You know, before I was a hockey fan (and subsequently a hockey videogame fan), I never understood the need to buy each year’s iteration of “Sports Game X” outside of updating the roster. “Surely, if you liked the previous years effort, you could survive just fine without the newest entry in the series,” I would pontificate to myself while raising my nose at midnight launches of Madden.
Of course, I now realize that I’m an idiot; for the past two years, I have spent each month of September salivating over the launch of the next NHL game. NHL 09, while incredible, suffered from a lot of bugs and glitches that were thankfully fixed in 10. With most of the kinks worked out last year, NHL 11 seems to be focused instead on injecting more realism into the game. Do the new additions work and ultimately warrant the purchasing of NHL 11? Yeah, I’d say so.
In my mind, the most notable addition to this year’s game is the ability for players to break or drop their sticks. Much like in a real game of hockey, sticks here can snap during a shot without warning, leaving the hapless player with three options: grab a stick from a fellow player, skate by the bench to pick one up, or simply do his best to play without one until he can go for a line change. If a skater takes a hard enough check, he can drop his stick, though in these situations the player just needs to skate by it to pick it back up. Breaking a stick can drastically change the flow of the game, allowing for a small window of opportunity of what basically becomes 5-on-4.5 hockey. A player without a stick can still block shots and kick the puck around, but he is offensively useless, and won’t be able to do much for clearing the puck away from his own net. The broken stick will even continue to impede passing and shooting on the ice until the play is blown dead by the ref.
Aiding in that interruption is a brand new physics engine which governs both the puck and the players themselves. The puck behaves much more naturally as it slides around the ice, slams against the boards, and runs into pieces of broken stick. More interesting is the effect the engine has on the skaters. Unlike in past games, skaters in NHL 11 behave much more as they should, depending on their size. Zipping around the ice as lightweight winger Patrick Kane will feel great, but attempt to check another player and Kane will generally bounce off. Thrust someone into the boards as 6’9″ Zdeno Chara, however, and not only will that player crumple to the ice, he may even be forced to leave the game with an injury. The differences in speed and playing style between all the skaters on a team are actually felt this year, meaning a beginner to the series (and hockey in general) won’t have a problem figuring out who does the goal scoring and who does the punishing of the opposition.
The one new game mode in NHL 11 is “Hockey Ultimate Team,” or HUT. In this mode, the player is given a random deck of cards, each granting access to skaters, jerseys, stat boosts, and more. From here, it is the player’s job to construct his team using these cards; you’ll build your lines, negotiate contracts, improve players, and design your uniforms all within what amounts to a collectible card game. Perhaps your star center is nearing the end of his 6-game contract. Well, use your consumable +9 contract card to extend the player’s services to you. But be sure to keep note of how many career games he has left in him before doing so; when that number reaches 0, the player retires altogether and is removed from your deck. Or perhaps your goalie is having a hard time blocking shots from tight angles. Why not drop a +4 positioning bonus on him to increase his ability to gauge where a shot is going to go?
Adding another layer of customization is line chemistry. When constructing your team, it is important to pay attention to the position each skater normally plays, what his play style is like, and what league or team he originates from. Forming a line of 3 centers is going to result in awful chemistry; place a playmaking center between a sniper on the right wing and a grinder on the left wing who all play in the American Hockey League, and you are guaranteed a line with a little more hop in its step.
Once you have your team put together, you can play them against CPU opponents or jump online seamlessly to try your hand against a human foe. Playing games earns you “EA Pucks” which can then be used to purchase booster packs of cards. I’m serious, booster packs. I never thought a sports game would remind me of playing Magic: The Gathering, but here we are. Heck, landing an all-star player in NHL 11 is the equivalent of nabbing a Black Lotus, especially since your roster will mostly be comprised of players below the NHL level. But Jesus Christ, when you find that Pavel Datsyuk card, you are going to freak out.
The mode is just so cool and inventive, but if it sounds a little complicated, well… it is. Unfortunately, this will be the mode’s biggest downfall. Though there are plenty of tutorials deep within the menu system, the initial barrier to entry is quite high. Constructing lines, especially for those new to hockey, is a confusing affair and the chemistry system will seem odd and obscure until you mess around with it enough. Moreover, I don’t know how strict hockey fans will react to a system that is so heavily steeped in nerd-mythology (seriously, booster packs!). Though I would urge everyone to try the mode out, there are thankfully enough other things to do in NHL 11 (online leagues, season mode, GM mode, Be-A-Pro, etc.) that avoiding HUT altogether won’t be an issue.
NHL 11 is a great step forward for the franchise. I love the HUT mode, and the gameplay additions (broken sticks, enhanced physics) create a much more realistic, yet unpredictable, experience. Unfortunately, other areas of the game are beginning to show their age; player models look so-so (especially compared to other high-profile sports games, such as NBA 2K11) and I will more than likely take a hammer and two nails to my ear drums if the announcer dialog isn’t brand new next year. I mean seriously, how can you expect to get away with using almost 90% of the recorded banter from two years ago? It’s just lazy.
With those complaints in mind, NHL 11 is still the greatest hockey game around, and easily warrants a purchase from any fan of the sport. I’ve stressed this before in previous writings, but if you aren’t a hockey fan, I would still rent the game and check it out. I had no interest in the sport before playing NHL 09, but today I am a rabid fan (and player!). If the speed and unpredictability of the sport don’t win you over, the underlying dorkiness of the HUT mode just might.
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Things We Liked: Broken sticks are great, creating tension moments randomly throughout a game. The physics engine allows for a more realistic feel. HUT mode combines hardcore hockey knowledge with geeky collectible card games *Swoon*
Things We Disliked: Seriously, the announcers have to go — much of the same dialog as years past, and they’re often about 2 plays behind the action. The models and arenas could use an overhaul, too.
Target Audience: Any and all hockey fans of course, but I can’t help feeling that the HUT mode could draw in some hardcore gamers if given the chance.
(NHL 11 – Developer: EA Canada. Publisher: EA Sports. Available for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 – Both versions were sampled for the review. A copy of the game was provided by the publisher for review purposes. Unfamiliar with CFD!’s review system? Read our newly revised explanation here.)
