NHL 11 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360, PS3)

[RealmK]

Re: NHL 11 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360)

RealmK, I thought you were waiting for the PSN? Was the temptation to great and you get a Gold membership for a month? I was thinking of doing that...it's only like $9...and I might leave work at lunch anywho...

Naw I made a new account, they give you a free month of live gold with new accounts these days apparently. Worked for me, I'm impatient.

[Dazraz]

A refinement of NHL 10 but not a big upgrade. Stanley Cup celebration, menus, commentary have been lifted straight from NHL 10.

I will be buying as I love hockey but I am not a massive fan of the EA series. I find all games play out in a similar fashion irrespective of who you are playing for. The gameplay is well done but lacks a feeling of intensity.

I still think if 2K get their act together they can trump EA as they have with their NBA series.

[crobert0247]

Re: NHL 11 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360)

Another cool thing is that you can execute user goal celebrations in shootouts.

[SinisterAlex]

Re: NHL 11 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360)

I shouldn't have read this thread... c'mon I'm only at 47% download completion

[shanew21]

Re: NHL 11 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360)

Use the hustle button if you're lining a guy up. I just got a massive body check

[jyoung]

I played a quick game of Blackhawks vs. Flyers and there were a ton of goals.

If the demo is any indication, "robo-goalies" may finally be out of the game.

Teammate AI is also a ton better on offense.

[Mikey88]

Re: NHL 11 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360)

So far so good. I like the hitting much more this year..
1 question I have about passing - I have this annoying habit of pressing down on the right trigger to make the pass and then press the trigger again to gain control of the receiver before he gets it on long passes..In NHL10 i would gain control of the player and then take the pass already in control, but now my player will one-time the pass instead. Any reason why?

[Qb]

Re: NHL 11 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360)

BTW QB the cat is out of the bag, the demo mentions online BAGM, so if thats the info you were holding back, no need to anymore.

I know nothing about that, no BS. So if you saw something to that effect, you either misinterpreted it or it was kept secret from us at the event.

Anyone notice that the protect puck button(A) has been given some treatment? There is actual skating with this feature and not just the curl and hold arm out from previous years.

Yes, puck protect is much improved. I used it with Kane coming out from behind the net... very nice. I was able to transition out of it to curl back around the net to shake the defender. Need to remember to try that with a less-skilled player, as I have a feeling it won't be quite as effective...

they took out the attribute slider. the one that makes skilled players stand out more.

same stupid fake slap shot backhand or forehand is still money on a breakaway. as is the deke to backhand and then release deke to forehand wrist shot..

Attribute effect is still there. And I never understood the hate of forehand/backhand dekes. It's the most common move on a breakaway IRL. Maybe I'm not slick enough to pull it off with regularity, but when I do it correctly I have a good chance to score (but not automatic) and when I don't it doesn't work. Am I missing something?

I was breaking up center with Hall and pressed the call for pass trigger and just before Doughty sent the outlet, Hall beaver tailed his stick on the ice!

Nice, didn't catch that at the event. I assume that will take place in OTP which will be a very cool addition.

Use the hustle button if you're lining a guy up. I just got a massive body check

Hmmm, never thought of doing that, but it makes sense... F=MA!

[patsfan188]

How the Ultimate Team? Mines 50% complete.

[bighurt27]

Well just completed a couple of play thrus and while it doesn't feel hugely different. the subtle changes feel good. Skating doesn't feel quite as "floaty". The new faceoff engine is pretty cool. And I'm happy that they didn't go overboard with the physics (players don't become ragdolls when they take a hit). Looking forward to picking this game up.

[Tokyo-Night]

Re: NHL 11 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360)

Sorry boys for all the quick fires posts. Last one for a while, but the puck physics are fantastic!

Just took a wrister from in close at the right face off circle and the way it rebounded off the goalie out past the left face off dot just looked very authentic!

The physics themselves make this game feel noticeably different from past hockey games. Easily the best EA has done.

So are the physics like the euphoria engine?

[pf8363]

Re: NHL 11 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360)

when using protect the puck you really feel like your bracing yourself for hits. i was protecting the puck with JVR, and sharp came in to hit me. sharp ended up taking the worse of the collision because i was leaning into him with JVR's big frame. awesome!

[adayinthelife]

Re: NHL 11 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360)

So are the physics like the euphoria engine?

No not at all. They're not terrible, but they're nowhere near that level at the moment.

I've been sampling some Ultimate Team and I gotta say, it's way better than I thought it would be, it's quite addictive already. Not sure if that will last once I get a good dynasty going though...

[TerryP]

Re: NHL 11 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360)

I've seen a couple people mention they're playing on All-Star, but I don't how it can be changed under Skill Level, as the option is grayed-out set on Pro level. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Nevermind... I found it in the settings after you enter the Battle For The Cup mode.

[raiders81tim]

Re: NHL 11 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360)

So are the physics like the euphoria engine?

Thankfully no. Players actually have weight to them. They don't go fly across the ice if someone just happens to brush up against them.