NBA 08 – PS3 – Preview

In what world
would the Cleveland Cavaliers ever trade LeBron James? Especially for a power
forward that may have once been a force but might be slightly past his prime and
is relegated to coming off the bench?

Well, it’s
possible in the world of SCEA’s NBA ’08 for the PlayStation 3. Not only will
Cleveland give up the all-star, but there are no limitations on the trade. It’s
simply a matter of pointing and clicking and suddenly James is a member of the
Phoenix Suns, playing with Amare Stoudemire, Shawn Marion on the front line
(sorry, Raja Bell, you are coming off the bench) and Steve Nash in the backcourt
(along with a rookie, player-created shooting guard). If Phoenix was rated a
force to be reckoned with prior to the start of the NBA season, with the
addition of King James, they are a veritable juggernaut.

The Sony title
does have some interesting features, such as employing the SIXAXIS controller to
do a little fancy dribbling execution on offense and to affect a hands-up or
hands-down posture on defense.


Sporting 1080p
resolution, NBA ’08 looks good. The players move naturally though, at times,
some questionable AI comes into play. This was a beta build that was played, so
the bugs may be gone by the time the game releases. Having said that, it seemed
that players stepped out of bounds way too frequently for the level of play, and
on occasion, there would be the most improbable shot animations (as in a
backwards jumper) or the ball would magically weave through players.

But that aside,
the game has some entertaining elements. You can create a player and the
customization options are good. Once created, your player goes into the free
agent bin and you can pull him onto just about any team. As you play the game,
whether your created player is involved in the gameplay or merely riding the
pines, you will gain experience points, which are then translated into credits.
The credits can be used the progression hub to level up your player’s skills. As
you level the player (it takes a while to get beyond level one), new gear
becomes available. The gear comes with attribute bonuses, like perhaps +3 to
jumpers or a rebound buff.

Game modes run
the gamut from exhibition to season to playoffs. There is multiplayer online and
offline, and not only includes games but skill challenges as well.

When in season
mode, you can control the game through the coaches’ menu – which basically
entails calling timeouts, or making substitutions. The interface for this is
easily managed and the learning curve is very small. As for the game controls,
the SIXAXIS aside, the game is functionally easy on gamers. The O button is the
shot button with the square used for dunks and layups. The triangle is for
jumping and rebounding while the X button passes the ball. There are set plays
tied to the directional keys, and you can move faster with the R1 button while
the R2 button, in conjunction with the triangle hotkey provides the alley-oop –
but timing is key here as your players will react immediately and you had better
have them in position or you will merely turn over the ball.


Just as
shooting is tied to the meter (you want to hit green) that SCEA has used in
previous iterations, the rebounding skill is also tied to timing. When a shot
goes up that will miss, there will be a glowing area on the floor. You must
position your nearest player quickly and hit the triangle button. Failure to do
so will likely mean losing the board.

The left
thumbstick moves the player and the right thumbstick will apply the bake ‘n
shake moves.

The game does
look very good and the sound is well done. The announcers can be repetitious and
the music is (more or less) from bands you may not have heard of, but they are a
decent support to the game’s visuals.

Set for release
in October, NBA ’08 looks like it may be an entertaining outing for pro
basketball fans. It might have been nicer to have a deeper career player
experience, but as it is, what is provided is nicely done and with such a broad
array of skills to work on leveling up (think about the depth that Sony’s sports
dev team brought to players in its major league baseball title and then apply it
to the various basketball skills and you will get an inkling of the depth you
are looking at when creating that grade A player), this is an entertaining
element in its own right.