Frustrations aside, you'll probably still have fun with the game overall. While still not up to the desired level, the player AI is still an improvement over last year's version. The new moves add more variety to the game while also making it look that much closer to the real thing. Playing NBA 2K8 is certainly enjoyable, but it would without a doubt be more so if problems like blown layups didn't pop up and harsh on your good vibrations.

As for game modes, a new slam dunk contest is introduced this year as part of the game's new NBA Blacktop collection of street games. You take control over a player in a four player contest to string together the most impressive dunks. The dunks are broken into three phases, the start, in-air, and the finish. In the first two parts you use the analog sticks to position your player and initiate your moves, while in the last you need to time a trigger pull to finish with the most flourish. The dunks take a little practice, but once you get the hang of it you can pull off some impressive looking dunks. The judges' scoring of the dunks seems to be too arbitrary and random, but if you concentrate more on putting together cool dunks than on winning the contest you'll have some fun with it.

NBA 2K8 provides both a management mode (called The Association here) and a season mode. The difference between the two is that in the first mode you're in control of salaries, practices, managing player personalities and more in a mode that's as much a GM and coaching sim as it is a season mode. There's a fair amount of depth to this mode, but personally I'm the kind of player who ends up letting the sim handle three quarters of the duties which is why the inclusion of a season mode is nice as well. In the season mode you can just take control of your favorite NBA team and play through its schedule without worrying about doing much of anything between games and worrying about player morale.

Support for online play is top notch in the game. You can play individual games or participate in a league - complete with a draft if you'd like. You can also play the game's dunk contest and street hoops modes online against other live gamers. The game keeps track of your online stats for you and you can view other players' cards as well to scout your potential opponents. Games play nice and smoothly online, and I didn't encounter any issues with lag while playing.

Overall you'll be making a good decision if you select NBA 2K8 as your basketball game of choice this season. Aside from the aforementioned issues it plays a pretty good game of basketball and looks even better than it plays. There are a lot of game modes and the online support is great, so you'll get plenty of gameplay out of this title.

In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated: 85%. NBA 2K8 takes this year's videogame basketball crown.

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