EA Sports recently released a demo for its upcoming game NHL ’11 on both the X-Box 360 and Playstation 3, which is set to release on September 7. I thought I’d pass along a few notes about the small sample of the company’s popular hockey title.
- Now, I haven’t played a TON of the demo yet, but I didn’t see a broken stick just yet. That, to me, indicates that the new “feature” probably won’t occur too often in the final game. Obviously, the jury is still out on that one, though. I’m on record of saying that it’s not the greatest idea, even if it is a commendable attempt at simulating the real-life game.
- It seems that my bread-and-butter one-timers have either been vetted or I just need to change my timing on the evil goal scoring play. If the programmers indeed made the game’s artificial intelligence strong enough to thwart that move, I’m in big digi-trouble.
- I was worried the new faceoff system would be really clunky, but to EA’s credit, it seems like they know how to integrate changes pretty well. (They did a great job of adding “board play” last year, although I think that you could argue it was almost a bit too “magnetized.”) Instead of being clunky, it appears that the changes will simply give players more option in the circle. Again, these are early observations, but so far so good.
- The game looks fine, although it only looks a tad bit shinier than any X-Box 360 NHL game. The series really hasn’t gotten much of a face lift since NHL ’08, really.
- One interesting addition is “The Ultimate Hockey League.” The finer points of the new mode are a bit complex, but you basically collect “player cards” to build an online team that depends on chemistry and development to improve and grow. I’m not sure how easily troublemakers will be able to cheat its system, but if it is balanced well, it could be an addictive distraction for people who prefer playing a traditional team vs. team game rather than the “Be a Pro” setup of following a single position player.
- While I didn’t notice an enormous difference in the physics of the game right away, it could be a nice improvement from the predictable puck movement of previous titles.
So, my gut reaction is to say that NHL ’11 will be an improved title but whether or not it justifies a purchase - especially for people who already own NHL ’10 - remains to be seen. Stick with Pro Hockey Talk this summer as we’ll keep following all the latest hockey video game news.