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

[The Visualizer]

Quote: Originally Posted by Qb

We have to break our bad defensive habits. I'm in the same boat in needing to pokecheck less and focus on keeping gap control & proper positioning/angles... because now the AI will actually make you pay for it! I wish we had better control of sticks defensively, as I'd love to be able to get my stick in the way while skating with an attacker. The manual pokecheck is still a little clunky -- maybe it's user error? -- and I often end up doing an accidental check when I stop. I love how AI attackers will come down the wing towards the corner (assuming you take away the middle of the ice) but now if you don't make a play on the in the corner, they'll drive to the net along the goal line. In 10 you could lay off them and protect the slot, but now they keep you honest. Beautiful!

Yeah you are right about positioning and angles being more important, and yes the manual pokecheck has always been clunky for me too, I don't think it's user error, the stick just doesn't sweep very easily.

[frank70]

Here my short impressions:

The Good:

- Skating feels good. More weight to the players. More realistic imo.
- A.I. not quite there but well improved. Maybe even better with some slider changes A.I. Defenders could be even more aggressive in pressuring the puck handler. But again: Sliders may help.

The Bad:

It is in there vor over ten years now, but it struck me when playing the demo:

- Defenders should clear the puck alot more around the boards. In the game they turn on a dime when they gain possession of the puck while looking towards the goal. Instead they should use the goal as a shield and clear the puck going behind the net. Looks goofy and is really unrealistic and is a dangerous play. Don't know if EA can do something about this before release. Seems to be hardcoded as it is the same for many years

- Too many cross ice passes. In the neutral zone and in the attack zone. Again: More use of the boards and cycling behind the net would be more realistic

- Puck could even be more lively. It's better than in the years before but it is glued to the stick again. So, skill differential in technique and puckhandling ability isn't implemented well


All in all the game seems to play more realistic than NHL 10. But there are some movements of the players that aren't seen in a real hockey game or are boneheaded and would result in being benchend by the coach.

[Fiddy]

Quote: Originally Posted by Burbruee

Hm, any tips for scoring? (All-Star or above) It took me 10 games to even score one goal. Also I tried Superstar and got scored on 5 times in a minute or two. It's much harder to play defense than in NHL 10.

did you play NHL 10 at all? if so, you can score all the same ways in the NHL 11 Demo. im not being a jerk either, all the same crap from 10 is in the 11 demo.

[CS10029]

Quote: Originally Posted by Fiddy

did you play NHL 10 at all? if so, you can score all the same ways in the NHL 11 Demo. im not being a jerk either, all the same crap from 10 is in the 11 demo.

I don't really agree with that. This game is much different. Cross crease passes are way harder to get through. Plus the CPU defense stays in position, making everything offensively more difficult.

[BigBlue10989]

Quote: Originally Posted by Fiddy

did you play NHL 10 at all? if so, you can score all the same ways in the NHL 11 Demo. im not being a jerk either, all the same crap from 10 is in the 11 demo.

I disagree. I have tried many times to get a cross-crease pass to score a goal, and 99.5% of the time I've failed. It was either pokechecked by the goalie, deflected off of a skate or intercepted by the D-man.

[CS10029]

Quote: Originally Posted by Fiddy

did you play NHL 10 at all? if so, you can score all the same ways in the NHL 11 Demo. im not being a jerk either, all the same crap from 10 is in the 11 demo.

How much did you play the demo?

[jrgom81]

sorry cant search the thread on my phone, but is any one else's goalies giving up really soft goals? I was playing UT and Ryan Miller was my goalie and he let in one shot from center ice and another from the blue line that looked like a dump in..

[sanders]

At first it doesn't seem like so much is different from NHL 10 but as you play you realize just how much different it is....way different.

Things I liked:
1. When you protect the puck you player still skates. This is great when working the outside of the offensive zone.
2. The push puck doesn't push the puck out nearly as far as it did in NHL 10. This makes it way more useful.
3. In NHL 10 one-timers worked the opposite of how they do in real life. Passes that went across the players body could be one timed and in real life one-timers are done with passes that come from the side of the receiving players handedness. This year it seems to work that way (in limited testing).
4. Thud when shots hit the goalies leg pads just sounds awesome.
5. On defense if you're agressive and go for the hits all the time you get burned. Nice to see.
6. In the skate deke is just flat out cool.
7. Spinorama effectiveness has been toned down so it's only effective in exactly the right circumstances.
8. Being able to one-man show against the computer is very hard if not impossible on the harder settings.
9. You can REALLY tell the difference from the all star players and the third liners.
10. Passing through defensive players is much harder. I may have to actually use the saucer pass this year to make cross crease passes.

Things I didn't like:
1. The pass speed being tied to the duration you hold down the trigger. Should be tied to how far down you press the trigger. When players in the NHL see an opening and need to fire a hard pass it just happens the same timing as a soft pass. Needing to load up a hard pass causes an unneeded delay in getting the pass off and can often result in a missed opportunity.
2. Goalie logic on soft shots and rebounds still seems somewhat poor.