Alright, wow. I'll start by saying that this is the most unbelievable video game I have ever played in my life. Everything about this game is ridiculous (in a good way). I guess I'll break down the pros and cons:</p>
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NBA 2k8 Demo - Pros</font></p><ul>[*]First off, the crowd is unbelievable. It really does it for me, it makes it feel so... real. Everybody moves, and everybody moves differently. There are no duplicates (in each section or two, anyway). They really come alive and make the atmosphere feel like you're watching a game on TV.[/list]
<ul>[*]The graphics have made a big jump since 2k7. Not only the player faces, which are great, but the body types, court, lighting, and extra features on the court (such as camera-men, fans, mascot, etc.). Some of them looked like crap last year, kind of stick-figure-like. Not this year.[/list]
<ul>[*]Detail: wow. From the lining on the jerseys to the faces, facial hair, shoes, fans, etc. You name it. The detail is outstanding.[/list]
<ul>[*]Player-by-Player Animations/Models: As I mentioned above, the graphics took a big leap, but each player's animation is incredible. Not just their body type or face, but their movement... their dribbling style, their rebounding style, their passing style... For example, they got LeBron down perfectly. When he grabs rebounds, he slaps it against his other hand, and he bends his knees on the ground as he comes down. He leans forward and taps the ball. He makes a lot of skip passes. He menuevers like himself in the lane (layups, in-air movement, and dunks especially look like the real LeBron James). Player celebrations, as well. Very realistic... for example, LeBron leans down slowly and holds his hands out, then quickly slaps his teammates hand on the way up. Duncan does his little two-step jog. Duncan complains to the refs... Even each players' shot animations have improved.[/list]
<ul>[*]Drawing Fouls: You'll notice that LeBron slashes to the basket often and draws contact, while guys like Larry Hughes won't get to the line often.[/list]
<ul>[*]In previous games, the point guard is the only one who brought the ball up. In 2k8, it's realistic in the sense that LeBron will bring it up sometimes (especially when Gibson is in the game), as will Ginobili.[/list]
<ul>[*]The post game has improved. You can up-fake in traffic and under the basket, the moves/spins are much more crisp, and you aren't able to score at will in the post with any player you want anymore.[/list]
<ul>[*]Contact: When you're driving the lane, have a tough defender on you, weaving through traffic, posting up, etc... you feel the contact, and you can't just run right through opposing players/referees. Players bump into refs sometimes, and the refs lose balance. Like you saw in the trailer as well, players grab the ref's shoulders and attempt to menuever out of the way. On rebounds, you can't run past a defender and just jump for a rebound... now it's realistic. You have to have position and really work to get in front of/around him.[/list]
<ul>[*]The lock-on defense feature is pretty cool. You can use it whenver you want, but like the descriptions say, just because you're locked onto a guy doesn't mean he won't get by you or stick a jumper in your face.[/list]
<ul>[*]There is a "Get Open" button (
, and the way players get open is outstanding. They move away from their defender off the ball, cut, run behind screens, curl, etc. to get themselves open. When you think they are in a good spot, you press their icon to pass it to them. I love this feature.[/list]
<ul>[*]Better free-throw camera angles. They aren't always below/behind the guy anymore, they actually keep it on the gameplay angle so it feels/looks more realistic. I love it.[/list]
<ul>[*]No more button-mashing!!! On jump-balls in 2k7, you had to press X as fast as you could like 20 times in a row to win a jump ball. Not anymore, not you realistically just press Y and time your jump.[/list]
<ul>[*]Differenciating Speeds: How many times in NBA 2k7 did you catch up to Tony Parker on the break with a center like Kendrick Perkins or Shaq? Not this year. The quicker players will smoke the slower ones.[/list]
<ul>[*]Cut-scenes & Presentation: The player cut-scenes have improved. In previous games, a cut-scene will show a player running full-speed at halfcourt, but when it was over, the player was really stationary at the other end. This year, what you see on the cut-scenes is how it is on the court. For presentation, the look of the graphics for lineups/substitutions are 10x better. Instead of showing 2 pictures on the side of who subbing in/out, they have a new "On the Court" screen, and it shows all 10 guys on the court (and it even has a cool little picture replacement animation for when players come in/out). Replays look better, as well, and aren't as annoying/irrelevant (for example, if you hit a 10 regular foot jumper with Bowen, they won't show an unncessary replay of it like they did last year).[/list]
<ul>[*]The CPU seems smarter. They won't throw you as many "gimme's" as far as easy lead passes to intercept. It seems better defensively, and they are really tough on the glass. Cleveland and San Antonio are good rebounding teams as it is, but it's MUCH tougher to get position (which you have to do this year) and grab a board.[/list]
<ul>[*]Overall feel of the game: It's so damn realistic. You don't feel like you're playing an arcade game, you don't feel mis-timed, you don't feel like it's moving too fast. The speed of the game has settled down for the CPU, and it's realistic to the point where you feel like you're watching an actual game on TV (except controlling the players). The movement is so real and smooth... It's really truly amazing, I'm not exagurating one bit.[/list]
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NBA 2k8 Demo - Cons</font></p><ul>[*]There's no commentary in the demo. Obviously, it's in the real game, but it kind of sucks that it's not in the demo.[/list]
<ul>[*]I don't they they allow you to use Off-Ball Movement in the demo. It's listed in the controlls as RB, but it doesn't work in the demo. Just the B button that gets a player open for you. But again, this is a non-problem, because it will obviously be in the real game. They just don't want to spoil it.[/list]
<ul>[*]They only give us 2 quarters, 4 minutes each! Heh, that's actually pretty good, and double what Live allows, but hey I want to play more![/list]
It comes out on October 2, so 13 more days guys! I'll be playing this demo quite a bit until then.
If you have any questions, I'll try my best to answer them.
