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| You’ll find there are a wealth of options this time round | Superbly detail player models |
The main reason for this glowing recommendation is that EA have given the game a complete overhaul most markedly in player movement and the behaviour of your team mates and the intelligence of the opposition. The graphics too are everything you’d expect from a next-gen title and players and rinks look superb. The sound of your skates on the ice and the thwump as the puck rams the barriers is excellent, especially in full 5.1 digital surround sound.
The players move slower and more considered than they did in ‘07 though this is a good thing. The movement feels more realistic now and EA’s decision to remove the speed boost of last year’s outing is a welcome one. You can now really appreciate the gait of the players as they glide across rink and the slower pace gives you more time to think and use the positioning of your team mates wisely. Although much improved, the AI isn’t perfect as sometimes the members of your team will simply skate past the goal and glare motionless at the crowd but this doesn’t happen very often and in no way should be considered a minus.
Where the game has really improved from the last incarnation is the behaviour of the opposition’s defence forcing you into being tactical and picking your moments before bursting through for a shot on goal. You now no longer get barged to the floor every time you try and take a player on. Defenders will now try and push you wide with a compatriot filling the space you left so that you can’t simply pass into the area you have been muscled out of and continue your attack from there. They will also now try and ‘poke check’ – basically thrust their stick out in front of you and try and steal the puck away – thus leaving you empty handed as you emerge from the crowd of jostling bodies. This means that you have to think, measure the opposition and most importantly do it all quickly in order to outsmart your opponents.
The AI also adapts to your style of play. So if you find a sure route to goal during one quarter the defence will soon learn from their mistakes and begin to get men in the way of the exposed area next time round. Although this is a very nice touch indeed all the players have the same intelligence. So it doesn’t matter who you’re up against they will all learn and react in the same way which basically puts all players at the same skill level. Hopefully in the inevitable ‘09 we’ll see that implemented.
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| ‘Doing an ‘enry’ in action! |
The improved movement of the players is a welcome addition |
One new gameplay feature is the ability to ‘do a (Thierry) ‘enry’. This is basically pushing the puck past your opponent and using a speed burst to go round him, pick it up again and carry on laughing as you’ve left your stunned opponent for dead. A neat idea but it’s incredibly difficult to pull off as there’s no way of telling if your opponent will decide to check your run and thus thwart your progress and run away with the puck. In football of course that would be a foul for obstruction but being the man’s game hockey is it’s perfectly legal and could prove costly. Oh and I’ve been told the experts call this new manoeuvre ‘puck decking’ but ‘do an ‘enry’ sounds better.
As we’ve already established, what NHL ‘07 lacked, NHL ‘08 provides and the Dynasty mode is testament to this. You now have a fully realistic negotiating system for signing rookies and they will actually compare your offer to that of other clubs instead of you being able to just pick them all up with a push of a button. To ramp up the suspense of ‘will-he? won’t-he?’ a few calendar days have to dwindle past until an up’n’coming youngster makes his decision as to whether your team is for him or not, thus making the whole process of procuring young talent actually fun and interesting. I got turned down a few times by some talented young whippersnapper because he thought he would get limited chances in my first team – kids these days, eh? No respect!
Where NHL ‘08 excels over its predecessor is the online implementation. You can now not only play against a friend you can play team matches with six people all sitting at home playing on six different consoles. There are ranked shootouts too but the most important addition of all is the inclusion of online leagues. You have the option to include up to 32 teams where all the teams from AHL are available together with the international teams. You can even customise your league logo and devise a winners trophy for the…err…winner. Yet again however (see the NASCAR review) the PSN lets me down as I simply can’t get a team play game up and running. The connection either drops or I can’t connect to other players. This may be down to the EA servers though but my 360 owning friends haven’t complained so far. However, the overall online experience is a marked improvement and the head-to-head matches and leagues mode play virtually lag-free and add real life and depth to the game.
The graphics are lovely. Simple as. NHL ‘07 was widely regarded as the best looking sports title of last year but EA have honed and refined them and they look gorgeous. The player animations discussed earlier are the real highlight but the lights on the ice look lovely and you’ll find yourself noticing tiny details throughout the game that add that extra ‘je ne sais whatever’ to the experience. There’s a huge ‘but’ though and this isn’t of the Big Momma’s House kind either, the framerate on the PS3 occasionally can’t handle the demanding 30 fps that the game runs at and occasionally our old friend the Cell Processor get all choppy. These problems aren’t apparent on the 360 version which a makes it a bitter blow for Sony in those console wars that everyone seems to care so much about. Seriously though, i’ts annoying but it’s not a show stopper.
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| In the thick of the action | So much to do, so many players to keep happy and playing well! |
NHL ‘08 is the best game in the series by far. With so much to do, so many new tricks to complement the already excellent skill stick, it stands head and shoulders above the other NHL titles out there. If you’re thinking about whether to dive in for umpteenth year in a row I can only hope this review guides your hand to the cash machine (just make sure you take out an extra tenner for me, eh?). NHL 08 isn’t just a good hockey game it’s a good game full stop which for a relatively niche sports title outside of its homeland is praise indeed.
Top game moment:
TOP GAME MOMENT
Winning the league, of course!
