Just in time
for basketball season, NBA Live 08 is here for the Wii.
This first foray on the Wii overall is a mixed bag
in terms of gameplay. However, although the game
doesn’t offer much challenge in an arcade sense or any type of overall
strategy, it’s good enough for the casual gamer who just wants to play a
little basketball on the Wii.
As in other
EA Sports offerings this year, players are offered a choice of Family Play or
Advanced Controls. The family play option allows players to use just a few
buttons and to ditch the nunchuk. This option is
made even easier by suspending rules like the 3-second in the lane rule and
the backcourt violation. The game will do all the dribbling and players will
only need to use the A button to pass the ball, and the remote to shoot and
defend. It seems a little odd to use an up/down flicking motion with the
remote to block. It might have made more sense to use the B button to block
and steal.
The advanced
controls aren’t nearly as difficult as in FIFA, partly because complicated
moves aren’t really needed for basketball. Dribble, pass, block and shoot;
that’s mostly what is happening on the court. However, it is also true that
part of the ease of play is because it isn’t difficult to make shots, and the
players can be moved down the court rapidly in a method which seemingly defies
natural laws. Players will also leap into action straight from a stationary
position, which isn’t very realistic.
In the
advanced controls mode, the nunchuk is added to
the remote for game moves, and is used mostly for offensive moves and some
defensive moves. Switching to advanced mode is accomplished by simply plugging
in the nunchuk. Most of the time the controls work
well, but there are odd times when players will be flailing away with the
controls and their game player won’t be doing anything. Despite the overall
ease of gameplay in the difficulty leveling and
game AI, the game is made frustrating when the game won’t respond to gamer
input. We also experienced a few “freezes” during
gameplay and had to hard boot the game again.
While many
of the NBA’s biggest stars are present, they’re actually only here in looks
alone. The truth is, it doesn’t really matter which
player is chosen, as they all play great and make most of their shots,
regardless of their type of skill or ability in real life.
There are
the usual modes of play, which includes a season option and an arcade game
option. In the season mode, players will pick a team and take them through the
season. In most sports games, this mode is the best and the most fun. Here,
though, it’s tedious in the extreme and most players will end up using the
“simulation” option, wherein gamers can choose to bypass actually playing a
game, by taking the outcome of the game as if it were played, and then
advancing. The reason players will opt for this is because the season is
incredibly long, and each game is very long. While this does reflect the
current trend in the world of professional basketball, where it seems like
they will soon end up playing all year long, in a game it is just too much,
even with the choices of either a 29, 58 or 82 game season.
There is a
challenge mode, which is where players are challenged to take on a real
historical game and accomplish certain goals. The challenge is lost in
translation, though, as everything is really too easy.
The arcade
section features a slam-dunking and a 3-point contest. These are pretty fun,
but in contrast to the regular portion of the game, the difficulty level is
rather high. It’s very hard to beat out the other players in the slam-dunking
contest, and the judges consistently rate the player badly as compared to the
game characters. For instance, we were making our shots and the other guy
didn’t, but he got higher scores anyway. Maybe he had more style. The 3-point
contest is fun when played against friends. It doesn’t mean that much in
single play.
Missing from
NBA Live 08 is any real type of team management or strategy component. Unlike
Tiger Woods and Madden, there isn’t a system of game management with any depth
(the management system that is offered is very light on strategy). Having a
season isn’t just about playing a string of games, there needs to be a real
sense of owning the team and manipulating it throughout. Here, you can’t even
design a player. There also could have been more arcade games included.
The game’s
graphics are good, although not the best we’ve seen on the
Wii. The lighting and shadows are very good, and
the reflections off the court realistic. But, the players themselves aren’t
drawn all that well and there isn’t much difference in looks between them.
This is the
second EA Sports game we’ve played on the Wii, and
we’ve not been greatly impressed with either. The counterparts on the other
consoles are better, which leaves us to question if EA is just having a
problem trying to integrate the unique Wii control
system. Most of the gameplay issues appear to be a
result of a bad control system. However, there is also a lack of features such
as management and player tweaking. Hopefully EA will improve these issues for
the next iterations of these sports simulation franchises.
Still,
despite these drawbacks, this isn’t a bad game overall. When considered as
just a quick “pick-up-and-play” type of game, it’s
fun enough for a family that may not want to play something very difficult or
that doesn’t require a lot of strategy in their games. The commentary is
probably the best part of the game, which is funny, considering our family
usually doesn’t like the commentary of sports announcers in real life. Albert
and Kerr do a great job in this game, though!
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Gameplay: 6.0
This
game is an average basketball game, with some major control issues that keep
it from being as fun a game as it might have been. It’s just frustrating when
you move a control and nothing happens. However, this only happens now and
then, and for the most part the games are fairly enjoyable. It’s not hard to
make shots, and the courts look pretty good. Gameplay
can get monotonous, though.
Graphics: 7.0
The
lighting and reflections are handled well; the players less so.
Sound: 7.0
The
sound effects are good, and the crowd noises and the whistles combine to sound
like the real thing.
Difficulty: Medium
The
game overall isn’t too difficult. Most of the difficulty is due to a bad
control design.
Concept: 5.0
With
a series, it’s often hard to add anything new, but there isn’t hardly anything
new or innovative present. More features and content are
needed, and new options, as well.
Multiplayer: 7.0
Overall: 6.5
As
a total package this is a wholly average game. Dedicated sports
sim fans will probably want to bypass this
Wii edition for another console edition, but for
less picky players, this is a fairly enjoyable game. Best for a few hours of
pick up and put down fun, but probably not a good choice for more intense
sessions.
