Like last year's effort, NBA 08 suffers from unfair artificial intelligence (AI). No matter what team goes up against yours, they play with way too much dedication. For example, let's say there's a game between Tim Duncan and his San Antonio Spurs against the Atlanta Hawks. When Duncan, one of the best players of all time, takes a shot, most of the time it glows a sharp red color, meaning there's no chance in hell of it hitting the basket. Now, when it's green, or somewhere in that vicinity (which normally means it's good to go), the defense miraculously blocks him, steals the ball and makes a three-pointer.
It's cool to see a rebound indicator (even though the AI beats your teammates to the punch most of the time), but the annoying pass indicator stays on throughout the whole game. Moving the ball around should be a natural instinct, with the nearest player automatically receiving the ball with D-pad and button presses. Instead, because of the rampant movement of the indicator, you might end up throwing a full-court pass by mistake, as hungry defensemen snatch it, come back and frustratingly score a quick two. Icon passing returns (available with a click of the left shoulder button), but against this AI, it doesn't do much good whatsoever. They read plays like scholars from Harvard.
It's too bad the core basketball gameplay doesn't work that well, because we love the extra goodies. Mini-games return, including Pinball, Skee-ball and on-court shoot-around games. New additions include an Arkanoid-like game with a paddle, ball and blocks to break, as well as a Whac-A-Mole clone that gets more fun with each new stage, giving momentum to an otherwise lackluster product. Other basketball mini-games are available, such as Alley-Oop and Block-A-Shot. They're surprisingly enjoyable in comparison to the regular basketball action.
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