NHL 11

As you may or may not know, I am Canadian. This attribute alone qualifies me to review a hockey game! OK, maybe that's not entirely true. It probably has more to do with me being an avid hockey fan and also that I may or may not have played way too many hockey video games in my life. Alas, I am here to review EA Sports' newest iteration on their NHL franchise, NHL 11. Curiously, it is not the 11th game in the series (curse you EA and your crazy naming conventions!), it is the 19th. I'll admit up front that I spent way too much time last year playing NHL 10. What can I say? I like hockey. When EA announced a new Real-Time Physics Engine as well as over 200 more gameplay improvements (broken sticks! How can this game not be good?), which promised an even more realistic hockey game experience. Naturally, I wanted to try it out myself to see if EA could deliver on its promise. The EA NHL games are the only professional hockey games available on the XBOX 360 and PS3, as 2K decided to publish their NHL game exclusively on the Wii. I cannot say that I am a big fan of the Wii hockey games that have been released previously, since the controls were all kinds of messed up, so maybe it's a good thing that 2K has decided to devote all of their NHL 2K11 team to the Wii version. The EA series, on the other hand, has done a fantastic job over the past few years in creating a wonderfully fun and realistic experience with each iteration on the 360 and PS3. This year's version starts you off with a game update and then you get to spend 10 minutes entering your access code for the EA Online Pass. I am not going to get into why I hate the Online Pass since I can understand why EA has it in the game in the first place, but man...Once you finish dealing with that, you can actually play the game!

The first thing I noticed was that the gameplay feels much slower when compared NHL 10. Skating with the puck seemed just a little too slow, and there is a delay when passing the puck which I found to be a little annoying. The gameplay takes a little getting used to at first, but its similar control scheme to NHL 10 makes this transition a lot smoother. Of course, you can also speed up the game in the options menu if it just does not feel right. The game's new physics engine also needs to work out a few kinks. It is almost to be expected when a game introduces a brand new engine that there will be some issues. I noticed a few awkward looking animations after hits, and players sliding all over the ice when on their backs. Again, in a new engine, it is not at all surprising to see this, and obviously EA can take a look at it and improve upon their engine in next year's game. One other awkward situation I had come up was due to the AI. I experienced the same thing in last year's game and was a little disappointed when it started occurring again in this game. I mean come on, EA, why are my forwards getting in my way as I try to enter the offensive zone, forcing me to go offside? I get infuriated every time it happens, and as it was a problem in NHL 10 as well, I feel like it is something that could have been easily fixed. The AI as a whole has a few issues on its own, such as AI forwards passing the puck back and forth from the sideboards to the blue line in the offensive zone for no apparent reason. This is an issue that I noticed in the previous games in the NHL franchise, and makes it seem like EA needs to work on the AI a little bit more in their next iteration of the series.

I want to preface this next point with a fact: I am a big Gary Thorne fan. The guy is a great commentator, and I think he is a perfect fit for the NHL franchise. The one thing is, after hearing the exact same lines of commentary from him and Bill Clement for the past three years, it gets stale. Sure, there are a few new lines in there, but the corny jokes Bill Clement makes that were only kind of funny last year, just feel awful when you hear the exact joke again in NHL 11. The least EA can do is make those bits of non-pivotal dialogue new, and not just rehash the same lines from the last game. Couple that with the problems I was running into with commentary being just flat out wrong at times; like when it tried to tell me that my opponent was controlling the game and were winning because of it, despite having 3 shots and losing 2-0 at the end of two periods, and the game's commentary feels like it needs some work.

It is not all just rehashing old content, though. NHL 11 offers a couple new features to add variety to the game. The first is a revamping of the menus. They look nice, but the player graphics in the background have a fairly poor resolution. It is not something I usually notice, so the fact that I even saw it at all says a lot about the graphic quality. The game also adds some new modes. The Hockey Ultimate team is a new feature, where you collect trading cards within the game. You start with a group of junior players and some European players and your team is not that great to begin with. You can play versus the AI to earn EA Pucks. These Pucks are used to purchase new card packs which can contain better cards. The mode also introduces a Line Chemistry view, which shows you how well the lines you have created work together. Chemistry is better for players who play in the same league or team in their actual real league. You can also auction off your excess cards to get more EA Pucks, and, of course, you can buy your favorite cards this way as well to get these players on your team. The mode makes use of contract cards as well. Each player can only play a set number of games in their career, so you have to manage how long the contracts you give these players end up being.

Online players will enjoy the EASHL, which allows you to compete monthly in a playoff-style format with a team of other gamers. The mode was included last year and provides an interesting way to make sure the online play remains relevant throughout the next 12 months. The Be a GM mode is a virtual port of last year's mode. The only real differences I noticed was that trades can now involve 5 players per team, up from 3 per team, and the inclusion of Restricted Free Agents. These are nice tweaks to the franchise mode which ultimately add enough depth to the mode to make it better than the NHL 10 version. Be a Pro mode is also very similar to the NHL 10 version, but starts your career in the Memorial Cup, a new tournament added to the game this year. The XP you earn in the Memorial Cup will affect your overall draft position later in the mode. The Memorial Cup can also be played on its own in the Tournament mode of the game, but I have a hard time finding the value in playing as CHL players when most hockey fans will have more interest in NHL players.

At the end of the day, NHL 11 is enough of an upgrade to justify getting the latest version if you are into hockey games. However, there are a few issues which make the game feel like it could have used a little more work. Add in the stale feeling commentary and I wonder if EA will be able to pull off another iteration of their NHL franchise without some significant changes to their current formula.