College Hoops 2K8

"If you though 2K Sports would attempt to improve the franchise, then you don't know how sports games work..."

Let me begin by saying upfront that College Hoops 2K8 is a great game. Of course, I also felt that 2K5 for the PS2 and 2K7 on the XBOX 360 were also great games. 2K8 follows the footsteps of its predecessors in that it provides a great playing atmosphere and decently smooth gameplay. The presentation keeps things interesting, but a general lack of anything new and the minor flaws of previous games in the series (which still haven't been addressed) keeps the game from being perfect.

If you know much about sports games in general, you will know that many do as little as possible to renovate each new game in its sports franchises. Madden and college football get very minor makeovers and usually add one or two new tweaks every season. Essentially, you get the same game as previous years. This is much the case for College Hoops 2K8, where even the new features have their flaws.

Overall, the gameplay is relatively smooth once again. Players glide around the court, and it is simple enough to have a slow or up-tempo game, depending upon your playing style. A primary complaint from last year's game was the frequent turnovers. It was common to play a game with 10 minute halves and reach 20 turnovers. And that was on the low end of the spectrum. To correct this problem, 2K8 has instituted “Maximum Passing.” At its core, it is a way to give the player come ability to choose what type of pass to make to teammates. In its execution, it is a whole new problem to become frustrated with.

In theory, you are supposed to bring up passing icons, and then designate a passing throw to go to the teammate you want (such as a bounce pass or lead pass). The lead pass actually works decently well. The bounce pass is a joke, as the player icons can switch in an instant, causing your player to throw passes to teammate's feet. The idea was okay, but the execution is lacking. However, even without using the feature, I noticed a reduction is turnovers throughout my first 10 games. So something is working better.

Another new feature is the “6th man advantage.” It is similar to the concept already used in the NCAA Football franchise. If you are playing well, your momentum goes up. If it goes up enough (and you are home), your shooting percentage increases, making it easier to build a lead. If you are behind, you can cause a few turnovers and make a couple of shots to get the crowd behind you again. This will allow you a window to make a comeback. If you are on a neutral site (for a tournament), there are two home court advantage meters (one for each team).

This feature, I think, works fairly well. My main gripe is on free throws. The crowd will yell and scream while you are attempting to shoot free throws, even if you are the home team. This causes the screen to shake violently. It doesn't occur for your opponents, however, no matter how high your momentum is. So it does have its perils.

And finally, a feature that I seem to remember from previous years that was not included in last year's version was a defensive stance. That's where you hold down a button, and your defender (usually a guard) would get into a defensive stance, which would allow the player some minimal ability to keep the offensive player in front of him. The new feature this year is called “Lockdown D.” Here you press a single button to get into a defensive stance. The problem is, it creates a sort of “bubble” around the offensive player. What I mean is, your defender won't get right up onto the ball handler. Instead, as the offensive player moves around (and you move your player to follow), you actually have this weird amount of space that your player cannot enter. It does keep the offensive player in front of your defender (most of the time), so it is very effective. It just makes it impossible to use the feature and play up on the defender like you could in previous titles.

Of course, the computer can use the same feature on you, too, effectively negating your ability to drive to the basket. In fact, it works so well that even when you have an advantage, such as the computer switching defenders so that their slow center is covering your speedy point guard, you still can't get around him. The “bubble” keeps you backed off from the defender, so you can't actually get around him to drive to the basket. That's unrealistic and very annoying.

There are a few other features, such as a set of mini games that are supposed to help teach you how to play, and the Coach's Halftime Adjustments. The second of the two is interesting, in that at halftime, you can access a menu where you are shown what is working and what isn't for the first half of the game. Then you can make adjustments, which supposedly your players are going to make on the floor (but really don't). It would be a nice feature if your players responded better to what you were trying to tell them to do. It just needs more tweaking next year.

The presentation has taken a minor hit as well. Besides being nearly identical to last year's presentation (yearly and weekly “shows” that talk about the games from the previous week or the upcoming week), the presentation is still pretty good. However, sometimes you are told about a huge match-up in the upcoming week, but when they go to the video, you get one quick clip and the presentation moves on. It feels and sounds weird when Gumble and Kellogg hype up a game for the upcoming week, and then you see one video clip (usually a quick rebound) and then they move on. Other than that, it is pretty much exactly like last year's presentation.

The graphics and animations aren't any huge step up this season, either. Some of the player models look better, but not by much. The player animations are essentially the same as last year's, and my primary gripe in this area is the way people block shots. Too often the defender will jump into the air flat-footed and with one or two arms up. They don't reach out or shift their bodies at all to get at a shot. It just looks odd that a guy is driving past you, and instead of jumping up and reaching to block the ball, your player jumps straight up as the offensive player moves past him.

My hugest complaint is that this game still hasn't fixed the problem of missed open lay-ups. You'd think you were dealing with inept 5th graders with the way your players will sometimes miss wide open lay-ups or miss 3 shots from right under the basket (on consecutive trips down the court). This is especially annoying when going against a dominant rebounder (like Shaquille O'neal from the 1990 LSU squad), as your players cannot afford to miss gimme after gimme under the basket because the best rebounder will end up with the ball. Even if you have 2-4 players ready to rebound the ball, a dominant rebounder will find a way to beat out all of your players. It makes it difficult stay in some games when your players consistently miss 2-foot lay-ups.

Many of the old features are still present within the game. You can earn points to unlock old school teams, as well as alternate uniforms and different kinds of balls (like a beach ball) to replace the regular basketball.

I've heard some people complain that the uniforms for certain teams (Louisville comes up frequently) are incorrect. Also, the Louisville arena (I'm told) isn't correct, either. For a team that was in the pre-season Top 10, that kind of thing is inexcusable. After all, it isn't like 2K Sports had to do a whole lot of work graphically in many other areas this year, so the least they can do is get the uniforms and stadiums correct.

And finally, the free throws don't work like they should. Even with a "perfect release" your players will miss free throws. This wouldn't be so bad, except that the computer's free throw % is almost always 80% or better, and even abysmal free throw shooters (*coughShaquilleO'nealcough*) will go 6-6 in most games. It unbalances the game a little bit, but it is workable.

But I'm sorry if I have given you the impression that College Hoops 2K8 is filled with numerous flaws. It does have its flaws, but the gameplay is still very well done. The atmosphere for the games is frenzied, and the AI is smart, but not too smart. It certainly is a step-up in this area from the shoddy AI you were forced to babysit (ie, use sliders to correct) from last year. You do get a very realistic feel for actually playing in a college game. Much more so than you do in either the NCAA Football or Madden franchises.

-- Bottom Line --

The gameplay is still excellent. The atmosphere is fantastic, which is only enhanced by the new “6th man advantage” feature. The AI has improved. The AI is sharp and fully capable of exploiting a weakness in your team to score an upset. The other new features aren't much to work with. The presentation is still very good, but occasionally comes off a little weird. If you want to play college basketball, you can't find a better game. However, if you have last year's version, you are essentially getting a roster update (pretty much the standard for EA and 2K Sports the past couple of years) and one new, useful feature to work with. If that's worth the extra $60 is for you to decide.

Final Score: 7.5 (Rounded up to 8 for reviewing purposes).

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/04/07, Updated 12/05/07

Game Release: College Hoops 2K8 (US, 11/19/07)