NHL 11 Demo Review Roundtable

[RaychelSnr]

Four of our writers check in today with their own take on the NHL 11 demo. Check out their impressions about what's good, what's bad, and what they are expecting for the retail version of the game after the jump.

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[coachlenny]

The demo was exceptional, so unless EA totally botched the final product, we could be looking at a potential greatest sports video game ever created.


DAMN!

[GrandMaster B]

Have bought every game since 92'. No stopping now.

[NELL86]

im so excited not the biggest hockey fan cause i dont know all the players but i think that will change this year for sure

[Inapprope]

I was also kind of annoyed by the HUT interface. It's really the only thing that bothered me about the demo. However, this demo made me go from "probably picking it up" to "insta-pre-order"

[JimPaek]

I love the demo, but things that need fixing.
- I don't like the .5-1 second delay of a window that pops up when you want to change lines.
- Still seems to be the problem of players now changing lines and staying out on the ice way too long.
- Hitting is still a little too easy to lineup, but maybe that's because I was using more physical players. I did like how sometimes lighter players would bounce off checks or simply get knocked down.

Things I love that they changed:
- Physics. As mentioned, players now have weight. I like the realistic feel of the demo, but feel that most people will increase the game speed.
- Passing. Another wrench thrown into the one-timer glitch goal system, and I love it. Passes don't start till you release the trigger, so it takes into account how hard you want to pass.
- The Faceoff system has potential to be awesome once successfully mastered.
- Penalties. I charged someone into the boards, and got a 5 minute major for boarding. I deserved it, and I was glad to see it called. Probably worthy of a suspension too. Slashing also getting a quick call too.

Have seen quite a few broken sticks, maybe one a game (3rd period), so I guess that's somewhat realistic.

Overall impressed with the gameplay and I'm interested to see how it translates to online games / BAP. But I'm way more intrigued by the features this year. A rare win / win in sports video games.

[cheechoo98]

Jayson Young said: [I]"The offensive AI is outstanding. Not just in the offensive end, but in the neutral zone as well. The way your teammates find the open spaces on the ice by constantly repositioning themselves is something I have never seen before in a hockey game."[I]

Wow. Jayson Young's leadoff comment makes me shout... Really??? I guess you've never played a 2K hockey game before! Especially 2K10.

Quite the contrary.. in the demo, I found that my forwards are standing at my blueline when they should be getting open in the neutral zone, even with it set to Attack : Full Out. I popped in my copy of 2K10 after playing the NHL demo, and was shocked at how good the positioning A.I. is in 2K, compared to what is supposed to be 'improved' A.I. in NHL11

I can't argue anything anymore, i know.., because there is no 2K game this year for PS3/360, and I will be playing NHL11 to death this season... but really, folks, 2K hockey never got it's due, partly because of the EA 'goggles' people wear.

[ChitownFan526]

Re: NHL 11 Demo Review Roundtable

Just wanted to disagree with the writer that said the skating is still arcady. I totally disagree, skaters have mass now, feels very different from 10.

[CS10029]

Re: NHL 11 Demo Review Roundtable

Jayson Young said: [I]"The offensive AI is outstanding. Not just in the offensive end, but in the neutral zone as well. The way your teammates find the open spaces on the ice by constantly repositioning themselves is something I have never seen before in a hockey game."[I]

Wow. Jayson Young's leadoff comment makes me shout... Really??? I guess you've never played a 2K hockey game before! Especially 2K10.

Quite the contrary.. in the demo, I found that my forwards are standing at my blueline when they should be getting open in the neutral zone, even with it set to Attack : Full Out. I popped in my copy of 2K10 after playing the NHL demo, and was shocked at how good the positioning A.I. is in 2K, compared to what is supposed to be 'improved' A.I. in NHL11

I can't argue anything anymore, i know.., because there is no 2K game this year for PS3/360, and I will be playing NHL11 to death this season... but really, folks, 2K hockey never got it's due, partly because of the EA 'goggles' people wear.

2K should have adapted to what EA was bringing. Meaning stealing the skill stick, and innovating something else to make it fresh. They didn't really do that, so they fell by the wayside.

[Lordofthething]

Re: NHL 11 Demo Review Roundtable

- Still seems to be the problem of players now changing lines and staying out on the ice way too long.

I'm really surprised they didn't fix this, if you do it manually they head right off, maybe you need to dump the puck for them to change automatically...

[RealmK]

Re: NHL 11 Demo Review Roundtable

Jayson Young said: [I]"The offensive AI is outstanding. Not just in the offensive end, but in the neutral zone as well. The way your teammates find the open spaces on the ice by constantly repositioning themselves is something I have never seen before in a hockey game."[I]

Wow. Jayson Young's leadoff comment makes me shout... Really??? I guess you've never played a 2K hockey game before! Especially 2K10.

Quite the contrary.. in the demo, I found that my forwards are standing at my blueline when they should be getting open in the neutral zone, even with it set to Attack : Full Out. I popped in my copy of 2K10 after playing the NHL demo, and was shocked at how good the positioning A.I. is in 2K, compared to what is supposed to be 'improved' A.I. in NHL11

I can't argue anything anymore, i know.., because there is no 2K game this year for PS3/360, and I will be playing NHL11 to death this season... but really, folks, 2K hockey never got it's due, partly because of the EA 'goggles' people wear.

2k10's defensive and goalie AI is laughable, either dmen get stuck due to the horrible overuse of momentum in the game or slide out of position on a regular basis. Don't even get me started on goaltenders, I could write a novel on how flat out broken 2k10's goalies are, they were so good in 2k8 makes one wonder what the hell happened 2 years later.

The game also has zero intelligence when it comes to breakouts, your teammates do not support a proper breakout strategy no matter what your strat settings are.

I think its less so "EA goggles" and more so the fact that EA's game is not only fun to play, but far more polished in just about every aspect, be it controls, graphics, online etc. Does it have its issues? Sure, but at the end of the day its generally more fun to play. I finish a session of 2k10 I generally want to throw the controller through the tv which isn't a good thing.

[plaidchuck]

Re: NHL 11 Demo Review Roundtable

While I think the CPU Dmen still back up and play too passively like 2k10 and NHL10 (of course it could be a moot point depending on how effective the full game aggression sliders are) the CPU definitely does a way better job of cutting off the passing lanes and intercepting passes.

They also still give you way too much room behind the net IMO. Also so far they haven't really supported their players that are pinned against the board very well, usually one will go into boardplay and two of my players will swoop in and take the puck away.

[RUFFNREADY]

This game will create a whole new audience for the NHL As Christian stated. After, playing the DEMO 3 times, i went directly to my nearest EBgames/gamestop and traded in my NHL10, Madden11, NBA LIVE 10, for a preorder copy of NHL11. That's how much i believe in this game this year. I normally would have just traded in NHL10 for '11; NBA LIVE10 for '11 or 2K11 which ever played better (gameplay). Now, madden11 has fallen out of grace with me, it had to go ( no fixes or changes, and it's been a week! ). So my front runner of the year is going to be NHL11. I have never played a demo soo much; it's ridiculous. Everything about '11 is a big upgrade from '10 (vague). This is the only sports game that plays quick online, and you don't feel really cheated if someone happens to quit on you in 15-20mins game. (not a big waste of your time) As for the rest of them, what a let down. cheers gamers. GO HABS !

[cheechoo98]

I traded in NHL10 last week and surprisingly got $15 bucks! That'll go towards NHL11 at Futureshop BTW.

[Scottdau]

Re: NHL 11 Demo Review Roundtable

I don't like that I can't pass it to my AI Dman, like I can in 2k. They are not in a great position at all for receiving a pass like that. I hate that and hope sliders can fix that. I think EA is getting there, but I still like the puck in 2K10 way better. But this is not a debate about 2K vs EA. Both games do good things and bad things.