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NBA Live 08

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5.3 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 38 critic reviews
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Based on 16 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: Electronic Arts

Developer: EA Canada

Genre(s): Sports, Basketball

Players: 4

ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)

Release Date: October 2, 2007

Summary

Taking a page out of NBA Street Homecourt's book, NBA Live 08 introduces Quickstrike Ballhandling. This intuitive gameplay mechanic is mapped to the right analog stick and gives you the direct responsiveness you need to perform a full repertoire of ankle-breaking ball-handling moves that let you dominate on the perimeter. Pass the ball inside and win the battle in the post with all-new 'own the paint' post play for the big men down low. Use the new shot-countershot control to string together combos of fakes and shots to fool your defender into committing and create space for the game-defining bucket. NBA Live 08 introduces hot spots, where real NBA shot data is used to illuminate the locations on the floor where your players are most effective. Couple this with all-new signature go-to moves that capture the essence of the NBA's best, and you can now play the game on a console like you see it from the stands. [Electronic Arts]

Also On Metacritic

GAMES: NBA Live 06 NBA Live 07

Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central GameFAQs

Also On The Web: Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

PGNx Media

NBA Live 08 doesn’t add a whole lot of new modes, but the stronger gameplay goes a long way. The improved, more realistic gameplay, coupled with the excellent presentation package make NBA Live 08 a must-have for basketball game fans.

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Gaming Age

The game has tons of options; it looks and sounds fantastic, and with a minor quibble here and there plays a great game that walks the line of die hard sim and casual baller.

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GameZone

A big improvement over NBA Live 07 (or 06, for that matter), offering some great features and cleaner gameplay. If you’ve been waiting for the next-gen iterations to catch up with the current-gen versions, then this is one to get.

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Xbox World 360 Magazine UK

EA have upped the game when it comes to sports this year. A huge improvement. [Dec 2007, p.85]

Armchair Empire

“Real” basketball takes the court once again in NBA Live 08, bringing a much closer to real-life representation of the NBA, and even the world hoops scene, to the Xbox 360.

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Armchair Empire

“Real” basketball takes the court once again in NBA Live 08, bringing a much closer to real-life representation of the NBA, and even the world hoops scene, to the Xbox 360.

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X360 Magazine UK

A more than worthy update to last year's blip. No b-ball fan will be disappointed with this. [Issue#25, p.100]

DarkStation

NBA Live 08 is just a much better all around game of basketball than last year's experience, and yet it's still not perfect.

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Xbox World Australia

NBA Live 2008 is a considerably decent basketball game. EA's efforts this year are much more noticeable than previous outings, as the game reeks of realism.

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Official Xbox Magazine

You might think calling NBA Live 08 "much improved" is a backhanded compliment, but its first two years on 360 really did leave it no place to go but up. [Nov 2007, p.84]

GameDaily

This year's game slam-dunks its predecessors, thanks to improved speed, more realistic player animations and most importantly, exquisite five-on-five play.

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GameTap

Post play is not only a viable option this year, it's my preferred way to score, and I really can't remember the last time that was true in a basketball game.

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Games Radar (in-house)

While not perfect, it's immensely playable and just a bit more fun than its rival. Who woulda thunk it?

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GamerNode

NBA Live 08 is in serious contention for Best Basketball Game this year. That just shows you how much improved 08 is after the disaster of 07. Who says EA doesn't listen?

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Gamers' Temple

While not being a nothing-but-net caliber game, NBA Live 08 does score after a couple of friendly bounces around the rim.

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MEGamers

If EA sports manage to fix a couple of issues in this game, NBA live 09 will surely be the game to beat next year. Until then though, play some more 2k8.

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Gaming Target

With new additions, 38 player online leagues and a realistic experience, basketball on Xbox 360 doesn't get much better than this.

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Game Over Online

NBA Live 08 is a good game. It's not a great game yet. It has plenty of problems, and I must say it's still not quite on par with the impressive basketball simulation that is NBA 2K8. But the gap has closed this year. It plays, looks, and feels better than last year, and if it keeps improving, we'll have the great NBA Live series of old.

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Game Informer

NBA Live 08 is a vastly improved game that is nearly ready for primetime. With another year under its belt, NBA Live may be contending for the championship.

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GameSpot

Thanks to significantly improved gameplay, NBA Live 08 is a good, solid basketball game.

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Gamer 2.0

This shot definitely goes in, but not before taking a few lucky bounces on the rim.

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Operation Sports

NBA Live 08 is a game for the casual NBA video game fan that just wants to play a basketball game that’s fun and easy to pick up and play. This year’s version is a big improvement over last year’s game and while it’s not the best basketball game on the market, it’s a fun head to head game.

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Cheat Code Central

It is not quite ready for the big time, but at least it is not the Sam Bowie of video games like "Live 07."

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GameSpy

It's the best-looking entry in the series by far, and the gameplay is finally coming close to what gamers are looking for from their at-home NBA experience. But as good as NBA Live is this year, it's still not taking home the championship.

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Boomtown

A big improvement over last year. EA has put a lot of effort to get a well presented, well commentated game of basketball.

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Video Game Talk

Offers fast, sleek-looking gameplay, as graphics are impressive in almost all regards.

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DailyGame

Not a bad game, but not a great one either. Online modes and the loaded dynasty mode are sure to keep players busy for another year. A solid soundtrack fills out the smooth animations to make for a pleasing presentation.

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NZGamer

The voice commentating is some of the best yet and when mixed with the highly detailed player models and animations, the game looks and feels like the real thing on your TV. Shame it just doesn’t quite hit the mark with the playability.

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IGN

The bulk of the basketball still doesn’t feel natural with canned animations taking the control out of the user’s hands a bit too often. The game does have its shining moments though, and we’ll definitely be expecting next year’s game to return the series to prominence.

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Electronic Gaming Monthly

So even though Live is lookin' better, it could still use more time in the gym. [Nov 2007, p.103]

Team Xbox

So it plays better than last year, but not by much. AI problems and new defensive controls take the player out of the b-ball experience.

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1UP

While Live 08 is definitely looking better in every respect (gameplay, graphics, and online), the series still needs more time in the gym.

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Worth Playing

EA games never fail to impress with the overall presentation on any of their sports titles, but sometimes it seems like that's all they were focused on when developing the game. Sadly, NBA Live 08 falls into this trap.

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Console Monster

It’s fair to say that the game is a solid game of basketball that I’d recommend to basketball fans and those who are interested in getting into the game—so long as your expectations are a bit tempered.

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PALGN

After last year's effort, it’s good to see the franchise back on track. There are still plenty of areas where it could improve and there is lots of refinement to be done, but at least it’s a step in the right direction.

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Gamestyle

It all makes for quite a competent basketball game, but ultimately there’s little to draw in anyone who doesn’t enjoy the sport in the first place, unlike EA’s brilliant Fight Night Round 3, which was one of the best early Xbox 360 titles.

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Official Xbox Magazine UK

Getting to grips with the new features of Live '08 is like watching a superb athlete trying to slam dunk a beach ball.

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GameShark

If EA Sports can smooth out the gameplay, continue to improve ball physics, do something (please!) about the game’s load times, and hold onto their edge in the presentation department, they’ll have a game that can truly compete with "NBA 2k8," something that would’ve been unthinkable a year ago.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 5.3 (out of 10) based on 16 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

George S. gave it a1:
Terrible gameplay. Poor Defensive A.I. Players still stand around. Come On? I see you guys giving it 9s. How? Too Easy To Make Shots. Button Timing doesn't matter at all. Any baller would prefer 2K.

Jargon J. gave it a9:
It may not be a perfect specimen, but it performs well. They gameplay is a whole lot better (no dunking through the rim). Though it does not have the modes of some of the other franchise games, the Dynasty mode is still the best franchise/dynasty mode out on the market and anyone wanting to build their franchise, look no further than NBA live 08. Whether you take the worst team and build it up, or play with your hometown team, this ame is finally, great.

Albert Z. gave it a9:
The graphics rock! The gameplay is way smoother then last year.

Mike M. gave it a9:
Solid effort from EA. They've improved graphics, framework and gameplay mechanics. Dynasty's great to play with the gamecast feature too. Solid production effort .

Adrian V. gave it a7:
Much better than last years NBA Live '07, but there are still lots of niggling flaws. It doesn't seem to matter when you release the shot button, so this takes away some of the skill involved that has been present in other basketball games. Some players don't behave like they do in real life at all which takes away a bit from the realism. Dunking is too frequent and when players do go up for the jam, they appear to get up there far too quickly as if they were shot out of a cannon! As for the improvements - The graphics and framerate are great. The animations have been improved. The reponsiveness is much better. It does take a little while to get used to the new lock on D though, as quite often the ball would get thrwon into the post and i would find myself pointing the control stick away from the offensive player and pressing the change player button only to find that my player has suddenly run out of bounds and the opposing teams post player has got an easy dunk! I'm sure I'll get used to it the more I play though... Overall, I would say this game is good, but not great. NBA 2k7 and 2k8 are still the best basketball games on the 360.

Joe A> gave it a3:
Typical release from ea sports , this being there 3rd crack at next gen hoops you'd expect they'd get it right ... well think again terrible bugs , clipping an stuttering framerate loss online is a joke why microsoft let ea continue to have there crappy servers still in this day an age of xbox live is a joke 2k8 walks all over this nightmare franchise from ea yet again guess we can only wait an see how BAD nba live 09 is maybe 4th time lucky instead of 3rd ea ?

P Funk gave it a10:
Live 08 promises everything it screwed up on last year. At 60 frames per second, it looks crazy good. They incorporated real players signature moves that look like a real game mixed with graphics borrowed from Homecourt. I am so happy that EAC realized last years horrible game and made up for it.

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NBA Live 08

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What The Critics Said

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