As a devout hockey fan, every year I look forward to the release of NHL hockey games. That environment has changed a bit over the past few years with 2K Sports’ exit to the Wii only versions of its game since EA started to dominate with its classic NHL series. NHL 11 is here this year, and like its predecessors, it not only iterates on what makes the series great, it makes great strides and improvements bringing this closer and closer to a true hockey simulation.
Like Madden 11 this year, NHL 11 has gotten a brand new physics system which governs players on the ice. The result is realistic feeling checks and hits, accurate puck bounces, and goalie rebounds you can plan on smacking into the back of the net. Hitting someone against the boards and hearing the rumble of the plexi-glass is oh so satisfying in both sound and looks.
Another new addition is a brand new face-off system that works really well - you can now tie up opponents, dig for the puck, and change your grip on the stick from under to over hand. Perhaps the most realistic feature is the addition of broken sticks - just like the NHL - players will find the sticks breaking on wicked slap shots, slashes, or from brutal hits. This truly is a nice touch and one of the last great missing pieces of the hockey simulation. Sadly we don’t hear our over the hill commentators talk about if the players were using real wood sticks like they used to it wouldn’t break.
You can now tie up the center on face offs.
Once again EA has excelled at the presentation of hockey capturing the atmosphere of a game perfectly. The game looks gorgeous and most of the player models are spot on. It’s easy to tell who Johan Franzen is just by looking at him. Personally, I’m glad Mike Ricci no longer plays in the NHL, I fear how scary he would look in this game. Audio wise we have plenty of licensed music - including many tracks you’d hear at an arena like Final Countdown and Sandstorm.
There’s a ton of modes of play as well this year, including the ability to play some international leagues. Returning again is the EA Sports Online Hockey league where you take a player that you create and run through a season of games with other players on a custom team versus other user controlled teams. New this year is EA Sports Hockey Ultimate Team - a mode that’s a bit like Magic the Gathering meets fantasy hockey.
Yup, you can drop anywhere from $1 to $5 on "virtual" cards.
In Hockey Ultimate Team you’ll earn pucks for completing games, these pucks (or real money) can then be used to buy packs of cards which contain players, upgrades, and items like jerseys. You’ll constantly need to manage and tweak your team, adding to your players contracts, improving their skills, and swapping out for better players. It’s a strangely addictive mode - one that can be played in single player or against other ultimate teams online. It’s also incredibly difficult at the default difficulty. I only managed to get my first win by playing co-op.
Speaking of co-op the game offers plenty of robust co-op options. All of the local modes can be played in co-op including your franchise, Ultimate Team, and quick play games. Online co-op is a new addition this year, and like Madden, it’s called Online Team Play. These quick unranked games can be played with up to 6 players where you’ll lock into a position with a gameplay style similar to the online hockey league. Basically you get an isometric camera that is locked to your player and given clues as to where you position should be.
I only managed to get a few games in, in this mode, but a lot of them seemed to be quite laggy when we had 4 or 5 players. With two players it was silky smooth.
For me, hockey games are made for co-op play. I’ve grown up since the days of the Sega Genesis playing my NHL games in co-op and NHL 11 helps me continue this tradition online. I had an absolute blast playing this in couch co-op as well, and it helped me get over the frustration of losing 10 straight games to the computer - it made victory that much sweeter. If I had a gripe, I’d like to see an online season option where co-op is available - but that’s just a request, not a detractor.
Once again EA has crafted a near perfect hockey experience. I’m happy to say that changes weren’t made in the game just for the sake of making changes, there are some real improvements all around. It’ll be interesting to see where EA takes the series next year, but for now, enjoy the ice time.