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!

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.