Basketball. It isn’t going to change, is it? One crazy, malicious individual on the NBA board of directors isn’t going to turn around, replace the ball with a dagger and then let it play out from there, because this is sport. And like all sports, it’ll always remain the same, perfect experience that it is, without confounding anyone’s expectations or happiness. Sports games, however, don’t deserve the same excuse, and NBA Live 08 is pretty much the same as always, only with greater disappointments on the next-gen PlayStation 3 hardware.

Before we flip out in a John Prescott-worthy bout of rage, we’ll cover the plus points. EA has chucked in an expanded range of modes from the previous NBA Live titles, enabling the FIBA World Championship to be played for the first time ever in the series. This won’t mean much to most of you, but that’s the point of such a pedantic detail. EA is using the NBA Live franchise to mirror all of its other sports franchises, in that the range of options and licences are geared to sell the game over its pretty lacklustre gameplay.

So, congratulations to EA on its absolute monopoly over every sports possibility ever, but we’re unhappy with EA for such an attitude. The gameplay here is a sluggish journey in the wrong direction for the NBA Live series. It’s challenging, but the lack of major changes has left us with a massive quality gap between this and the NBA 2K franchise. It feels churned out and unloved, while claims of this running in 60fps are, quite frankly, rubbish. The frame rate is far shakier than any of the PlayStation 2 NBA Live titles, while the overall look of the game is ugly in comparison.

The load times will leave you with an ageing sense of rage. For the PS3 – a console that has the technology to eliminate load times – minute-long load screens are not good enough, even if EA tries to ‘distract’ you with petty trivia questions. Well, that’s the last straw, isn’t it? If EA is ashamed enough of the load times to try to divert your attention from the problem, it has most definitely failed.

So, like post-divorce thirtysomethings that only talk about themselves, NBA Live 08 has too much baggage to be appreciated for its basic joy. It’s basketball as we know it, but it no longer has the finesse to impress. And so, it somehow feels like EA is annoyed by the PS3, rather than enamoured by its basketballing opportunities.

Samuel Roberts