Potential: Thy name is NHL 08

With the NHL playoffs in full swing, I got the itch to play some hockey on my Xbox 360. I fired up NHL 08 and played a few games. I came away from the experience thinking that there was a lot of wasted potential in that game. EA have made great strides in the NHL series, but that is due mainly to how bad the game has sucked over the last few years. All of this progress can be attributed to 2k Sports pushing them with the excellent NHL 2k series.

This year was a bit unusual with NHL 2K8 taking a few steps backward and NHL 08 making some strides. NHL 08 does some great things. The animations are fantastic, the control scheme is intuitive and fun, the graphics are really good and the play by play although a bit repetitive, is top-notch. There is one huge problem though. In the NHL intensity is in the game. It isn't in EA's game, however. It's ridiculously easy to move the puck around and get out of your zone or keep it in the other team's zone for that matter. In real hockey everything is hotly contested ALL the time. It is a rare occasion where you can just waltz out of your own zone willy-nilly.

For instance, in the last game I played I was killing off penalties and each time I was able to win the face off back to my defense and then bring the puck down to my own zone behind my net. I then just proceeded to pass the puck back and forth behind the net as the computer's "fore-checkers" helplessly went back in forth like cats chasing a light on the floor. I could repeat this for every penalty kill. That is just inexcusable. How could something like this get by the QA department? In other cases, I was able to move the puck into the computer's zone and just stand there with it by the boards. My players didn't move nor did the computer players pressure me in any way.

I should explain that I was playing on the Pro difficulty level. Some people might suggest that I should have been playing on Superstar level, but I don't think it is too much to ask that the AI should play like "pros" on the pro level. The other problem is that there is a bug in the game where if you change sliders (a must in this game for realism) and then you change the difficulty level before an exhibition game all of your sliders will be reset. Again, how this got by QA is beyond me. And worse still, it has not been addressed in a patch. These things make an otherwise enjoyable game almost unplayable to me. I am so sick of having to endlessly tweak sports games just to get them to play decently. I am left with the same old thoughts about what could have been.

Idea for NHL 08

I enjoyed both NHL 08 and NHL 2K8 this year. I think NHL 08 made a lot of strides, but it is most fun while playing as the goalie. So much fun in fact, that I think I am going to play an entire season as a goalie. As in real hockey there are times when a goalie is extremely busy and focused and other times when the puck is at the other end of the rink. During these times it would be nice to get a better view of the action. While it is realistic to see from the perspective of what a real NHL goalie sees, it is a bit boring at times. This is a video game after all, not the real thing. I am proposing that the developers add a button that lets the user switch quickly to the action by following the puck or a particular player. They could map it to the right bumper button and allow you to switch back and forth between the goalie and this view. It sure would be nice to see what is going on in the other end of the rink more clearly. EA if you are listening, this is a freebie.

NHL 08 Slider update.

Well, this turned out to be simple. The guys in the forums over at Operation Sports have found some great settings for NHL 08, that pretty much make the game officially, "The Shit". As it turns out all you need to do is reset the settings back to default and then play in Superstar mode only changing game speed to 0 and shot accuracy to 1. If you aren't playing franchise, be sure and do those changes after the game starts because for some reason the game resets your sliders if you choose anything other than Pro. I played one of the most enjoyable and realistic games of video game hockey last night with these settings. Previously I had been playing on Pro and having my struggles, so don't worry if you think you are not good enough for Superstar. These settings make your AI teammates play much smarter. I am gonna try it tonight with player lock on the center position and I will have a report later. Skol!

Next Gen Sports Game Presentation

I have seen many reviews for sports game in this "New Generation" and they all seem to get high scores. But for what really? I think they boil down to the graphics being good. That should be a given (sorry Wii). There is much more to game presentation, however. The atmosphere of a sport can go a long way towards being captured with just good sound effects alone. Ambient sounds and crowd noise make the player feel they are a part of something bigger than themselves. Announcer play by play is also a huge factor in player immersion. I haven't seen much of any growth in either of these two areas since the previous generation. Madden 08 for example still has the lame radio broadcaster from last year. The game is named after one of the most high profile color commentators in all of sports. Use him. Other games like NHL 08, while b eing good overall games are seriously lacking in the presentation department. The announcers repeat the same 15 or 20 lines over and over again ad naseum. Keeping with NHL 08 as an example, the on ice sound effects are repetitive. I swear if I play any more I am going to hear: "Wheel! Wheel!" in my sleep. As far as I am concerned NFL 2k5 has the best game presentation of any sports game bar none. You would think that All Pro Football 2k8 would have as good if not better presentation, but that isn't the case. The Game Pass feature is cliche and annoying. The halftime presentation is decent but doesn't match NFL 2k5. What gives game developers? You getting lazy? We ARE paying more money for games now. I want more than good graphics. That should be a given considering the power of the new hardware (again, sorry Wii).

NHL 08 Slider Settings

NHL 08 is one of the best hockey games I have ever played and I think I have played them all. As usual it takes some time to get some good slider settings, but I think I have found some thanks to Operation Sports and a user named Flyermania. Here they are:




10 minute periods length, penalties maxed. Fighting up to user.

Gameplay
Game Speed-1
Puck Control-0
Fight Difficulty-1
Fatigue Effect-6
AI Learning-3

SKATING
Fatigue Recovery-1
Player Acceleration-0 (changed this to slow the game a bit more, also creates more battles for loose pucks)

CHECKING
Hit Power-0
Aggression-4
Poke Check Effectiveness- 6

PASSING
Pass Speed-0
Saucer Pass Speed-0
Pass Interceptions-6
Goalie Passing-1

SHOOTING
Shot Accuracy-4 (increased this to generate more scoring)
Shot Power-2 (lowered to counter the increased accuracy)

DEFENSE
Shot Blocking-6
Hook Effectiveness-6
Penalty Shot Freq-1
Goalie Cover Puck Freq-5

* I always let the CPU take the face-off so I don't win 75-80% of them. Makes it more realistic.
* I do a lot of cycling and dumping of the puck to set up my offense. If you prefer a run-and-gun style, you will get a lot of shots on net with these settings.

Note: I changed the game speed to 1 from 0.