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NBA 2K8 Stats and Records
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Monthly Archives: June 2019
NBA 2K8 Review
It’s time for the next 2K adventure! Once again this game shows that for some sports the older titles just felt more natural. 2K8 is definitely a lot simpler than a game like 2K15 so it may not capture quite as much of the realism but it’s just a lot of fun. You can run up and try to shoot a basket without having to worry about a ton of variables like in the newer ones. You can just trust in your casual fundamentals and go from there.
As always I did jump into the quick match option and it was probably the most back and forth match in a very long time. At first I had the lead and managed to hold on to it for around the first half of the game. At one point I was winning by as much as 7 points. My 3 point shots just kept landing and it was all going good. Everything changed when the computer remembered that it had the fast break option. Suddenly they scored a bunch of points and I was the one down by 7. I rallied as hard as I could and got the lead back by 1 but then in the final minutes they started scoring again and beat me by about 6. So I did lose the match but it was definitely a lot of fun. It felt more interactive on both sides if anything as I was able to play some good defense and even got steals. Offense was fun as always.
I do think that the timing is a big part of making the shots here as opposed to it mostly being luck based. I was able to land 3 three pointers in a row at one point and I think it’s because I had the right angle. On the other hand, some of the 2 point shots still get a little fishy. They should be easy layups and yet the player will miss anyway. The computer never misses those shots so at that moment I just have to shake my head. Still, as I mentioned the games are just a lot of fun which is the important thing. One day I’ll start winning matches consistently.
Going back to the gameplay for a sec, it all just feels so organic. That sounds pretty vague so I’ll try to elaborate on that. When you start to shoot the ball you’ll see a defender casually reach up to try and block it. He’s not using some kind of secret skill or doing anything out of the ordinary. No, instead he’s just getting up there and getting the job done. When you steal the ball it’ll roll on the court before someone grabs it instead of magically jumping into someone’s hand. A lot of these things may technically be because the game isn’t super refined yet, but I actually like it. It makes the characters feel more human since they actually make mistakes. I also thought that the gameplay was a little more exciting than some of the newer ones although of course this is to a small margin. Technically I thought all of the games were exciting in their own way.
As always there is a lot of extra content to play around with. You can forget about the online options though as those servers have been down for a very long time at this point. Still, you can practice your shooting skills, running around the court, etc. There’s also the legendary franchise mode so you can have endless games as your favorite team. There’s no end to the replay value here as you’d expect since that is basically par for the course for sport titles. The NBA games are very consistent with their modes and that’s a good thing.
Naturally there is less emphasis on the presentation here since the graphics aren’t quite as all star as in the later games. Still, everything that you actually do need to be clear is well defined. You’ll never lose yourself on the court or anything like that. The screen is clear and I didn’t notice any glitches either. As for the soundtrack, it’s pretty standard as expected. These areas are probably the most similar across all the titles, but why fix what isn’t broken right?
Overall, NBA 2K8 is definitely another really solid title. It brings all of the classic Basketball action that you would expect and then some. These games just never get that old although I will admit that I am just about ready for the next sport. I only have 3 more Basketball titles left so I am in the homestretch there. The goal will be to win one of those last 3 games although I guess we’ll see how it goes. If you haven’t bought this game yet then I really don’t see why you would. At this point the players/teams are so outdated compared to the newer titles. i’m sure a bunch of these players are probably even retired by now. Still, it does hold up and since you can buy the game for about a dollar it really is a steal if you think about it.
Overall 8/10
Caramon Majere vs Lavi
Caramon Majere has some good sword skills, but they won’t be enough to stop Lavi’s hammer. While Lavi may not be quite as strong as the actual exorcists, he’s always been a good supporting fighter. That’s still good enough to take out most swordsmen and Caramon doesn’t have any special abilities that would tip the scales here. Lavi has an array of elemental skills as well as super strength to back him up here. As a result, it’s just hard to see Lavii having to try all that hard here. Lavi wins.
Yusaku Fujiki vs Midnighter
It’s time for Yusaku to return to the stage! His dueling abilities are definitely as impressive as you’d expect and that means there aren’t too many opponents who can really challenge him. Midnighter can calculate many different outcomes and fight with the level of Captain America, but that won’t help against Yusaku’s army of monsters. They’ll crush Midnighter without even breaking a sweat. Yusaku Fujiki wins.
Molly Wright vs Captain Falcon
Molly Wright has returned, but she has met her match against the Captain. Captain Falcon is a very skilled fighter who has a solid amount of both strength and speed. It’ll be difficult for Molly to keep up with him at all and he can definitely dodge her gun shots. Once he gets in range Captain Falcon has so many different attack options that Molly will have a difficult time trying to keep up with any of them. She is simply outmatched here. Captain Falcon wins.
Rugal Bernstein vs Lucemon
Suggested by Mehama Sadafa Lucemon was always a very impressive Digimon. His abilities are truly magnificent in his ultimate form. He has enough raw power to contend with Mega level Digimon and his speed is also uncanny. As he possesses both light and dark, it’s difficult for any enemy to be able to counter him. Rugal is quick and an expert in hand to hand combat, but the difference in destructive ability will be his downfall here. He is simply unable to dish out nearly as much power as Lucemon and won’t be able to defend against all of it. Lucemon wins.
Molly Wright vs One Above All
This is a tribute to Men in Black International. Even as a new cadet Molly showed that she was far more proficient in combat than 99% of the MIB members so she definitely had to win this round. She has a gun and knows how to use it which is far more than I can say for the One Above All. TOAA just isn’t the kind of cosmic being who has gotten any practical combat experience. That is a pretty big problem since that means he is simply outmatched by just about everyone he comes across. One shot should end him. Molly Wright wins.
Julie Review
It’s time to look at another film with an annoying main character. This one’s not the worst lead or anything, but she does seem to be incredibly naive and not one of the smartest leads out there. Still, when it was crunch time Julie did her best to stand up to the danger. This is a pretty good thriller that builds up to a nice climax. You will need to suspend a lot of disbelief of course, but that’s to be expected.
The film starts with Julie running to her car after her husband Lyle had another public episode of getting upset over her. He gets violently dangerous whenever a guy even talks to Julie. She gets in the car and warns Lyle that maybe they can’t be together anymore. He responds by forcing her to drive the car at max speed for a while and they nearly fall off a cliff. He then warns her that it was an accident and he’s sorry about it. Another way to think of it is that these accidents will occur more and more unless she stops talking to other men. Julie is surprisingly fine with this so then her friend Cliff shows up and reminds Julie that Lyle is a dangerous murderer. Lyle murdered her first husband and will stop at nothing to claim her. Julie must now escape from Lyle and try to establish a new identity, but Lyle seems to be around every corner. Can she possibly shake such a skilled stalker or is this the end for her?
A situation like this is always pretty tough to escape from and Julie’s first actions don’t help matters. See, you’ve usually got just one shot to get out because after that the guy will suspect something. So Julie tries to leave first thing in the morning, but Lyle is already up so she has to make a ton of excuses to leave. He doesn’t buy any of them but decides to pretend to leave to see what she’ll do. Here’s where Lyle slipped up since he damages her car but goes so far away that she is able to run to town. (Thanks in part to hitch hiking) From there the film is mainly about Julie running from place to place and trying to stay ahead of him.
This is where it’s a little hard to buy that Lyle is following her everywhere. He finds out what state she is in, which hotel, etc. The film does try to give reasons for how he finds these things out like by asking operators for her place or just deducing which state she would likely flee to. At the same time, you still can’t help but feel a little skeptical at times. Julie used a pseudonym for these journeys and there are still a lot of hotels in each state. Just knowing what state Julie is in wouldn’t be enough for Lyle to find her so easily. The whole time I figured that Cliff was a traitor leaking info to Lyle or just a villain who wanted Julie for himself. It’s good that Julie did actually have an ally, but at the same time it did mean that it was harder to buy into the Lyle scenes.
Meanwhile, while Julie may not have been the best character, you could still root for her. As far as villains go Lyle definitely wasn’t anything special. He’s one of those petty villains who just wants Julie at any cost. You really can’t even like him as a villain because his motivations aren’t solid and there’s nothing interesting about him. Also, since Julie was 100% fooled if he had just played the part of the nice guy they could have actually been together. When the villain creates his own problems then that just makes him even worse.
As for Cliff, he is a good guy. His arc really didn’t go as I expected it to, but at the end of the day I can’t hold that against him. He probably could have handled some of the early situations a little better though. He was being pretty obvious with Julie in front of Lyle, but at the same time it was imperative that he convince her of the truth right away so in that sense his plan worked. He also did at least try to escape when he was held hostage although I dare say that going for the gun is always the best move in that situation. I dare say that it’s best to make a final lunge and attack the guy with the gun rather than getting in the car. Once you’re in the car your chances of survival are close to 0 unless you’re in an action film. So, even if you might die during the charge your odds are better. Trust me, getting in the car is never the right move.
Unfortunately the film does end on a bit of a whimper. It probably has one of the worst climaxes that I’ve seen in a very long time. Nothing happens for a long period of time and what should have been a very thrilling plane sequence ends up feeling rather dull. You’re just sort of waiting for the film to get on with it. Whatever the idea was for the ending it simply should have gone with a different option. I did like the tension on the plane before this, but it all doesn’t play out as you’d hope. I also felt bad for the pilot who was doing a good job the whole time, but faltered at the very end.
Overall, the script is pretty solid and the film will definitely keep you engaged all the way through. It’s a pretty classic thriller and definitely one that holds up. It actually grabs a lot of the beats that you might see in a modern film even if the effects don’t allow for it to go all the way with big car chases or anything like that. Of course, how much you enjoy the film will probably depend on how the first half affects you. Julie is just a very tough lead since she isn’t very sharp which can make it a whole lot harder to root for her. Still, I think you’ll be fine and while it’s not a great thriller, it’s a solid one nonetheless.
Overall 6/10
Pac Man vs Riddler
Suggested by Destroyer Pac Man returns once again to take on the Riddler! Pac Man doesn’t have a whole lot of experience with riddles, but he’s a quick study so I think he would learn them very quickly. He’s not one to back down from a challenge after all and I think the Riddler would quickly find out that the Pac is up for any challenge. Once Pac solves the riddle he can win with a quick punch. Pac Man wins.
Pac Man vs Pretty Boy
Suggested by Destroyer It’s time for Pac Man to go on a roll. He may not be known as a big powerhouse in the world of gaming, but he’s a lot tougher than you’d expect. Pac Man has elemental powers at his disposal and a reasonable amount of super strength. Pretty Boy’s laser blasts would likely deal some serious damage if they were to land, but I don’t think he’ll be landing quite as many shots as he would like. Pac Man is simply too fast. Pac Man wins.
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