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Banned
OVR: 29
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 4,153
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Re: NHL 09 Demo Available, Post Impressions Here
Impressions after playing 3 periods on All-Star.
-Puck physics/animations... Whatever you want to call them. The puck really feels loose this year. Not 100%, but certainly better than 08. I'd say this is the best "puck playing" hockey games I've ever played. I had several pucks deflect off of sticks during passes, instead of the generic automatic possession that would usually happen. The puck will actually hit a stick and bounce into a corner, or, as I saw several times, over the glass if it's a hard enough pass.
I also had a great play on net where I wrapped around the net, and was coming out and tried to center it. Instead it hit a defenseman's skate and actually bounced in on a surprised looking Fleury. He covered it up pretty easily, but it was great to see.
-Skating... Feels a bit different this year, but I like it. Players feel like they have weight, but instead of feeling unresponsive, I can actually feel them shifting weight to try to turn around or make a quick cut.
-Shooting feels a lot different this year. Shots aren't nearly as "rockety" as they've been in the last few games. I took a few backhanders and aside from one, they all had some zip, but the right amount. They didn't rocket into the net. The one that really did scream off my stick actually flew about 2 feet wide and a foot over the net - so it looked great.
The computer also didn't take nearly as many one-timers. They certainly did attempt them, but it wasn't every trip down the ice. On top of that - they scored one really nice one-timer goal, had maybe one or two others on net, and they shot one or two wide of the net.
Which brings me to another point - goalies. There are a few other animations. Goalies do feel a little more sloppy at times - like you can actually get them out of position, and they'll try some desperation saves. Although, there still aren't enough animations. They could use a peak at 2k8 where goalies had several animations just to deal with a puck that's above them and coming down.
In 2007, 08, and apparently 09, they just sit there in butterfly waiting for the puck to land and hopefully hit them. In 2k8 they'd fall back, reach up and try to grab it, twist around and get their glove under it as it lands, etc.
They really could use more animations - because often it feels like the goalie is just sitting in a save animation, waiting, instead of using other animations to react.
However, the wide shooting thing brought me to a point that I quite liked. When one of the one-timers bounced off the boards and came back out, Osgood leaned out, and hit it back behind the net with the back of his stick so that my player could grab it. Instead of just pouncing on it, or letting it float in front - he did the right thing and tapped it back to a teammate.
On top of that - the covering system is still pretty good, but could use a little work. Sometimes the whistle would blow immediatly, which was great. Sometimes they'd just sit there and wait. It seemed to be animation specific sometimes. Certain saves would call whistles, even if the goalie had no pressure and could have (and would have) easily dumped it off to a teammate. Other times they'd just there and not blow the whistle while the goalie was being sat on.
-I like some of the computer offensive and defensive AI. On offense if I pressured against the glass at the blue line, they'd use a few different dumps to get it in. They'd either tap it straight along, or flip it to an opposite board where another player was streaking in to try to grab it. They also resulted in several little skirmishes for the puck. If I got there around the same time, we'd kind of fight over it - with a player getting possession and then having it knocked away, etc, etc until finally someone moved it up, or was able to get free with it. That felt great.
Still no board pinning though. Some of these little skirmishes would have looked a lot better, and felt better, had they actually pinned players up to the board and fought over it. This was from 2k3 already, and EA needs to get on board already and get with it in this department.
On defense the CPU is still pretty questionable... "Oh, you've got the puck and your players are setting up? I'll just stand here and watch you... Dum de dumm..."
Several times I was able to just stand there with the puck while the D just stared at me. I could pass it around, and they'd move in slightly, and then just stand there. Still an issue from the other 2 games that really needs to be fixed. They often didn't pressure at all.
However, they did do a great job on rushes of blocking passing lanes and cutting my player off. Instead of being able to skate around them, and instead of having them attracted to the puck that made for open players for easy one timers - they kept some decent position and forced me to take bad shots, dump the puck back to set up, or just try to pass it (where it often got picked off).
No pressure at the blue line or neutral zone, though. You can pressure the CPU and it causes some good play... But expect that when you get the puck to be able to skate from blue line to blue line without so much as a glance from the D. They'll just back up and let you enter the zone with absolutely no resistance. So it kind of nullifies the great dumping system they have. The main use of it should be to set up a dump and chase offense... But why would you dump and chase if you can skate right into the zone and keep possession the whole time?
Another thing to mention, the CPU got two penalties dumping the puck over the glass trying to clear it. I pressured them at the line, and instead of tipping it over the line and down the ice a little, they just flipped it over the glass (while already on a PK in both situations).
As for player defense - the controls feel pretty cool. I enjoy playing defense, unlike 2008. However... Stick lift does often seem like a "Can Has Puck?" button. It seems way too effective in that my player gained possession of it almost every time after a lift - instead of the puck being knocked loose and gliding down the ice in the direction the player was skating with it.
There's also a weird combo I accidently hit that caused a frozen animation 2-3 times. I have no idea what it is, because I didn't look it up yet, but I hit RB and then clicked the right stick. Looked like a hooking animation of some sort, and 2 or 3 times my player would then lean over and just stand there unresponsive until I selected another player.
On an extra note, money goals appear to still be in there. Right, Left, Right, goal. Scored I think 7/7 goals with one move over and over (just to see if the goalie would finally be able to stop it). On another note, the CPU scored about 4 goals during the shootouts and they were all by the exact same move, and the goalie reacted the exact same way each time. CPU draws the puck back with a left handed shooter in wrist shot mode, make a little move - Osgood falls on his knees and leaves his blocker side wide open, CPU shoots it into open net.
I think there's more, but I can't remember. I'll add another post if there is. My impression so far is "Major improvement, with some room for major improvement".
At this point, it's a definite buy for me. I'll have to play more, though - as 2k9 really impressed me at first. But at this point I'd say that 2009 has more going for it. The controls feel really responsive, and there is some really great play to be had.
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09-03-2008, 09:22 AM
But it looked really sweet and played good. Felt more gritty now.
