Welcome to the new NHL, we’ve come a long way since trying to “make Gretzky’s head bleed” in terms of gaming. One of the most popular and played franchises for consoles and computers alike has returned for another season, and today we take on the newest in the EA series of Hockey gaming, NHL ’08. After a much needed proclamation of being “back” with NHL ’07 for the Xbox360 the follow up has arrived, and DSM is happy to cover this event for all of you.

The NHL came back from lockout what will now be 3 seasons ago, and a lot has changed. The same holds true in the gaming world, as the frozen pond continues its evolution for next gen consoles with NHL ’08. This year the graphics are once again stellar and the gameplay takes another step in the right direction. With a whole new skating system, that concentrates on real life skating styles and momentum. No longer are you able to just fly up and down the ice tossing the puck to the furthest attacker ahead in attempt to beat everyone like only “Super Mario” or “The Great One” could do in their prime. Instead you are forced to know your hockey, and make breakouts and safe passes, or face the consequences.

EA’s latest chapter in hockey takes some time for even the most seasoned vets to master, and that is a much welcomed attribute in sports games these days. Sure you can pick up the game and play your old style of hockey, especially on the lower levels, and get some results. However, to truly master this game you will need to take your time, know your X’s and O’s, cycle, work, and stay at home like never before on a game.

First off, upon firing up the game you will notice very little different in terms of the front end. The menus are very similar to last year, and not very difficult to navigate. One of the first things that will grab your eye is the fact that 29 AHL teams are in the game, complete with rosters, logos and soon to be new uniforms (you must access a code online to get all jerseys in the game that are going to come out this season for the NHL and AHL, with the new RBK edge look). You can play now, run a dynasty with any NHL or AHL franchise, and run the World Tournament, the Shootout, or the new Practice Mode.

Practice mode is a neat new feature to the game, which allows you to do several drills, such which are prevalent in the All Star skills competition each year. You can also take your team and throw it into situations such as 3 on 2’s and special team play. This year also features the "create a play" feature, which you can now design your own plays, helpful for those having trouble in the offensive zone. Lastly, a new 3rd person goalie mode is sure to intrigue some gamers and give new life to what has become a stale position in video game hockey.

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All the standard online options are there, roster updates will be provided throughout the season for the entire NHL and AHL as well. They finally added multiplayer online gaming for the first time since 2004, so you can play up to 3 on 3. You can run a league online if you please as well, letting gamers control every team in any league on the game.

Graphically you get what you have come to expect with EA Sports games. Anyone who played ’07 for the 360 will find much of the same in ’08. Everything looks crisp and nice. Player models are superb, with spot on face scans. A lot more attention is paid to equipment this season too, as is clearly evident in the very deep create a player mode. This feature allows you to stop and test out the player as you create him at any time, for optimal performance on the ice. (The create a team mode makes a reappearance this season too.) What is lacking in this department is the usual in an EA produced game. The atmosphere is a little weak, and there are no team specific patches on uniforms (anniversary years and the like). Lack of playoff or Stanley Cup artwork on the ice or jerseys as you go further in the season either is a bit of a bummer. You can also expect to see the same cut screens and intro for every game. Not that they are bad per-say, but they get old real quick and you will be skipping over them in no time.

Unfortunately some things are lacking that help add to the realism category. Helmet-less players are seen finally in this years version during cutsceens, but helmets do not appear to have the ability to get knocked off during game action. Sticks still don’t break (probably because the stick companies don’t want that in the game); there are no signs of a zamboni, even though the ice is smooth as each period starts. Glass doesn’t shatter, and even though I have only witnessed one home hat-trick thus far, it appears hats do not get tossed on to the ice this year. Add all that along with generic looking arenas and something appears lacking at times. What happened to the old fashioned stadium flyovers and arena shots with the city backdrop during the loading screens?

It is the little things that you miss sometimes. You will see Gatorade bottles on the net and on benches, and nice goalie pads and gear, still not many personalized masks though, as the rights to the artwork on them is very hard and expensive to obtain. Coaches are on the bench again, but you don’t see them as much. There is no blood in the game to preserve the “E” rating for the 15th straight year, and fighting is an absolute joke. It is too fast and pointless, and after about one time I found myself never trying to fight again.

Presentation is pretty standard as well this year, you have the same announcers as Thorne and Clement return, saying most of the same things from last year. Again, not bad, but it gets old quick. A few new items in the bag as usual, and a nice loading screen for a change while you are waiting to play that tells you the keys to success for each game. This also gets updated after each period with a report like grading screen telling you what worked and what needs to be fixed. In game is another story, for some reason EA has a problem with the TV style presentation in all their sports games anymore. You rarely see stat overlays, nor is there any mention of standings, point leaders, or milestones at all in game. Maybe they are going for realism from the aspect of being the athlete, but I miss the days where you thought you were watching an actual broadcast when you walked into a room with a game being played.

Controls are pretty intuitive, there doesn’t appear to be much delay from the button pressing moment to the resulting action on screen. For the old school hockey gamer you can still switch the controls to classic and use the buttons to perform shots and other tasks. However, doing so will cost you one new addition, the break up pass control; this can only be done using the default controls. Why they felt the need to remove the button mapping ability I will probably never know.

EA realized they were heading in the right direction last year in a lot of categories, they tried to carry most of these things over with just attempted improvement on what was needed. As mentioned previously was the new skating system, this impacts everything you do in each game. You can now hold the point much easier with your defensemen and cycle down low in the offensive zone with a new feel and smoothness. Cross your legs over and take powerful strides to turn, or quickly kick and go horizontal to get your lateral positioning down. How hard you hold the stick down is how fast you try to get going, eventually reaching your max speed. You can also glide and face up ice at any time with relative ease.

Finally, a new addition in terms of deking the defensemen has been added. You can now push the puck in a direction while on the attack, allowing it glide freely on the ice as you try to skate past a defender and meet up with it on the other side of him. This was something that was sorely needed last year, if you ask this fan of hockey atleast. Of course this move is done better by a Sidney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin then by a Bobby Holik or Owen Nolan. While it takes some time to use effectively, it adds some dimension to the game, and leads us ever further away from the notorious pre-canned animations we are all sick of as EA consumers.

{mospagebreak} With the new gameplay comes a new level of realism in an EA hockey game, something you may not be used to. Don’t worry, you can still get a quality game in if you are a novice to the sport and just like the hitting and scoring. However, to really succeed on the higher levels you have to think the game well and take your time. Use your breakouts from the defensive zone all the way up the ice. You cannot just pass into traffic and hope it finds your teammates stick; you will be punished if you continually do so. Upon entering the zone you must decide if you want to pull up on the half boards and peruse the ice, or get it deep to begin a cycle and fore-check. You can go back to an uncovered point man to quarterback a powerplay or reset things up in the zone. Set up shop behind the net and wait for a guy to cut in and out of the slot for a one timer or try a wrap around. Passing is crisp and fun if you take what they give you; it is tough and frustrating if you try to be too aggressive.

Goalies are quicker side to side this year, taking away the one-timer just as much as defenders do with the pickoff of an errant, ill advised pass. Deking the goaltender still works one on one with about the same percentage of a real life one on one, however you sometimes tend to over-think the situation when you realize how hard it was to get the breakaway in the first place. This year you will be lucky if you see more than one breakaway per game per team. Perhaps after you master the deke stick and learn to get beyond the defenders better you will see more, but it will take some time, trust me.

Defense is a whole other story, however. On the non puck-controlling side you must be very patient, attacking a puck carrier too aggressively will usually result in the displeasure of the controller, as you will find yourself slamming it off the coffee table at times. You have to give and take on D. Play smart, clog zones, pick off passes and block shots, that is the best way to survive. It is quite hard to knock certain star players off the puck, let alone keep up with a speedy Martin St. Louis trying to go wide on you. You have to give him the outside and play the pass or get burned. What gets really frustrating is the lack of options to do this with. You find yourself quickly mashing buttons in attempt to clear out the front of the net from the 230lb winger parked on your crease screening your goalie. This guy is more dangerous than ever this season with the re-addition of deflected shots and goalie screens. The problem with this is the fact that there is not a real great way to defend this person. You cannot simply check him out of the way, as you will get the interference call, nor can you hold him. What you would do in real life is box him out or tie his stick up, neither of which are really an option on this game, unfortunately. Also, the poke check is at times ineffective, (it also results in a lot of tripping penalties, and taking too many penalties this year will catch up with you) so you really have to be patient and realize sometimes you will be under fire and just struggle to clear the zone. While this can be very frustrating, it is also a bit refreshing to find a challenge on defense.

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In conclusion, EA has taken a major step towards catching the 2k series in terms of realism. This is a game for hockey sim nuts as well as the arcade style player, myself being a simmer I feel confident in saying it will suffice as the game in your hockey arsenal for the 360 this year. It lacks that jump out and smack you in the face awesomeness or newness in presentation, but steady as she goes. You have to figure, however, at some point EA will get the notion to use the ESPN license and have top notch presentation and the little nuances that make sports gaming great. In the meantime what you are left with is a solid effort to say the least, and a must buy if you are any kind of a hockey fan. And with these blueprints you would think they can fine tune some more things next season, as long as they don’t try and rebuild what works. Let’s just hope it isn’t the usual EA motto of “we didn’t have enough time, perhaps next year”. For this year though, it should be a great season in the real NHL, and all the fun of trying to play it out yourself will be there in NHL 2008. As the late great coach Bob Johnson said “It’s a great day for hockey!”

Scores:

7.8 Overall Presentation: Overlays are great, but not prevalent enough at times. There could be a lot more done in terms of stats and displays during stoppages. The sounds and cutscreens get a little redundant after a while with the game, this includes the announcing. More atmosphere and celebrations would be a welcomed addition, including a different feel for the postseason or big games.

9.2 Graphics: Top notch as usual. Sparkling and crisp, everything is very detailed and pleasant to look at. Simply put, looks terrific.

8.7 Gameplay: The gameplay is challenging and fun at the same time. It appears to be tightened up in terms of the A.I. this year, and you will have to work for things on harder levels. There are a few areas that could used some touching up, penalties and what not, but overall not too bad.

8.8 Realism/Strategy: While still not a true sim game, you can definitely get it to play very true to life. Great strides to realism were made this season. You have to think things through and set up plays to succeed.

8.8 Online Options: Very deep here. You can play online leagues and finally the return of multiplayer for online! 3vs3 is a great way to spend a night with your buddies online.

9.0 Intangibles/Personal Slant/Fun Factor: In my opinion EA has the hockey game to beat this year. The overall experience you can have with the game is great. You can play it with your friends or get wrapped up online or in franchise. Some things could have been included to help the game out, like adding the ability to play any amount of time for periods, up to twenty. The reduction of throwback jeresys make it a little less fun to fire up random games. However, including the AHL is totally awesome for hockey fans. It gives you so many options. I for one will be playing a franchise the whole way through again this year. I think the NHL is back, and so is NHL Hockey for the 360. Good times should be had this winter.

8.7 Overall: NHL ’08 is certainly a fun and challenging game, it is fast paced with some real sim style to it. There will be some things that still need to be worked out, and some frustration, however it shouldn’t prevent you from enjoying this title for a good while.