College Hoops 2K8: The Greatest Sim Basketball game of All-Time. - bigsmallwood's Blog

bigsmallwood's Blog

College Hoops 2K8: The Greatest Sim Basketball game of All-Time.

Posted on December 13, 2009 at 11:06 PM.

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Drums beating....Players enthusiastically sprinting out of the locker room onto the court with a deafing crowd filling the arena with loud chants and screams! Cheerleaders flipping and cheering on the sideline. Live Commentators on the floor giving you a lead in to the game......

Welcome to College Hoops 2K8, THE GOAT of all sim basketball games currently. Some of you may wonder why I am writing a blog about a game that is over 2years old and I intend to give you the answer.

Given the current cast of B-Ball games: NBA 2K10, NCAA 10, NBA Live 10.....neither have come close to matching the post-patch near perfection of CH2K8. NBA 2k10 made me feel like I spent $60 to beta test 2K's latest offering and even after the patch the game is not only filled with bugs, but still plagued by terrible control over player movement and other oddities (such as the still existing issues with MyPlayer mode). With NBA Live 10, EA pulled its usual stunt of removing "old" options and leaving you with a near barebones experience that is still lackluster. Why would you not match the competitor with All-Star weekend and a legitimate practice mode? And of course NCAA 10 was supposed to be a knight in shining armor with superb presentation, but play about 9 or 10 games and then you begin to get deja-vu....Why? Well because virtually nothing has changed from NCAA 09'....not to mention the game is a spitting image of NBA Live 10, but somehow the gameplay is not nearly as captivating.

So that brings me back to College Hoops 2K8. I decided to give it another run. What I discovered is something rare these days: A COMPLETE game. Let's break it down.

First and foremost the game offers Legacy Mode, Tournament(s) Mode, All-American Training, Coach mode, Tutorial and Practice.....are we talking bout Practice? Yes we are. The first thing any gamer wants to do when they get a game is gain a good grasp of the controls. CH2K8 allows you to do that, whereas the competition (excluding NBA 2K) does not allow you to truly practice, only to shoot around with a player on random court.

You have the option to create-a-play, which NONE of the other NEW Basketball games offer. The All-American Challenge gives you the opportunity to learn the game by challenging them in about 14 drills. Each one allowing you to MASTER the nuances of the game which do help in key situations.

2K8 used numerous College Stars and former College Stars to Mo-Cap for this game. This is something that allowed for the game to play so authentic and have numerous animations. In EA's offerings, about 97% of the players move and play about the same. Especially in their college game, which is a HUGE disappointment after so many years. One would think that EA would have taken notes and done something similar (esp with all the money behind them) but EA has still been very disappointing.

Where CH2K8 shines is on the court. The CPU AI attacks the way each team would do in real life. The 6th Man is still better than EA's toughest stadiums feature IMO. And the defense exists! You must play defense and call plays if you are to be successful in CH2K8....there is little if any chance to cheese in this game. When you are getting blown out, you actually feel good about it because of intelligent ball movement and because the CPU exploits your weakness. Other Basketball games seem to allow the CPU to either never miss or have your consistently blowing easy shots in order for them to have their way. Most importantly College Hoops plays like COLLEGE BASKETBALL! It does not play like NBA 2K, it has its own identity.

The level of detail to EVERY arena Big and Small Conference teams are done astonishingly well. The recruiting with the Amateur BasketBall Leagues is done to a level of depth that has yet to be matched in ANY sports game. The commentary is very spot on and they actually follow the action without making random statements that have nothing to do with the game. If you make a dynamic play, you will hear about it! There is no stale commentary while you torch a team or complete a comeback on another! This game feels fresh every time out!

If you are looking for atmosphere, look no further. While you are running a play, look at the sidelines and look at the animations! Coaches actually coach! The cheerleaders move realistically and the crowd does not look like a synchronized swim contest (cough*cough*EA).

Overall, 2K never pulled out any of the features and make you wait until next year....they did not make any excuses about having a 1year dev cycle....they simply stood and delivered a game that will probably take us into the next 5+years with Authenticity!!!! There are many reasons to list about why CH2K8 is the greatest sim-B-ball game of all time, but I suggest you pick up a copy of the game at your local Gamestop or whatever game store sells used games in your neck of the woods....because This game is a treat! The ability to decide if you want to use a chest pass or a bounce pass is GREAT! The ability to create your own play is FANTASTIC!!! And the ability to play a COMPLETE basketball game top to bottom, inside and out: PRICESLESS!!!! College Hoops 2K8 is greatly appreciated by many, but understood by few. If you are a fan of College Basketball, go and have the CH2K8 experience.

Next Blog: Why NFL 2K5 is still embarrassing Madden on the Gridiron.