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

[Lordofthething]

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

Another "good" I forget to put in my impressions is the cpu knocking down, or at least attempting to knock down pucks with their sticks. Last year they would only swat at pucks in the air, now they'll try and knock it down and take control...although I noticed swatting at the puck is still there in desperate situations...

[onlybygrace]

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

Wow, insane disallowed goal. I was playing against Canada.

Richards took a shot, which took a hard bounce off the pads out to the point. Nash then attempted a wrist shot but due a poke check it hopped up to about head height, and Crosby deflected it down and five hole. Ref waived it off, and it stayed that way. No Goal!


The moments in this game that are so rare really immerse you in the gameplay.

NHL 11 Flu: 105.3

[RealmK]

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

Are you playing on Super Star?

Yes, I just beat Chicago 5-3 going into the 3rd tied 2-2. Last goal being an empty netter. It comes down to abandoning what worked for you in 10 where you could easily deck the cpu off the puck or easily strip it coming into your zone. I love that I actually have to play hockey defense and be patient to cause a counter attack rather than the usual video game hockey tactics.

Like I said maybe it's just me but I really like the AI this year very very much.

[Perfect Zero]

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

Well, last year I attended a number of minor league hockey games and became hooked. After playing the demo though, I realize I have a lot of work to do. I'm passing and defending well, but I can't produce past the blue line to save my life. Still, this is a really good demo, and I might just have to buy the game (which comes out on my birthday).

[RealmK]

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

Another "good" I forget to put in my impressions is the cpu knocking down, or at least attempting to know down pucks with their sticks. Last year they would only swat at pucks in the air, now they'll try and knock it down and take control...although I noticed swatting at the puck is still there in desperate situations...

Noticed that as well Lord, thought it was a neat touch, now if I could figure out how the new dekes work I'll be all set.

[06woz]

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

Noticed that as well Lord, thought it was a neat touch, now if I could figure out how the new dekes work I'll be all set.

Quick dekes = LB/L1 and flick a direction on the right stick. Play around in the deke tutorial.

[cheechoo98]

( I just beat Philly down 2-3 to start the 3rd. I won 7-3!!! sweet!!! )

COMMENT: I don't think the HUSTLE button working though (PS3). I press down into L3, pressed it once, nothing, twice, nothing, pressed it 3 times, no difference. I tried it on a chase for a lose puck and pressed it 3 times, and there was no difference in the speed of my player nor the animation...

Is it not working in the PS3 demo?

[Gagnon39]

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

Yes, I just beat Chicago 5-3 going into the 3rd tied 2-2. Last goal being an empty netter. It comes down to abandoning what worked for you in 10 where you could easily deck the cpu off the puck or easily strip it coming into your zone. I love that I actually have to play hockey defense and be patient to cause a counter attack rather than the usual video game hockey tactics.

Like I said maybe it's just me but I really like the AI this year very very much.

Well, if the overall AI is improved, that's always a good thing. If it is, I hope I can play and get good results (lose more than 2 games a year), with it set to All Star. I never like to play on the highest difficulty in any sports game because all that happens is the CPU players get attribute boosts, period. NHL is no different. I'm not saying that I'm the best NHL player around, but I got way too good to play on All-Star last year. I never lost and I dominated my opponent, every single game. Super Star was my only option. I traded realism for better final results. This year I hope I can play on All-Star, where Patrick Kane will actually be faster than most players.

[Flyermania]

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

OK, time for some impressions!

It's hard to tell a lot from the demo as usual as the sliders are unavailable for the most part. The sliders do look to be pretty much the same from last year with some small additions.

I played on All-Star, and the CPU did seem to be improved in the AI area. After a few games (periods), I think I will need to bump it to Superstar to get a good challenge though. Passing was all manual, so it took a bit to get used to holding the trigger for pass speed. The new faceoffs are cool (nice tutorial BTW), but I don't see why they didn't add a player being able to be thrown out since they obviously spent a lot of time in that area.

CPU-controlled teammates do seem to be smarter, cutting to the net, creating traffic, etc. I have seen several cool deflection goals so far.

The CPU offense no longer does the frantic pass between the circles and blue line like in NHL10, which is a very good thing. The checking was pretty cool to see, but not overdone at all.

Dump and chase still didn't seem to be as effective as it should be, but is better than last year. I didn't feel that the goalies were all that different than NHL 10 either. My biggest issue is the skating...the skating seemed very loose and made players hard to control at times. It's like they have less "weight" than ever before. Maybe this can be tweaked with some sliders.

On a side note, Leighton's correct pads are in the game. And they updated a lot of the player photos.

I did try the new "Ultimate Team" mode, but it's hard for me to get excited about it because I really have no interest in it. If you're into that type of thing, you'll probably love it.

Overall there are a lot of subtle improvements, but don't expect it to be a ton different than NHL10 --- not a bad thing as the game didn't need to be overhauled, but rather fine tuned.

[cheechoo98]

re: the HUSTLE button

I also tried it lots of times whenever I have the puck, and still nothing different..
anyone else notice this?

[Flyermania]

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

Oh, and for scottdau --- in case you hadn't played it or heard, there are 5 man celebrations.

[RealmK]

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

Well, if the overall AI is improved, that's always a good thing. If it is, I hope I can play and get good results (lose more than 2 games a year), with it set to All Star. I never like to play on the highest difficulty in any sports game because all that happens is the CPU players get attribute boosts, period. NHL is no different. I'm not saying that I'm the best NHL player around, but I got way too good to play on All-Star last year. I never lost and I dominated my opponent, every single game. Super Star was my only option. I traded realism for better final results. This year I hope I can play on All-Star, where Patrick Kane will actually be faster than most players.

Hey whatever works for ya. The game has no cpu attribute boost with cpu difficulty on zero. I feel your pain though in regards to 10, I had cpu diff at 3, was running a NY Rangers GM waiting for NHL 11 to come out and went something ridiculous like 33-1-1 on superstar before the demo dropped. The AI was definately flawed in 10, I'm just excited that it doesn't seem to be an issue this year so far.

[BigBlue10989]

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

Hustle button works for me. I used it with Getzlaf and absolutely avalanched Crosby. I got a charging penalty but it was def. worth it.

[cheechoo98]

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

Sounds like you are talking about the R3 button? That's for Hip checks.

Or are you talking about the L3 button for a speed burst...?

[Gagnon39]

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

Hey whatever works for ya. The game has no cpu attribute boost with cpu difficulty on zero. I feel your pain though in regards to 10, I had cpu diff at 3, was running a NY Rangers GM waiting for NHL 11 to come out and went something ridiculous like 33-1-1 on superstar before the demo dropped. The AI was definately flawed in 10, I'm just excited that it doesn't seem to be an issue this year so far.

Don't take this the wrong way, but, I don't see how you can say that there's no attribute boosts on superstar (even with CPU difficulty all the way down). I played over a season and a half on superstar last year, with CPU difficulty all the way down, and there was/is definitely a boost for the CPU in the speed category. I had Kane caught from behind multiple times by players that had no business doing so. I could push the puck up the ice 2 times and still not gain an inch on a backchecker.