Fun game with great controls, but suffers a few problems in multiplayer.
NHL 08 doesn't have a story per se, but the objective (in Dynasty mode at least) is to play the whole season with your chosen team and see how they manage. Main focus here is the different teams that you play as and my favorite is of course Team Finland.
Graphics are by no means the best there is available for Xbox60, but the animation is smooth and life-like and the frame rate stays solid all the time. Sound on the other hand is much better and you should play this with headphones on, because that way it really feels like a big ice hockey stadium. Unfortunately the music is mostly bland pop music and to listen the same 2 sports commentators all the time can get repetitive after a few hours.
Controls are good and you are mostly using both analog sticks and trigger buttons. It works really well and I think that this control scheme will stay in future NHL games as well.
Gameplay is ice hockey, but this game has more options and modes to choose and remold than I ever want to know. But if you wish to create your own team and think your own tactics in different scenarios you can do it here.
In my opinion the best part in NHL 08 is the multiplayer. It's always fun to play either against or with another player, because it's always more challenging and unpredictable than playing against an AI opponent. Again there are multiple different modes to choose from and after choosing a mode you can still mold it to almost anything you wish.
Unfortunately the biggest drawbacks in NHL 08 involve multiplayer. The game freezes from time to time and then you need to reboot your console and start again. Frequently the game can't connect to EA's servers and for some reason you need to download some update every day. Why can't I just download it once and that's it?
Funny flaw is that if you start the game in different language setting than you usually do, EA's servers say that you don't have a profile at all.
NHL 08 is a fun game with lots of different modes to choose from, but some irritating flaws hinder it from achieving greatness.