7.5 out of 10The battle for the Stanley Cup of all hockey video games has been a tough one for sometime now.
EA’s NHL series and the NHL 2K series by Take-Two interactive have fought back-and-forth as the best hockey title each year.
EA tries to nab the honor this year with NHL 08.
The newest edition to the long-running series shows a few new improvements from its predecessors, but still has its drawbacks.
First off, the visuals of 08 are stunningly beautiful with lush detail in close-up shots of the players. The details in the players’ jerseys are surprisingly deep and vivid and every player is rendered as they should in comparison to their real-life counter parts.
Blurring in the background in replay shots as well as reflections in the helmets and Plexiglas add a sense of realize in a spectacular presentation that sees only minor slowdown in transitions between replays.
The work of announcers Bill Clement and Gary Thorne gives the game a genuine broadcast feel, but does not last long after the phrases from the two announcers are repeated all too quickly.
If I hear “Offensive chance, 3-on-2” one more time, I feel tempted to throw my controller at the screen.
However, I am sure that these two “high profile” announcers were so busy that they could only record a couple dozen phrases in a single afternoon.
Another annoying aspect of the game is in its menu screen and stat presentation.
The menu text is very small and hard to read and practically illegible if you are a poor college kid with a “not so sharp” television. Also, it is a little annoying that in dynasty mode it doesn’t tell you the number of goals or points a player has scored over the season when they score a goal. It has been an NHL series staple for some time and leaves the game feeling not-so-real.
I like to see how many goals my created player has scored throughout the season.
NHL 08’s control scheme is simple and easy to learn – on the classic setting.
The game’s default setting is too difficult and obscure to manage without a hefty learning curve. A slap shot is conducted on the PS3 by pulling the right analogue stick backward and then forward completely which doesn’t sound hard until you have to shot in a pressure situation.
In hockey, that is every time you shot.
Also, the default setting places passing on the right two head buttons on the PS3 – very awkward.
To make matters worse, you are left guessing on some of the controls when switched to the more traditional “classic” control scheme.
Nevertheless, when you can get it to work, it works well and feels very fluid.
It is safe to say that NHL 08 feels closer to a real hockey game than any other on the market thus far.
Powerplays have the right pace and time actually slows down to real 2-minutes if you are playing 5-minute periods. The players don’t feel like they are floating in the ice like in other NHL titles and they take the appropriate positions to form real plays.
One of the more intricate and creative new options in 08 include a “create-a-play” mode. This sometimes difficult option allows you to position your players and player movement to create your own signature plays.
This is an interesting addition – however – hockey is not a game where you can run set plays very often, unless on a powerplay.
You can also take NHL 08 online in head-to-head modes playing a 3-on-3 co-op game, alone in a shootout mode, or test your skills in a league mode. This is a fantastic idea, except I have yet to find someone online when I want to play online.
I guess you need some friends.
Overall, NHL 08 is a smooth and visually appealing hockey game. However, some strange controls, awful commentary, and sometimes jumpy visuals leave this game falling a little short of a shutout.
Still, I would recommend checking it out for any hockey fan.
No comments:
Post a Comment