NBA Live 2008 Video Game Rating

Electronic Arts Losing Edge on Basketball Video Game Market

© Phil Partington

Nov 30, 2007

Despite a 12-year reign, the NBA Live series has published mediocre games in the past few years.

The makers of the the NBA Live video games promised to fixed the many problems that made NBA Live 2007 such a bust. Yet, NBA Live 2008 fails to live up to expectations. It feels rushed, and though it might not be quite as buggy as the 2007 version, it isn't much of an improvement over the 2006 version.

The series has gone downhill in the past few years, and its main competition, the NBA 2K series, has surpassed it in quality. If it wasn't enough that NBA Live 2008 lacks fun gameplay, it's unrealistic and with a frustrating, inconsistent game engine. Players typically dunk through the backboard, point guards are still unblockable by larger shot blockers, and the graphics are extremely disappointing and not much better than the 2006 version.

It makes one wonder what the game makers did during the time they spent fixing the disaster from 2007. There are some subtle features that are fairly apparent, such as a more sophisticated approach to how to select and utilize the coaching staff, an ESPN mock draft which is displayed throughout the season and the ability to play against international competition in the FIBA World Games (though the games are played by NBA rules and court size). However, these added features aren't enough to carry a game with such poor game play.

In addition, the player ratings are a disaster. It's stunning that the company wasn't more embarrassed to publish this game. Rookies are rated as superstars, while certain players who have come into their shell in the past couple seasons are still rated as they were in 2005 and 2006. For instance, the Utah Jazz rookie Morris Almond has a default rated in the mid 80s, while Carlos Boozer is rated at 77. There's bad, and then there's horrendous beyond belief. This delves somewhere near the latter.

The NBA Live series evolved from the NBA Playoffs series, which launched in 1989 with Lakers vs. Celtics for PCs and was later adapted for the Sega Genesis and Sega Mega Drive. The next game was Bulls vs. Lakers, released in 1991, followed by Bulls vs. Blazers in 1992. The last game in the series was NBA Showdown 94, which was released for the Super Ninento Entertainment System (SNES) before the series became NBA Live in 1995.

Here are the NBA players who have been on the cover of NBA Live:


The copyright of the article NBA Live 2008 Video Game Rating in Basketball is owned by Phil Partington. Permission to republish NBA Live 2008 Video Game Rating must be granted by the author in writing.




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