NHL 08

Despite an ever constant downfall from Electronic Arts that has caused many of its once glorified games to become bargain bin disasters, NHL 2008 manages to continue the tradition of success established by its predecessors. To be blunt, NHL 2008 in nearly every aspect of the game has been unaffected by the Electronic Arts curse.

The level of quality in this game is clear from the onset of its introduction movie. This movie features many different clips filmed at multiple angles and speeds. Graphically, the introduction is appealing, but it also introduces the users to gameplay aspects and still extends beyond that to be an enjoyable video to watch – again and again. You are then led into a visually appealing menu where you can setup whatever you wish to do. These two things combined may seem like nothing, but they set the tone for the rest of the game as one that is at the high level that gamers in the new generation have come to expect.

The gameplay itself is not far off from what you see the introduction. Through realistic sounds, mistakes by referees and three dimensional fans, the game comes alive. On the most basic level, NHL 2008 has managed to accomplish what all other hockey games have been striving for – creating an intense environment that remains throughout the entire course of a game.

The dynamics work perfectly. Hits occur properly and are based on the situation at hand while the puck moves as it should and is handled by players who have realistic abilities. Nevertheless, aspects of hockey in the game, like in real life, occasionally offer weird puck bounces which lead to improbable situations. In theory this would be a horrible thing, but it actually is a blessing in disguise as it proves an old hockey adage true; “On any given night, anything can happen – anyone can win.”

Implemented into NHL 2008 is a new control scheme that utilizes the right thumbstick on the Xbox 360 controller for shooting. This enhancement allows gamers to wind up for their slap shots, take a wrist shot or just snap the puck at the net. The learning curve for this control scheme is nothing beyond a game or two. Even the most hardcore NHL fans that have been playing the series for multiple gaming generations will be able to easily adapt to the new controls. However, EA thought ahead and included the classic control scheme as a controller setting that you can switch to at any time.

Also introduced in NHL 2008 is the Goalie Mode which allows players to see and play the game from the viewpoint of the goalie. Saves are easily made with the bumpers and the right thumbstick. It is a very enjoyable mode that can keep players entertained for just as long, if not longer than the traditional gameplay. For those who believe that their team is so good that the puck will never get into their zone, you are able to press the ‘back’ button to change the camera between the goalie and the puck. This allows you to watch the puck and the play around it without having your controlled player on the screen.

Strategy has always been important to the success of any gamer regardless of the game genre. In NHL 2008, this idea has been extended into the Create a Play mode. In this mode you can create hot routes for players when you get the puck in specific spot. These plays are difficult to call in the fast-paced and intense games, but pulling one off will leave any player with an earned sense of satisfaction.

The fighting mechanics are the closest that any hockey game has ever got to being a completely realistic hockey fight. In these fights you grapple with your opponent and can choose to do one of four things; punch high, punch low, block high or block low. The important thing to note is that the blocks are not actually blocking, but instead you pull the sweater and arm of your opponent up so that he simply cannot punch. This fighting goes back forth on a scale until one combatant has the clear advantage and knocks the other down.

An essential part to almost every sport is the referees, and this rings true in hockey. The referees like in life outside the game make mistakes. At times, it may be somewhat frustrating, but it doesn’t happen enough that it is going to make you lose your head. Whether it is a produced mistake or not, we will never know – but nevertheless, it is a nice addition to the game.

With all that said, the gameplay is not perfect. Gamers will experience glitches every once in a while. These include skaters not being able to pick up a loose puck no matter how many times they skate over it; players not shooting until a second after being told to as well as a few others. Beyond the game, players will experience an occasional long load time when sifting between menus. These problems ruin the game experience for the moment, but are easily overlooked in the long run.

The sound is simply stunning and is one of the most influential parts to making this game a success. Every sound from the scraping of your skates on the ice to the cheers and jeers of the crowd to even the yelling heard from a player who was just slashed is spot on. It is so perfect that if you played with the announcers only telling you about the goals and the penalties, you would swear that you were listening to a live hockey game.

On the contrary, the soundtrack is a disappointment. The song list is not deep, and many of the songs in the game have appeared in either past NHL games and/or have been butchered to death by other Electronic Arts licenses. Regrettably, the best thing to do outside the rink is to listen to your own music instead of suffering through the game’s dull selection.

Graphically, the gameplay is beautiful. Players, coaches and fans all have clear faces with realistic human traits that range from anything between scars and freckles The ice raises in a mist of frozen water when a player turns swiftly, and to extend beyond that pretty momentary image – the ice is impacted throughout the entire course of the game as it gets scratched up as players skate on it. On a larger scale, gamers are offered a chance to see hockey arenas across the nation as those in the game match their real life counterparts down to the very last details. This in itself, combined with all the other graphical achievements makes this game enjoyable on every level.

In NHL 2008, there are various game modes that you can venture into to satisfy your gaming needs. These include: Play Now, Shootout, Practice Mode, EA Sports World Tournament, Dynasty Mode and Online.

Play Now is a quick and easy way to play an exhibition game of hockey. Shootout is the same, except it logically is for shootouts. EA Sports World Tournament is a manually configured Olympic Style tournament that rewards the winners with either a Gold, Silver or Bronze medal.

The practice mode, which plays to the ear of the experienced NHL’er is another feature that has been implemented into NHL 2008. It allows you to practice in one of four different areas; shooting, skating, goaltending and as an entire team. The shooting drill has your player stand between the red circles and shoot targets that are in the four corners of the net. This is very helpful when it comes to sharpening your accuracy, but doesn’t involve the moving and shooting ability that is essential to success. The skating drill has you carry the puck through an obstacle course around the rink. The course is good and allows you to get quite good at carrying the puck, but since there is only one course you are more likely to become an expert at the course than at carrying the puck. The goalie and team drills allow you to play as goalie and player respectively in a variety of situations. These drills are the most valuable for any player wishing to get good at the game. Despite practice mode being an extension of what has appeared in previous games, it still has a lot of room to grow into something that every serious gamer will want to take a shot at.

In Dynasty Mode, players act as General Managers by taking the helm of an NHL team and its AHL affiliate. Over the course of dozens of seasons, players are expected to accomplish their yearly owners goals that can range from making x number of dollars to winning the Stanley Cup. However that is just an extension of the challenge of designing your own team as players become free agents or retire. To do this, you have to scout, sign free agents, make trades and re-sign your soon to be contract free players.

The scouting system has a small learning curve, but once the information is read it becomes quite easy to understand. Essentially, you have your scouts and you send them around the world looking for prospects. They come back and depending on how good they are (you can upgrade your scouting) give you stats which may or may not be accurate. What makes this scouting system so valuable is that it compares players and ranks them in their projected draft positions.

Making trades can be somewhat frustrating as new players will not be automatically sent down from the NHL. This means, that because the maximum number of players on a team cannot exceed 23 at any point in a trade, even if you plan on sending someone down, you cannot trade an AHL player for an NHL player. Instead, you have to promote that AHL player (in a different menu), go back to the trade and trade the NHL player you recently promoted for another NHL player. Other than that, the trade system is quite useful and easy to use.

Free Agency allows you to pick up players from a massive list of those who are unemployed. It is fairly straight forward as you offer them a contract for x amount of dollars and x amount of years, hoping that they accept. The frustrating part about free agency is that you have to sift through the menus – if you want to get someone on your team with the last name Mitchell, then you have go down the menu through every name between A and M.

The players you have on your team grow or deteriorate, depending on how well you have setup your team. All players build confidence and this affects their abilities – players with higher confidence will have higher ratings while the same is true for the opposite. This has been put in place instead of the fabulous line chemistry that has been the cornerstone of editing lines. Injuries also play an important factor as a sick or injured player will have lower rating than normal while a healthy player will have his normal ratings if not higher.

As you progress through the season, you be responsible for maintaining more than just names on a roster. You will be in charge of assigning training that will affect the progression of your players’ abilities. Also, you will earn money that can be used to purchase upgrades. These upgrades can either help you on the ice by improving your trainers and/or coaches or in the front office by improving your scouts or financial assistants.

Sadly, controlling how much you make is difficult and the only way to really impact it is to clear your roster of high paid players. This is because the only financials you can change is the amount of money put towards fan giveaways, the concession mark up and the average ticket price.

All the while this is happening, you will be informed of what the twenty nine other teams in the league are up to. The way this is done is through your handy dandy email system. In this you will receive messages from the owner, player reports, trade offers and so much more. It is a useful and essential tool to being a successful General Manager.

At the end of each season, awards are given. However, you do not even receive an email about them – in essence, they are nothing more than a side note. They mean little in the grand scheme of things, but they are nice to get and so are the achievement points you get for winning a couple of them. Hopefully, in the future EA will continue to put some value into winning these trophies.

For social players, you can take your game online in multiple different modes. These modes include regular games, shootouts, team games and leagues. To find a game you can challenge a friend, look for people in the lobbies or just have NHL 2008 suit you up with a random opponent.

For those with just a little time on their hands, shootout mode is the place to go. In this, you go against someone for five shots. The trick is that you have to be good at shooting and at goaltending as you must be the goaltender as in goalie mode for your opponent’s shots. This is in a stark comparison to past shootout modes where the goaltender generally was controlled by a computer.

Team play allows up to eight players to go against each other in a game of hockey. Each participant is given the opportunity to lock into any position, including goalie. As entertaining as this mode sounds, a glitch occurs much too frequently to enjoy it to it’s fullest. This glitch involves puck continuously dropping at centre ice. Unfortunately, there is no fix to this and the only way to get rid of it is to leave the game.

For more dedicated players, there are online leagues. These leagues allow the creator to setup everything including how many people are allowed the join, what the rules are and even the number of games each player has to play. For league maintenance, the league leader is given the ability to kick players from the league if they are inactive or cheating, and to update the message board with important news. League mode, which has appeared in past games, is still waiting for its potential to be noticed. Players must use the Xbox Live messaging system to talk with other league members and can offer no input on the league whatsoever. This causes a lot of discrepancies and ultimately leads to many people not wanting to have anything to do with them.

From the NHL to Swedish Elite Leagues, to Nation teams and even the AHL, NHL 2008 gives gamers a lot of choice as to who they want to play as. Every team with the exception of a few national teams (Great Brittan, France, etc.) has one hundred percent real players that are true in ability and appearance to their hockey world counterparts. For these teams, there are multiple jerseys, including the new RBK jerseys. Of course, the jerseys are just for appearance sake, but they do their job well and add to the realism of the game.

Electronic Arts, like in every sports game offers roster updates every once in a while, but it comes at a cost. Every time you login and attempt to play a game you are forced to download rosters. This can take up to a few minutes depending on what speed of internet you have. The problem is that whether there has been a downloadable roster update or not, you are still forced to download the ‘update’. It’s a small price to pay, but an annoyance none the less.

Stats go hand and hand with sports, and NHL 2008 makes that more than possible. Every player has complete stats from the start of his career and these are continued when in Dynasty mode with whatever you accomplish. EA as it has always done in the past also keeps a record of all your ranked online games and provides in it in every little detail possible. Beyond that, there are online rankings that put your stats to use by ranking you against the rest of the world based on your career performance.

Create-A-Modes extend beyond the previously mentioned into create a player, goalie and team. The options are plentiful for creating, but still manage to seem quite limited as many of the options that make your player or team unique are decided for you. These modes have a lot of potential, but have remained constant throughout the years of NHL games.

Achievements in this game range from extremely easy to get, an example of this is the one you receive for using a created player in a game – to extremely hard, an example of this is the one you receive for beating a player online who is ranked in the Top 50. The achievements are rewarding when you get them, and are scattered throughout the various modes that you have to play the game in every aspect to get them all. Thus, the achievements in NHL 2008 have managed to get players to do what developers want – play the game entirely.

This is a good game for all ages that is easy to pick up and play, but also tends to the needs of hardcore gamers. To conclude, NHL 2008 has exceeded expectations by a mile, is the best game in the series, but still has left room for potential growth.