NHL 11: Preview

The NHL hockey series is becoming a perennial award winner, with the past few iterations winning many 'sports game of the year' awards. Today the demo of EA Canada's latest release hit the Xbox Live Marketplace and while not large-scale changes by any means, it seems to have improved in some areas.

EA is touting "over 200 gameplay refinements," and some of those are noticeable from (and including) the drop of the puck. Yep, that changed. Now the player is given a direct overhead view of the faceoff as the referee clouds the perspective, which balances the predictability of the timing. You can also change stick grips and push or block the opposing player.

      

The passing system got a revamp, with the pass leaving your stick when you let go of the button. If you hold the pass button down longer, you'll have a harder pass. However, my initial experience with the faceoff and passing changes are probably less than desirable, as I frequently missed intended targets and maybe once directly fed a player the puck following a faceoff win. The latter change makes it much, much more difficult to pull off a slapshot immediately from a faceoff win.

Star players feel faster this year, specifically Chicago's Marian Hossa, who will hit top speed nearly from the start. Sometimes you'll have forwards almost feeling slippery, as if defenders can't slow their progress unless it's a full-on bodycheck.

However, this year's game feels much more balanced compared to NHL 10, with a hefty toning-down coming to goaltender dekes and poke-checks. Also toned down was board play, a feature introduced only recently. The boards are no longer seemingly magnetic, allowing play to continue unhindered. These three changes alone should deliver big changes to the way you play the game and ultimately make the games feel faster.

New animations play a part in adding a better sense of realism this year as well, including impressive hit animations (and realistic hit receptions) and goalie save animations.

      

On the other hand, additions can sometimes remove the intended realism, as I experienced with the new possibility of disallowed goals. After the puck crossed the zone on a forward-to-forward pass in front of the net, the puck struck the skate of my in-motion player and trickled in the net. The goal was disallowed. Why? Well, as the colour commentator clarified for me, my player made "a distinct kicking motion," something that was not at all present in the included replay. It's something that should certainly be looked at in the future, as I envision any skate-puck contact that results in a goal being disallowed.

New this year online is the Ultimate Team mode that's been seen in other EA Sports offerings. The player receives player cards to build up their dream team and play online against other players' dream squads. Included are over 4,000 players from 10 different leagues and endless line possibilities, including the balance of line chemistry. The inclusion of Ultimate Team and the continuation of the EA Sports Hockey League looks to adds tons of online hours to the game.

All in all, NHL 11 looks to be a solid release that caters right to hockey fans. It has a host of changes that balance the game and keep things fresh, and the online portion seems as strong as ever. Tape up your sticks, NHL 11 is coming to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on September 7.

Ian Mailloux, NoobFeed