NBA 2K8 impressions thread

Post by **Jared** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 4:50 pm

Put your impressions here. Continued from the NBA 2K8 demo thread:

http://www.digitalsportspage.com/module ... ic&t=12371

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 5:36 pm

Well i'll start things off. I'm not a knowledgeable BB person but I do enjoy Hoops games. As has been mentioned by many this is the best in the series without a doubt. It's very challenging to say the least and if your like me who is a casual Hoops gamer you will get lit up by the CPU if your not careful. I'm having a blast with the game though.

Things I don't like have nothing to do with the gameplay. For a next-gen (360) title I see way too many jaggies. I also see last years problem which again is in the graphics/animation department has not been fixed. After a play is over the players wobble around in a robotic manner as the game is placing them where they need to be next before the ball is put back in play.

Players and coaches faces need work and as db mentioned 2K is using a blur slight effect in the arena probably to keep framerates up. From what i've read this really an Xbox port with prettier graphics. Hopefully 2K can start addressing their graphics engine because for the most part Live looks much better but NBA2K8 plays a more realistic game of Hoops.

Waddupcouzin · Post by **Waddupcouzin** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 10:10 am

2K continues its level of excellence! I think the best description of this game is a Next-Gen version of ID. ID's A.I. was light years ahead of its competition, and 2K is no different at this point.

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 10:23 am

I think I am going to pick this up this weekend, but a couple of questions.

Is there a season mode, franchise mode or both? I am looking just to play a season and do not want to have to deal with everything else.

Also, in the season/franchise, what are the options as to how many games you want to play? Meaning, I usually cannot play a full 82 games, wondering if I can play a shortened season.

Thanks.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 12:44 pm

Am I the only one a bit put off by the lengthy isomotion moves? Sometimes I'll be controlling a guard and all I'll want to do is drive to right, but he does some long drawn out highlight reel move.

I'm still trying to get used to the way in which the players move now. There seems to be a lot of momentum involved in this year's game as opposed to the previous versions. It's as if they took a page out of MLB 2K7, and perhaps over exaggerated the momentum. I guess it's more realistic for basketball.

I'm not seeing too many missed layups like mentioned at OS.

Great atmosphere. The crowd really seems to react in the right situations. They're loud too, especially on surround sound. Some of the fans look like cr*p though. So bad in fact you wonder why they were even added.

Just my opinion, but this game is not easy. I'm struggling on Pro. You really have to strategize your match ups. You must call plays.

Out the box, there are hardly any fouls called. The only ones I've seen called have been shooting fouls. Good news though. The sliders definitely seem to work. Just a slight advancement, and I saw charging and reach in fouls called.

A.I. seems good so far. Fouling when behind at the end of the game. Holding for the last shot. Running the clock out when they have a sizeable lead.

Graphically, the game looks decent. Nothing extraordinary. I do agree that NBA Live looks more polished and has an overall cleaner look. 2K8s stadiums look great as do the floors.

GTHobbes · Post by **GTHobbes** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 10:35 am

I know next to nothing about NBA basketball, but I love this game. The on-court play diagram thing is brilliant, IMO, the animations are in the same league as those in The Show (just a different sport), the AI is running beautiful NBA set plays against me (and generally making me look silly on Pro level), and probably most important to me, from many of the ridiculous amount of available camera angles, the game looks just like a televised NBA broadcast to me.

I still need to put a lot more time into NHL08/2k8 and will soon now that the NHL season has started (Go Pens!), but this makes 2 sports (baseball and basketball) where I really couldn't be happier with the next generation games available. Actually, I guess basketball will get even better when cousin CHoops comes out next month.

macsomjrr · Post by **macsomjrr** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 4:40 am

GTHobbes wrote:Actually, I guess basketball will get even better when cousin CHoops comes out next month.

CH2K8 is going to be my basketball game for this season me thinks. The screen shots that I jsut saw over at OS look much improved over last years effort which was darn fun as is. Go Trojans and OJ Mayo!

.ahem now back to NBA2K8 related stuff....

TheGamer · Post by **TheGamer** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 10:12 am

I'd be looking more forward to CH 2k8 if Derrick Rose wasn't a sellout and Eric Gordon a flat out liar.

Dimmu · Post by **Dimmu** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 9:33 pm

TheGamer wrote:I'd be looking more forward to CH 2k8 if Derrick Rose wasn't a sellout and Eric Gordon a flat out liar.

I agree 100%. Really sours me a great deal on College Hoops in general. They are becoming the norm rather than the exception unfortunately.

macsomjrr · Post by **macsomjrr** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 11:04 pm

TheGamer wrote:I'd be looking more forward to CH 2k8 if Derrick Rose wasn't a sellout and Eric Gordon a flat out liar.

I hate all this commitment crap in College Hoops. Let the kids make their decisions whenever the hell they want and you'd never end up with stuff like this. I can't even begin to think about how many times I changed my mind about college when I was in high school and then I read this...

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/artic ... 83,00.html

oh, and I'm a USC fan too which makes this even more unbearable to see. It's just ridiculous. [/url]

macsomjrr · Post by **macsomjrr** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 11:04 pm

TheGamer wrote:I'd be looking more forward to CH 2k8 if Derrick Rose wasn't a sellout and Eric Gordon a flat out liar.

I hate all this commitment crap in College Hoops. Let the kids make their decisions whenever the hell they want and you'd never end up with stuff like this. I can't even begin to think about how many times I changed my mind about college when I was in high school and then I read this...

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/artic ... 83,00.html

oh, and I'm a USC fan too which makes this even more unbearable to see. It's just ridiculous.

greggsand · Post by **greggsand** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 2:00 am

macsomjrr wrote:
TheGamer wrote:I'd be looking more forward to CH 2k8 if Derrick Rose wasn't a sellout and Eric Gordon a flat out liar.
I hate all this commitment crap in College Hoops. Let the kids make their decisions whenever the hell they want and you'd never end up with stuff like this. I can't even begin to think about how many times I changed my mind about college when I was in high school and then I read this...

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/artic ... 83,00.html

oh, and I'm a USC fan too which makes this even more unbearable to see. It's just ridiculous.

Oh, it's only gonna get worse. There's already dude's who rate 6th graders.

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 9:27 am

Played my first game of 2k8 (aside from the demo) last night. I just did a quick Cavs vs. Bulls (me) on All Star.

I don't usually like to get too enamored with a game after just one session, but 2k8 really made a great impression on me. There's just so much that they have done right. The CPU offense in particular looked really good. I had all kinds of trouble guarding LeBron one-on-one, and he mixed up his selection of drives and jumpers to keep me off guard. When I did stop him, the CPU passed the ball around very well.

The feel of the controls will take some getting used to. I think they should be a little more responsive, but I didn't really have any trouble with them.

The best thing I can say is that it made me want to keep playing. I think after spending a couple months with Madden, it's nice to play a sports title that's really polished and does justice to the game it's simulating.

AJColossal · Post by **AJColossal** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 1:20 pm

Was watching the Bulls game yesterday and couldn't help but think, "damn, that looks just like NBA 2K8!"

With everything from the look, player movements and tendencies, to the sheer amount of things that can happen, I can't think of a game that does a better job of capturing the essentials of a pro sport than NBA 2K8 right now.

fanatic · Post by **fanatic** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 1:37 pm

AJColossal wrote:Was watching the Bulls game yesterday and couldn't help but think, "damn, that looks just like NBA 2K8!"

With everything from the look, player movements and tendencies, to the sheer amount of things that can happen, I can't think of a game that does a better job of capturing the essentials of a pro sport than NBA 2K8 right now.

Agreed.

Actually, it probably plays a better game of basketball (depending on your play style) than the real NBA, which has gotten a bit stale in terms of rivalries, team-play, etc...

No doubt that when you're playing the CPU, you feel like you're part of a real NBA battle. The stars play like they should and nothing seems too aracade-ish to detract from the overall realism.

The only weird thing is that with 50 camera angles to choose from, I can't seem to find one that makes me happy. Maybe there is too much choice? Anyways, I'm playing with TV 1 now..you guys?

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 2:48 pm

fanatic wrote: The only weird thing is that with 50 camera angles to choose from, I can't seem to find one that makes me happy. Maybe there is too much choice? Anyways, I'm playing with TV 1 now..you guys?

I know what you mean. Weird also how they have 50 angles for this but 1 camera angle for MLB2K7

I finally settled on "Wire". Give it a try. I totally didn't like any of the 3 parametric cameras. There is one where you are looking at the back of the backboard while on defense!! I like a camera where you can see all your teammates on the floor, but not too far away that you feel detatched from the action. Some of the far away cam's look fantastic....but you don't feel part of the action.

fanatic · Post by **fanatic** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 3:11 pm

JackB1 wrote:
fanatic wrote: The only weird thing is that with 50 camera angles to choose from, I can't seem to find one that makes me happy. Maybe there is too much choice? Anyways, I'm playing with TV 1 now..you guys?
I know what you mean. Weird also how they have 50 angles for this but 1 camera angle for MLB2K7

I finally settled on "Wire". Give it a try. I totally didn't like any of the 3 parametric cameras. There is one where you are looking at the back of the backboard while on defense!! I like a camera where you can see all your teammates on the floor, but not too far away that you feel detatched from the action. Some of the far away cam's look fantastic....but you don't feel part of the action.

Yeah, "wire" is one my top 3 for sure. I go back and forth about 20 times during a game- not sure what is wrong with me actually.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 4:09 pm

I'm playing on "broadcast" cam, and am quite happy with that camera angle.

I love the addition of subbing via rotation or fatigue. I keep my settings on rotation, and it provides a great mix of players coming in and out of the game. Fatigue to me on default settings does not seem effective, meaning they don't get tired quickly enough.

Has anyone quite figured out what the white circle means? My guess is that is the player who is involved in the play call. Does that sound right?

What does the yellow circle signify?

Millennium · Post by **Millennium** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 8:42 pm

sportdan30 wrote:I'm playing on "broadcast" cam, and am quite happy with that camera angle.

I love the addition of subbing via rotation or fatigue. I keep my settings on rotation, and it provides a great mix of players coming in and out of the game. Fatigue to me on default settings does not seem effective, meaning they don't get tired quickly enough.

Has anyone quite figured out what the white circle means? My guess is that is the player who is involved in the play call. Does that sound right?

What does the yellow circle signify?

White Circle - Who you are going to pass to if you hit the normal "A" pass button.

Yellow Circle - The person who should have the ball for the play called.

AJColossal · Post by **AJColossal** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 12:20 pm

One thing I will say, 2K definitely went the EA route and skimped out with their manual this year.

There is a lot of new stuff in this years game that is either poorly explained or not explained at all.

icvu42 · Post by **icvu42** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 1:37 pm

Have any of you guys playing it seen the "major bugs" that people at OS are posting? Apparently there will be times where players are left completely unguarded allowing the cpu to score at will. And also another bug about the intentional foul not working at the end of games.

Im eager to pick up a basketball game... But I don't know if I should get this one or hold out until College Hoops comes out in a month.

Rick

Bill_Abner · Post by **Bill_Abner** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 3:00 pm

icvu42 wrote:Have any of you guys playing it seen the "major bugs" that people at OS are posting? Apparently there will be times where players are left completely unguarded allowing the cpu to score at will. And also another bug about the intentional foul not working at the end of games.

Im eager to pick up a basketball game... But I don't know if I should get this one or hold out until College Hoops comes out in a month.

Rick

I'm getting a lot of dirty disc errors, but I dunno if that's the game's fault.

I have seen a few weird bugs pop up -- I had to call a time out to get the ref start play again. (He wouldn't get the ball). You see weird things like that from time to time.

The gameplay though is fan-flipping-tastic. IGN giving this a 7.9 and NBA Live an 6.9 is absolutely insane. Certifiably insane. If there's a better basketball game on the market today I have yet to play it. If College Hoops is close to this, it will win sports game of the year for me hands down. As is, NBA 2K8 is the front runner.

The game has HUSTLE players! My 6th man doesn't score but he SCRAPS for the ball, literally diving all over the place. Powe stole an inbounds pass, flipped it to KG who was running the lane, he went up for a tomahawk but Jamison tried to recover and fouled him hard but KG twisted in mid air and banked it off the glass and then went to the line. It all looked so incredibly real. KG and Powe then low-fived.

It needs slider tweks out of the box, IMO but once you see what needs tweaked it's easy to get the game to play to your style.

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 3:20 pm

Bill_Abner wrote: It needs slider tweks out of the box, IMO but once you see what needs tweaked it's easy to get the game to play to your style.

I am having fun with this game too Bill. WHat slider tweaks do you recommend? I bumped up fouls a little, but nothing else yet.

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 3:36 pm

I agree that this is a fantastic game. I have not touched a slider yet and it plays very well. I may also bump up the foul slider as the foul shots are somewhat limited.

I am playing as the Celtics and am having a hard time on Pro. I really need to run the plays to completion because I throw up a lot of garbage.

The only problems I seem to have and they are probably both my fault is when I try to go one on one, the isomotion sometimes takes me to places I don't want to go and I have problems making lay-ups. There is a thread at OS with the isomotion moves that I am going to read this weekend.

I did have one time where the other team was taking the ball out on the side and their coach was in the way so the ref would not give the player the ball. Finally the coach wiggled past and play started. Other than that I have seen no killer bugs.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 3:37 pm

JackB1 wrote:
Bill_Abner wrote: It needs slider tweks out of the box, IMO but once you see what needs tweaked it's easy to get the game to play to your style.
I am having fun with this game too Bill. WHat slider tweaks do you recommend? I bumped up fouls a little, but nothing else yet.

Bizcanos sliders are working out very well for me.