It's that time again when patriotism rises to the surface as individual root for the nation's colors and athletes. I Have always loved these type of games and for me it is no different with Beijing 2008.

Although some of the control schemes can be a bit complex for certain events they are all doable. The graphics in this game are excellent, and the gameplay is good. I'm not going to get into all the other things that technical reviewers tend to use to rob games of the review points. For this game I can care less whether or not the grass blades blow in the wind before an event starts.

All I can tell you is that this game is loads of fun, as you strive to either beat your friends in coop play or take down the current world record, or both. For me the track and field events are the most fun followed by gymnastics, then the shooting events. You will have hours of fun playing this title and find a tingle of joy (Not that type of tingle) at times when you knock down a world record.

The one thing that this game is lacking is the pure feel of the olympic environment; for instance, in EA's NCAA football, you can just feel the college environment as it pulls you deeper and deeper into the game. No so much with beijing 2008.

This game is best played with friends (up to 4 on 1 xbox) or you can play on live and have more friends involved. The biggest problem I had while playing on live was it seemed as if there was a huge advantage for the host, as he easily won all of the running events, and I could never get anywhere near my best times while playing on live.