NHL 11 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360, PS3)

[06woz]

Anyone notice that you are given control of the player you are passing to, really early. I thin it's awesome and allows you to "skate into" your passes more.

[adayinthelife]

Quote: Originally Posted by XFactah416

So, for all of those that are playing on levels above Pro, what's the "recipe" for success? And, one minor question as well: the "hustle" button. Is it activated by pushing down on the LS?

Really you just have to play relatively smart hockey. I think a problem most people have is they just go for the big hit too much and get caught out of position.

As for the hustle button, yes push down on the left stick when you don't have the puck. You'll see your player skate faster sure, but I think it would've been much better if there was a change to the skating animation when hustling. Even just a player putting his head down or SOMETHING different (when I play hockey I usually put my head down/pump my arms more when putting something extra into a foot race). Maybe I'm missing something but right now it just seems like you randomly start moving faster with no visual ques at all.

[Drakar]

I got a a goal refuse because my player kicked it in with his skate. The referee went to the video replay to confirm his decision.

The demo is very good. It's another purchase for me on day 1.

[JezFranco]

Ohhhhhhh, what a great day.

Since I'm in europe I was sitting up last night waiting for the demo to be released on PS3, but gave up around midnight (I have an US account).
A 3 o'clock this morning I woke up to take a leak, fired up the PS3 and downloaded and installed the demo, just to have it prepared for the morning.
Later this morning I woke up at 6.30, one hour before my alarm goes off... hasn't happened in years.
Played for an hour and half before I had to go to work. And WoooHoooo...

I never tried the HUT card thingy, just went straight in for the action.

I can't really say I have anything.at.all to complain about, I played on Pro/Hardcore and I liked those settings, bar the pass speed that I might raise when I buy the game (but noticed they got faster on Hardcore).

The hits felt lovely, the dekes were magical, and the sound of the checks along the boards were amazing.
And anyone who says the hustle button don't do any difference clearly didn't play 08, 09 or 10 enough, because there is a big difference for reaching those pucks that was just out of reach on earlier versions.

The faceoffs... WOOOOOOOOO!!!

And bloody hell, I was poking and poking, but I didn't trip anyone. Amazing.

I loved how some situations came up that you just haven't seen before... weither it's a better organic gameplay or just that it's all new CPU strategies remains to be seen.

I need to work a bit on the passing. I was a hardcore manual passer on NHL10, but this is a new setup, I like it better, because on NHL10 you couldn't direct pass, and sensitive is better than holding for a second... But as mentioned, I might wanna raise the passing speed... just a bit.

Tonight is Hocky Night! Well done EA!

[FBeaule04]

I've played one game of Battle for the cup and one of HUT, and I have to say that there's a lot of surprising thing for me in this demo.

First, while it's still on pro level, the AI seems better than in NHL 10. Colors are sharp, animations after a goal are fun (about time that 5 guys gather after a goal for god sake!) and the feel of the game is good.

Hitting will be something to learn since I was really off last night, but I like the new collision and hitting physics. Also, passing will be a challenge since you have to charge your passes to get a strong passing.

HUT is surprisingly entertaining. I won't play it online, no time to waist fighting with cheaters but offline, that will be pretty cool to build chemistry, play with the options, etc.

I had the chance to put a line of Seguin, Hodson and Kadri together, that was really nice. I think this mode will have me on for a while, but I like BaP a lot too, so will see.

The only thing that would be negative for me after playing the demo. Too much NHL 10 animations passed without touching on NHL 11. That's a bit a deception, but that's minor. Also, I understand why I'm playing with commentary off for the last 10 years. The two guys are really annoying to a point I can't describe. Than again, it's a minor thing.

I'm affraid that people will exploit, cheat and find glitches to have an edge online, but that's my only concern. For the rest, it's going to be a pretty darn good hockey game.

[MattyAction]

Anyone know how to change the difficulty? I see how some of you have played on SS. I'm not able to change that setting. Thanks again in advance for any help.

[bh446066]

"Cons:

WAAY too many big hits, not much more to say about that. Hopefully this can be fixed with sliders. The hit physics are fun visually but unfortunately it doesn't seem to add much to the game other than seemingly cool 1 on 1 random animations."

That's a "Pro" for me.....I know, I know, I'm the guy you simmers hate b/c EA is catering to my lust for big hits. Hey, there's no more Hitz Pro for guys like me to play so I gotta get my fix somewhere. From what I've read, though, you can edit the hitting in the sliders to whatever you like.

[jukeboxbully]

Had a funny moment playing last night: I was controlling Briere and tried to take a run at someone who was skating along the boards. I missed him by about 3 feet, slammed myself into the boards and crumpled to the ice. Off to the locker room, out for the rest of the game!