Developer: Visual Concepts
Publisher: 2K Games
Available on: XBOX 360, PS3, PS2

While Colin is strapping on his bladed skates and hitting the ice on NHL 2K8, I’m going to lace up and foray into a more vertical sporting outing with 2K’s NBA 2K8; aptly named to include it’s publishers insignia of course.

It was interesting and somewhat confronting to boot NBA 2K8 and find myself immediately presented with a choice of teams having not selected any game mode or other options. Having not played… well, any basketball game for quite some time (dating back to my SEGA Mega Drive) it was a little confusing but succeeded in throwing me straight into some b-ball action. It was in game when I paused and realised that NBA 2K8 doesn’t have a real main menu. Every game mode or option is available when pausing a current game. Once you learn the variety of games available this is actually quite nifty. If you’re keen to jump around from game types the menu navigation can prove quite expedient and efficient.

While menu navigation may not be the most significant aspect of a basketball game, it’s damn handy for NBA 2K8. The amount of game types is more than impressive. Aside from the expected quick match games, there’s “NBA Blacktop” hosting a variety of mini games. “The Association” serves as an extensive career play out featuring a massive amount of options and control over your team ranging from your team line-up, to hiring/firing trainers, with every option you do and don’t need. Playoffs provide a regular array of matches to determine a definite champion. “T-Mobile Rookie Challenge” seems to serve no purpose other than sticking T-Mobiles name in your face while tributing a popular yet un-necessary series of American games. Practice will let you practice, while Situation can let you see if you can get that winning 3-pointer when faced with the last few seconds of the clock.

There’s even heaps of stuff to do when NOT playing basketball, ranging from video editing, jukebox (sorry, “2K Beats”) music management, team editing, etc. There’s certainly no question of content in NBA 2K8.

All these game modes wouldn’t do much without an actual game of basketball to play. Once on the court NBA 2K8 proves to be a very polished experience with a solid engine creating a realistic basketball experience. A visual feat, team players are modeled very nicely with fluid movement and a lot of ocular stimuli. Some obvious blurring at times attempts to fade out the lesser-graphical moments (such as a drawn back camera rendering many more models and causing more strain) while up close players look amazing. Player movement is vivid, down to the smooth flowing pants as they sway with motion. Even the animated team mascots are fun to watch dance around the sidelines.

Like a lot of attempts at solid realism, NBA 2K8 can be hindered by technical prowess. Frequently my players will tend to re-position themselves and free-move around their environment. It looks great, realistic, but feels detracting from my ultimate control. A team will tend to trick around, dribbling the ball in-between legs and busting moves on the court. Once again, realistic, but this time it feels a bit… slow. Basketball can make a great video game, there’s a lot of fast paced action in there. On this outing the tempo of court play seems a bit erratic.

NBA 2K8 can make some smart work of the analogue sticks and general controls to provide a fairly interesting experience. While I question the total skill and control of shooting hoops and timing, it would have been nice to have some form of tutorial in game. With a few wacky (that’s not to say bad) controls if you’re a console NBA virgin you may find it takes a while to learn how the mechanics work.

Audibly NBA 2K8 impresses slightly on another factor you can tend to expect on. Commentary is smooth and convincing but should have been used a lot more. There’s a lot of music in there but it’s mostly the hip-hop and old ‘skool’ beats you’d expect. As with the numerous options NBA 2K8 provides it’s easy to tweak commentators voice on/off, up/down, music on/off so you’ll be hearing exactly how much of what you want to hear.

There’s a tight basketball game to be played here. The amount of game types, controls, variables and general content is enough to keep any NBA fan glued for hours. I tend to assume anyone thinking of picking up NBA 2K8 would be a fan of basketball, but if you’re not, the game may be a bit slow and fidgety to enjoy for long. Quick play provides some fast fun but can grow tiresome. Most of the real content in game is accessed through sticking with it and learning the ropes, and in doing so, you’ll learn that NBA 2K8 is quite a competent basketball experience.

NBA 2K8

80%

The Good -

* Great visuals
* Convincingly realistic
* Lots of game modes and content

The Bad -

* Lack of proper training
* Can be a bit slow
* Feels like team control isn’t 100% there