NHL 11 Screenshot: All-New Real-Time Physics Engine

[CrosbyKing10]

How about actually getting to play in the stadium that the Winter Classic is going to be in this coming year? (hopefully as reported Heinz Field)......They can just get the Heinz Field off of Madden's team and slap a hockey rink right in the middle.....would be an AWESOME ADDITION IMO!

[Splitter77]

Quote: Originally Posted by Steve_OS

Just confirmed via Alain Quinto Twitter. It is a broken stick.

sweet. good news considering its only late may, and they have that in the game.
Can't wait to see some more info. Hopefully player seperation has improved.

[Bumble14]

I totally agree!

Both NHL 09 and 10 have played great, but have no soul when it comes to presentation. They've have the same bland, generic replays, team intros, commentary, goal celebrations, and player emotions since 07. As a result the game itself becomes extremely stale. I don't really care about new checking physics, etc. This game needs some presentation to put it on par with great sports titles like MLB 10, and NBA 2K10. Heck, even the relatively bland Madden 10 had better presentation than NHL 10.

[ch46647]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bumble14

I totally agree! Both NHL 09 and 10 have played great, but have no soul when it comes to presentation. They've have the same bland, generic replays, team intros, commentary, goal celebrations, and player emotions since 07. As a result the game itself becomes extremely stale. I don't really care about new checking physics, etc. This game needs some presentation to put it on par with great sports titles like MLB 10, and NBA 2K10. Heck, even the relatively bland Madden 10 had better presentation than NHL 10.

Disagree about Madden having better presentation then NHL 10. NHL's commentary is MUCH MUCH better (and more exciting) then Madden's, certainly not as good as NBA 2k though. Also, the graphics of the crowd and the way they stand up at appropriate times and cheer to situations on the ice is phenomenal. Madden has been pathetic with the crowd and crowd reaction (volume of the crowd) up to, and including, Madden 10.

I agree with you that NHL does need a lot more cut-scenes and stat banners. This is where they can really take it to the next level and I think they will this year. However, the cut-scenes they do have, while repetitive, are very well done and play in the correct situations. (Maddens cut-scenes are both repetitive and in many situations dont play at the correct time.

Finally, in NHL 10 the post-whistle animations of players moving around look much more realistic then Madden. (I do think NHL needs to add a lot more) In Madden the players post-play look like a bunch of robots running around with no direction. I know you have played Madden 11, hopefully a lot of this has been fixed.

To say that you are not excited about a new real-time physics engine really has me baffled. This is what sports games NEED and it appears NHL is going to be the first EA product to give it a shot. These physics engines will be the future of sports gaming IMO, and I think NHL's gameplay is the furthest along of all EA titles, besides maybe FIFA, to give this a real shot.

Give Red Dead Redemption a try, the euphoria engine in that game is amazing and makes eveything seem much more life like. However, there are many other things that make it a great game as well. THe attention to detail in that game is absolutely mind blowing. I think when it is all said and done Red Dead will be considered a gaming classic.

[raiders81tim]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bumble14

I totally agree! Both NHL 09 and 10 have played great, but have no soul when it comes to presentation. They've have the same bland, generic replays, team intros, commentary, goal celebrations, and player emotions since 07. As a result the game itself becomes extremely stale. I don't really care about new checking physics, etc. This game needs some presentation to put it on par with great sports titles like MLB 10, and NBA 2K10. Heck, even the relatively bland Madden 10 had better presentation than NHL 10.

Everyone is different I guess. I skip all this stuff and go straight to the gameplay. I much much rather see gameplay improvements than anything else.

[Mikey88]

Quote: Originally Posted by Splitter77

sweet. good news considering its only late may, and they have that in the game. Can't wait to see some more info. Hopefully player seperation has improved.

Good point, this was 1 of the things i thought really needed to be addressed for NHL11 before Arenas and any other fluff.

[NewErahasbegun]

pretty cool, the hitting animations were stale, glad they mixed it up

[Bumble14]

Quote: Originally Posted by ch46647

Disagree about Madden having better presentation then NHL 10. NHL's commentary is MUCH MUCH better (and more exciting) then Madden's, certainly not as good as NBA 2k though. Also, the graphics of the crowd and the way they stand up at appropriate times and cheer to situations on the ice is phenomenal. Madden has been pathetic with the crowd and crowd reaction (volume of the crowd) up to, and including, Madden 10. I agree with you that NHL does need a lot more cut-scenes and stat banners. This is where they can really take it to the next level and I think they will this year. However, the cut-scenes they do have, while repetitive, are very well done and play in the correct situations. (Maddens cut-scenes are both repetitive and in many situations dont play at the correct time. Finally, in NHL 10 the post-whistle animations of players moving around look much more realistic then Madden. (I do think NHL needs to add a lot more) In Madden the players post-play look like a bunch of robots running around with no direction. I know you have played Madden 11, hopefully a lot of this has been fixed. To say that you are not excited about a new real-time physics engine really has me baffled. This is what sports games NEED and it appears NHL is going to be the first EA product to give it a shot. These physics engines will be the future of sports gaming IMO, and I think NHL's gameplay is the furthest along of all EA titles, besides maybe FIFA, to give this a real shot. Give Red Dead Redemption a try, the euphoria engine in that game is amazing and makes eveything seem much more life like. However, there are many other things that make it a great game as well. THe attention to detail in that game is absolutely mind blowing. I think when it is all said and done Red Dead will be considered a gaming classic.

I get what you're saying, but you have to realize that every sports game out there attempts to hype up a "all new physics engine" at one time or the other, and the results have always been disappointing (just wait until the backlash once Backbreaker is released).

Take a look at MLB 10. The game is widely considered one of the best video games around due mostly to it's presentation. NHL already has a solid fundamental gameplay base- quite frankly, I felt the gameplay in 10 was perfect outside of the robo goalies. The bottom line is that there are other aspects of NHL11 that need attention desperately (presentation, goalie ai, god awful GM Mode) instead of implementing a new physics engine.

Mark my word- once NHL 11 drops everyone will begin to notice that this new physics engine really isn't that much different than the old engine, and will be complaining about the aesthetics in no time if the issues I mentioned are not addressed.

I honestly feel that this series has the on ice gameplay nailed, but without capturing that authentic NHL "feel" (something I thought NBA Live 10 did a phenomenal job at), it will ultimately fail.