Metacritic Games

NBA Live 08 (Sony PSP)

Taking a page out of NBA Street Homecourt's book, NBA Live 08 introduces Quickstrike Ballhandling. This intuitive gameplay 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]

Electronic Arts
Sports, Basketball
Players: 2
E (Everyone)
Developer: EA Canada
Released October 2, 2007

Overall Metascore

This is a weighted, normalized average of all individual scores given by critics, on a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

73 / 100

Critic Reviews

90	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.
82	Gamers' Temple It’s not a slam dunk, but NBA Live 08 certainly takes it to the hoop.
80	Games Radar It's not even close to just being a roster update to last season's title. We love it, and who knows…maybe notching that three-NBA-title accomplishment won't be so ridiculous after all.
80	Official Playstation 2 Magazine UK Whether you want to play in-depth for hours or just drop in, keep it PSP for the finest NBA experience. [Mar 2008, p.106]
75	1UP The Crown feature definitely motivates you to get involved in the entire game, and even the gameplay glitches are tolerable if you're playing on a level where you can drop enough shots to keep up (Starter is probably best). It's not perfect, but it's fun enough that it doesn't have to be.
73	IGN While it still plays less like a simulation and more like an arcade game, NBA Live 08 on PSP is fun nonetheless.
70	DailyGame NBA Live 08 offers quick offensive gameplay, but the difficulty of implementing solid defensive maneuvers leads to high scoring games and frustrating moments.
70	PTGamers NBA Live 08 is a step forward in comparison to 07, but given the lack of new features and previous mistakes, its merits must not be overstated.
70	GameSpy If you like things in quick spurts and dig the idea of a zillion mini-games, grab Sony's game, but if you want a bit more realism and the ability to log some serious time in a multi-season career mode, head EA's way. You really can't lose either way.
65	GameSpot It plays fine, but other than some updated rosters, there's almost nothing new in NBA Live 08.
50	GameDaily The Crowns idea was nice, too. It's just too bad that NBA Live couldn't score the clutch game-winner.

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