a fresh duo to listen to, there are times where their commentary was lagging behind a step or two and some comments made no sense at all. I think that the duo needs some more time in the studio to record more lines and we should be ok with ’09.
The Bottom Line
I think that if SCEA can devote more resources to this title for ’09, they have the ground work to be a contender in 2-3 years. We have seen what they did with the MLB: The Show franchise, I think that they can do the same here since there a talented core of developers on that team. If they can tighten up the gameplay next year, rid the bugs/issues, add more player likeness, and give us a franchise mode than this game could be something that people will not just walk past come next year. The gameplay elements are there for a good game, it’s up to SCEA to make a difference.
