Anyone who knows basketball will know of the NBA 2K series, the games, by 2K Sports have been setting the standard in basketball for the last few years, unsurprisingly we have now reached the 2008 version which promised to improve on last years version by offering great new additions and a rework of the animations, but does it do enough?

The first thing you will notice when playing this years NBA 2K is that the animations are a lot more realistic, so when you pass, dunk or pull off jump shots you will be doing it in style.  Another improvement to graphics is the crowds as they look much better than in last years version, the players and coaches on the sidelines also play their part in the improvements and are much more animated, in fact at some points your players even interact with them by touching them or brushing past them, it’s good to have this level of interactivity with the people on the sidelines and a lot of sports games could learn from this.

NBA 2K8 has a whole to depth to it which should keep budding basketball coaches happy, from scheduling practices, scouting for future draft picks, negotiating contacts and assigning roles to your players, it’s all there and while it is possible to go through a season without doing this you really would be missing the point of playing.

Online play is one of the games strongest points, there really is something for everyone, from playing an entire season to tournaments, not forgetting the ranked and unranked matches. Up to eight players can play together on the Xbox 360 making for manic fun, the game also keeps track of your stats making it easier for you to find a opponent who will match your skills. The online mode really does set the standard, it is lag free, makes it easy to find opponents and best of all is great fun.

This years version of the game has a few new additions to help you win matches a bit easier, one of the new additions is a diagram that shows you where players need to go to run a play, this is very useful because it is very hard for you to find space when controlling a player, so learning how to do this makes life a lot easier, other than the new additions such as this much stays the same, the controls have always been quite simple to use and thankfully they stay that way.

As well as the usual gameplay modes 2K have introduced an all new Dunk Contest this year, here up to four players can choose from current stars and take part in a dunk contest in the streets of Las Vegas, you can really experiment with each dunk in order to impress the judges and beat your computer controlled opponent, however this mode really is best played against friends or online as that is where the fun is to be had.  

NBA 2K8 really is a very good game and this is mainly thanks to the graphics, the level of detail is just so impressive, especially at timeouts when the cheerleaders, mascots and coaches all come onto the court and interact with each other, equally impressive is the play itself, from slam dunks to passing, everything about the game is just given so much care and attention that it is hard not to sit with your jaw open in awe, this really is one of the best looking sports games I have seen in quite a while.

If you are a big basketball fan or like me just enjoy playing the videogames, then you will not be disappointed if you purchase this, there really is something for everyone here.