College Hoops 2K8 Review (360)

[Steve_OS]

We have just posted our College Hoops 2K8 review. Find out what Clay Shaver had to say about it.

"Like their real-life counterparts, college sports video games have the unenviable task of trying to become more than just the “little brother” to the professional version. In both football and basketball, the two sports that consistently release both a pro and college game, the NCAA versions, while often lagging behind in sales numbers, often wind up being the superior product. With the team at 2K Sports releasing a quality NBA title just a few short months back and coming off a 2006 release that brought home the coveted Operation Sports 2006 Basketball Game of the Year, College Hoops 2K8 steps onto the court looking to prove that it’s the game to beat on the Xbox 360."

[Sully]

Excellent review, Clay. I pretty much share the same thoughts. While it's a good game, it still left me wanting and expecting more. Unfortunately, College Hoops isn't the only 2k game leaving me with that feeling in 2007.

[Behindshadows]

Great review, thats about what it deserves is a 7, glad you were honest, even about the smallest things, including the prehistoric player models..

[Da_Czar]

Great Review Clay !!! I do disagree with the score. Excellent point with the reach d and as I said a great review !!!

[MachoMyers]

Its funny, I was thinking how I still hadn't bought this versions game (been pretty busy) so went online this morning looking for the OS review of the game. It wasn't there. Low and behold it makes its appearance the same afternoon. Eerie.

[Ghayghay]

Quote: Originally Posted by Da_Czar

Great Review Clay !!! I do disagree with the score. Excellent point with the reach d and as I said a great review !!!

Good review

I also do disagree with the score as I believe the amount of feature that were added is phenomenal (create a play, All-time teams, team scouting, ABL, 2K Share, Create a recruit, and the list goes on & on & on)

Gameplay wise, I agree there are some lack (no steal, shooting while moving is absent and fadeways are a bit weird) but overall, to mee it is a reasonable improvement over last year's game.

To me this game was worth a 9.

One thing that I'm very pleased with is to see the progression year by year. I can't wait to see 2k9, 2k10, 2k11. If they consistently improve gameplay and keep adding/ paufining features.. this game will keep me coming back for more.

[brudjazz]

The core of this game has not changed from day one, in my opinion, and that' s a bad thing. I mean, if I'm on defense and the ball is passed inbounds to the same spot EVERY TIME, don't you think the CPU offense would adjust by running the baseline to get a better pass, or wait until someone can come help out?

That's just one example. What about the CPU PG's that bring the ball up the court and stand there, either passing to the right or left of the key? In real life, those passes would be intercepted every time, but in this game, the PG just waits until you jump one lane before passing in the other one. Not realistic. Simple X's and O's, folks. I have yet to figure out whether the testing team is missing these simple things, doesn't care about the realism of the game, or the dev's don't feel that it's that important an issue.

[PSU_DW2]

Quote: Originally Posted by brudjazz

The core of this game has not changed from day one, in my opinion, and that' s a bad thing. I mean, if I'm on defense and the ball is passed inbounds to the same spot EVERY TIME, don't you think the CPU offense would adjust by running the baseline to get a better pass, or wait until someone can come help out? That's just one example. What about the CPU PG's that bring the ball up the court and stand there, either passing to the right or left of the key? In real life, those passes would be intercepted every time, but in this game, the PG just waits until you jump one lane before passing in the other one. Not realistic. Simple X's and O's, folks. I have yet to figure out whether the testing team is missing these simple things, doesn't care about the realism of the game, or the dev's don't feel that it's that important an issue.

Try turning up 'Awareness' for both you and the CPU team. What do you guys think about the playcalling system and calling the plays in game (offense and defense)? I know they made some improvements. I want to be able to make the CPU call different types of games based on the type of players they have (dimensions and ratings). Like in one game with a quick team with great outside shooters, the CPU should play a perimeter finesse attack with lots of passing and try to implement their game accordingly. With another team, I'd want the CPU to come out with a low post offense if they have lots of big men and are not that quick and not that great 3 point shooters. Can you do this in this game or does the CPU automatically play like that?

I suspect this is a great game. I am hoping that the sliders work correctly. I am sure some minor adjustments might go a long way. Also try playing the game on 'MOP' gameplay. That might make the CPU also play harder, especially on defense differently...

I am going to have to test out a 40:00 matchup between UMass -BC, and Princeton - Penn St, and want to get a challenging game with MOP sliders and see if I can get realistic results. I mean the Princeton - Penn St game was brick city for the Tigers in large portions of the game. I would think MOP default sliders would make it hard to score (as it was in past versions). In U Mass BC, it was a game with lots of fast breaks, especially for UMass. Was it BC's player's ability of being slower than UMass's players, or it was the defensive pressure and offensive tempo that did it? Fast break slider? That would seemingly be higher for UMass than BC. There should be these settings for the CPU. It is very important as a user to change these tempo / pressure settings and know when to run zone and when to run the man to man defense. Sometimes playing a zone is the right move to defend an attack since remember you can draw a charge on any part of the court in college. When I play these games on the 360 I'll post my results...