NBA Live 08 for Wii Reviews by Gamers

It's hard to decide on a rating to give this game. On the one hand, it's definitely too easy in the sense that the AI is incompetent... Playing on the easiest setting, I would simply pass it 2 or three times, with long passes, all the way across the court, and make an easy, open layup. Guaranteed 2 points. Additionally, I would seemingly hit 90% of my three point shot attempts. (the stats aren't really that high, but it's way too easy to drop a three)

Difficulty can be scaled up, however, so this alone is no reason to give the game too low of a score. What makes it difficult to rate isn't the AI at all actually. It's the controls, which are...let's just say less than ideal. Honestly, after I looked up what the controls WERE, rather than just picking up the Wiimote and Nunchuk and swinging them all over the place, I had virtually no problem. Like I said before, I was dropping threes and hitting layups like it was my job. (Oh, and in that scenario, the defense's equivalent job would be "the guy who takes lollipops out of the drawer at the doctor's office for little children." Because they weren't playing much defense, I can tell you that much.)

However, I'm a bit biased. The idea of the system is to let ANYONE pick up and play easily. I've played basketball in some form all my life, speaking as a college-age male. So I know how I'm supposed to shoot the ball, and I'm a computer engineer so I understand how the Wiimote works beyond the knowledge of the average user. I let my friend play this game, after I did. He simply could not play. He would attempt to take shots, with no result at all. He raised his hands, and the player on screen would simply stand still, looking into the eyes of the defender. Granted, the AI allowed him enough time to try twice, but still, it shouldn't have to be that way. He had trouble passing and laying it up, too, come to think of it.

If you haven't played basketball, I can guarantee nothing. Otherwise it's playable.