NHL 09 Demo Available, Post Impressions Here

[Gagnon39]

Quote: Originally Posted by Timmay

One thing I'm not getting: Speed Burst. How do you do it? Because I looked in the control and it made it look like pressing down on he left analog stick does it, but nothing I do with the analog stick makes my player skate faster. No button I pressed seemed to.

Speed burst is history. It was garbage anyway.

[kerosene31]

Quote: Originally Posted by tyler289

and also the CPU takes shots. No more 3-1 games with me having 50 shots and them having 10

Yeah, last year the CPU could work the puck around the zone for ever, but 09 is better in this regard. They make plays, but don't work the puck around in the zone for 10 minutes at a time to set up 1 shot.

Last year was kind of crazy with playing "keep-away" on both sides. 09 seems to have gotten rid of this completely, which is really nice.

[mudtiger]

Finally got some time with the demo last night, random thoughts most of which others have mentioned...

Nice to finally get that 'awwww I almost scored' feeling on post shots because they are rare, not [sarcasm] 'wow, the 7th post shot of the period.'

More off target shots. The net feels smaller because more pucks are shot off target, specially backhand shots. Hopefully this will keep shot totals at a realistic level on period lengths of around 10 minutes.

I can feel the better players. I can tell when Malkin and Crosby are on the ice against me and I can tell when I've got Zetterberg. I can't wait to see how this plays out with longer period lengths where line management will hopefully be important.

I kind of like the balance of off target/intercepted passes and completed passes. Sure there should be more bad passes but I think they balanced fun and realism rather well.

Fighting is terrible. Worse than last year in my opinion.

[MC Fatigue]

Quote: Originally Posted by kerosene31

You don't. There has been no speed burst since 07 I think.

Why would they put it in the control options then? Oh well. Not a big deal, but I couldn't figure out why it wasn't working.

Also, I thought I heard people say that when they speed burst, the player pushes the puck ahead of them with one stick... Maybe that's 2k9, though.

[MizzouRah]

I haven't had time to try this demo out yet... maybe tonight, job willing.

[mudtiger]

Quote: Originally Posted by Timmay

Why would they put it in the control options then? Oh well. Not a big deal, but I couldn't figure out why it wasn't working. Also, I thought I heard people say that when they speed burst, the player pushes the puck ahead of them with one stick... Maybe that's 2k9, though.

Tap the right bumper. The skater will push the puck ahead and you'll skate a little faster.

[baa7]

Quote: Originally Posted by kerosene31

1) All the EA Sports annoying cheats and problems are still there: The CPU cheats are still there (yes, the AI does cheat, and badly). While they can't skate any faster than you at top speed, they can accelerate, turn and do everything else a little faster. While the CPU players are already going the other way, you're still making this big circle on the ice. I mean, you can learn to play differently and win, but it feels wrong. 3) Puck magnet - on all-star, the puck "randomly" finds the CPU way more than it will find you. You poke the puck and somehow it sits at the CPU player's skates for a second then he carries on. Overall: sorry to be so negative. It is better than 08, but a great hockey game? I'm not sure. I'm in the minority of those who were frustrated with all EA 08 sports games. Fifa, NHL, and Madden all had similar problems. The CPU feels cheap and the controls are clunky.

Thanks for pointing all that out. It's frustrating that EA's games are plagued by cheesy cheat programming -- NHL and FIFA that I'm aware of (I don't play Madden). I get around some of it by spending hours editing player ratings, but it doesn't fix stuff like the puck always finding CPU players. So it looks like another year of editing for me...

[RealmK]

Quote: Originally Posted by baa7

Thanks for pointing all that out. It's frustrating that EA's games are plagued by cheesy cheat programming -- NHL and FIFA that I'm aware of (I don't play Madden). I get around some of it by spending hours editing player ratings, but it doesn't fix stuff like the puck always finding CPU players. So it looks like another year of editing for me...

Please tell me we're not going to have another year of "EA's AI cheats because I don't want to play defense" posts. it got really old last year.