Imagine my shock when the very first thing I saw was "NHL 11 Demo Released!" on the main splash page of the site. My brain immediately went in to giddy schoolgirl mode, and I scrambled for my PS3 controller, knowing that the download time would inevitably lead to some pensive waiting and youthful enjoyment. Upon logging in and starting the demo's download, I proceeded to burn through the rest of my script in a mere twenty minutes, e-mailing it to my teacher and turning back to my television to wait through the remainder of the agonizing 20% of download time.
To clarify something here - I am a gamer. I own all the major gaming platforms and I find it far easier (and more budget-effective now that I'm in school) to stay in on a weekend and tear through a couple of levels of a game, instead of routinely going out and spending money that I don't have. I do, however, have a realistic outlook on gaming, and I know that I cannot allow it to control my life, for fear of becoming one of "those" people. You know the type. The archetypical World of Warcraft nerd, complete with the CTS-preventing wrist brace and a dependancy upon diet cola. As such, I don't usually let myself get too terribly excited for the release of an upcoming video game. I keep myself fairly busy in the real world, and I look at them more or less as a diversion, as opposed to a necessity.
Unfortunately, there are two exceptions to this rule, but thankfully, Diablo III isn't coming out anytime soon.
The other exception, and perhaps the one game that I let myself get giddy over is the EA Sports NHL game, released every September, usually around the time that NHL pre-season camps open up. It will often kick-start my hockey fix and results in hockey overload during the month of September. To be honest, it's one of my favourite times of the year. Now, as anyone who's played the previous NHL titles is aware of, the games don't generally change very much from year to year. They'll update the rosters, add new uniforms, and maybe come up with a new feature or two. A few years ago it was "Be a Pro" mode, last year it was "Boardplay" and the EASHL online teamplay mode. So when I heard about the new physics engine that they were adding to the game, a la Fight Night, I was excited, but tempered my enthusiasm. Physics was great, but it's been around for a while, so no big deal, right?
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| For the second year in a row, the cover features a Blackhawk doing something funny with his mouth. |
Man, EA pulled a fast one on everyone who had even remotely lowered their expectations.
They've been pimping the new physics engine as the primary feature of NHL 11, and after playing the demo for four hours, I can positively say that they've hit on it. The game feels a lot more real, from the hitting, to the passing, and the shooting. I was impressed, I've got to admit. What I was more impressed with, however, was the stuff that was in the demo that they DIDN'T tell us about.
Things like overhauled presentation, menus, different puck sizes, new passing, disallowed goals (which man, you've got to do a double-take to believe that you're seeing it and it's not being done randomly), the introduction of proper UFA/RFA rules to the GM mode, the introduction of the CHL teams and their players, and of course, the EAUHL; the NHL version of FIFA's 'Ultimate Team' mode. I could go into so much detail on why all of these things enhance the game, but I don't want to waste your time. THIS is the NHL game that we've all been waiting for since the move to the next-gen consoles. It may very well give NHL 2004 a run for its money. If you're any kind of a hockey fan at all, pick up the demo (currently available for Gold subscribers on XBOX 360 and from the PSN Store on PS3).
Right now. Do it. Seriously. You won't regret it.
It'll make waiting for September 7th all the more agonizing.
I'll put up another post in a couple of days after I've really gone through and beaten the hell out of the game. Early impressions though...? I'm blown away. I'm sure you will be too!
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