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

[Fiddy]

i really like how the game speed was slowed down a bit.

the strategy you set at the edit line screen finally work again. no need to change them in game anymore.

nice to see the cpu players actually make moves and dekes to get passed ya.

also cool to see them dump the puck in and go get it, as well as dumping to get a line change.

slash button is gone, thank god!!

post whistle is solid now, no mortal kombat fights going on..

sigh, top of circle wrist shots go in at the same rate as in nhl 10.. top shelf, boom, back of the net.. so easy. i wish they would fix this.

they took out the attribute slider. the one that makes skilled players stand out more.

same stupid fake slap shot backhand or forehand is still money on a breakaway. as is the deke to backhand and then release deke to forehand wrist shot..

sigh.

the Ultimate Team will get some playing time from me, just bc its something different.

[StormJH1]

Quote: Originally Posted by Fierce Robot

A couple more things. The pre game inside arena shots look sensational and there is a new cutscene of the team skating on the ice which is zoomed out so you can see the opposition at their end skating. Boardplay is much smoother and improved. You can actually say that the game has a more organic feel with scrappy turnovers making their way into the board battles as players fight to gain control of the puck. I just had a scrap session where the puck was turned over about 4 times within a small zone just inside my attacking blue line near the left hand side boards. Felt smooth and look great. And no irritating tripping penalties from poke checks and stick lifts to break it up. Really adds to the feeling of intensity and toughness out on the ice. I would have to say that the demo is still not massively scrappy but its the best it has been. I think though that upping the speed may make up for this and playing with difficulty and slider settings will probably help too. The skating is smoother, its nothing major but is obviously a refined job over previous years. It feels tighter and the players seem heavier on their skates. That silly animation from last year when the play stopped and you could make your player skate off from a standing position and his legs would kick about madly like it was his first time on ice trying to get his balance has gone. Defending seems smoother and players are not sucked out of position from what I have seen. Interesting point to note: I just used Hossa to stick lift an oponent and it broke the opponents stick. One troubling thing though was that it happened in my offensive zone and when the stick broke the cpu forgot about the puck and skated off to get a new stick. However, the puck was loose and Hossa did not have possession. Was cool to see the player heading for the bench but strange to seem him stop defending. Have noticed variety in goals, no two have been the same in any of my games so far and none of them really resemble the same old shots from last year. For anyone wondering, the broadcast camera is similar to last year, not like 2k's broadcast but it does seem better than last years. The view remains nice and wide and players don't shrink in size at the far ends of the angle. Unless my eyes are lying I don't think this is the same camera angle but it is not a huge change. Plus, I heard that we can customise camera angles so that will be great if it is so. Lastly, hitting is excellent. The best in a hockey game. Feels natural, looks great and really adds to the experience. I don't think video can do it justice. You really have to play the game to notice the changes. I for one was not really that excited by the new physics engine showing off how hits are improved. From those clips it is just too hard to get an appreciation for the changes. It just looked like another set of canned animations. But to pay the game in person and see the hits and feel them through the controller, it is a world of difference from hockey iterations past.

This was a helpful recap--I will watch for all of these things when I have more time to play later. Agreed on the hitting and board play, too...I don't see any brand new physics engine on there, but it may be that they added some more animations and paid more close attention to what should be happening when two players meet up at a certain speed/angle.

Also liked your "scrappiness" description--that's how the real NHL is. Playing NHL 10 could get very frustrating (especially against another human opponent who knows how to shield the puck) because the poke check seemed pretty worthless for anything other than taking tripping penalties.

There's really 3 moves you have as an NHL defender: body check, poke check/stick lift, and contain by playing the man. Checking has always been an option and they've been careful not to let it become too overpowered. Stick checking and poking have improved since NHL 08, but the game still treats these as "aggressive" risk/reward moves that either knock the puck away completely or result in a penalty if you trip the guy. Where is the third option, which is simply to skate with the guy and body him lightly to prevent him from getting around you? NBA 2k has had this for several years in their "lock-on" LT button. In other words, they figured that there had to be a way to assist people with playing defense because it was simply too hard to stay aligned with a ballhandler at all times. I'll be checking the NHL 11 demo to see how many options you have as a defender.

[m-dogg]

Quote: Originally Posted by Fierce Robot

A couple more things. Interesting point to note: I just used Hossa to stick lift an oponent and it broke the opponents stick. One troubling thing though was that it happened in my offensive zone and when the stick broke the cpu forgot about the puck and skated off to get a new stick. However, the puck was loose and Hossa did not have possession. Was cool to see the player heading for the bench but strange to seem him stop defending. .

uh-oh, no penalty for breaking his stick? I am really worried about all those midgets constantly trying to stick lift me in EASHL and breaking my stick while they magicly get the puck...bad enough you are frozen in that animation after you get stick lifted, now they can break your stick too and not get penalized?

[StormJH1]

Quote: Originally Posted by crobert0247

Anyone notice that the protect puck button(A) has been given some treatment? There is actual skating with this feature and not just the curl and hold arm out from previous years.

No, I hadn't even tried that! In fact, I never used that stupid button because there was never a time I wanted to shield the puck if it meant I had to STOP SKATING! I will have to check that out.

[crobert0247]

Hahahahahaha! They included a beaver tail animation when player lock is enabled(at least). I was breaking up center with Hall and pressed the call for pass trigger and just before Doughty sent the outlet, Hall beaver tailed his stick on the ice! LOL! I have never seen this much little detail in a game before. Crazy!

[ch46647]

LOVE IT! I do hope they give the game a slight speed bump for on-line play though. The game is running a tad to slow for me at the moment...

[m-dogg]

3 questions that will help EASHL cheese:

can someone play as the smallest skater on the ice and run around trying to hit everything that moves? do you succeed? and you manhandled? I'd love to hear midgets are finally victims to the laws of actual physics this year, might make more people be normal size...naaaahh...

can someone just try and cross crease over and over, passing right through AI defense men? EA said they improved the AI D to intercept or deflect these passes this year, but we heard that last year as well - and I have watched the puck go right through my player, other human players, and tons of AI players for another cross crease goal over and over online. sometimes it will even make my player reach for the puck, but not even deflect it. you watch real hockey and that pass is always taken away if the defenseman is in position, it certainly gets deflected most of the time if attempted. I think they look at the passing rating too much and it over powers common logic with players sitting in the passing lane waiting for the puck. reward smart players please.

and is the hustle button too effective? I can see this leading to a lot of 2 on 1's, with one midget up ahead with the puck, the D chasing him, and another midget beating everyone else down ice because the hustle button combined with his size makes him the fastest player on the ice since he does not have the puck.

thanks for whoever might test these.

also is the fake shot still on the right stick (click in)? i hate that, hope its removed hehe.

[18 eighty 5]

Quote: Originally Posted by m-dogg

uh-oh, no penalty for breaking his stick? I am really worried about all those midgets constantly trying to stick lift me in EASHL and breaking my stick while they magicly get the puck...bad enough you are frozen in that animation after you get stick lifted, now they can break your stick too and not get penalized?

I suppose another cool thing about this is that the players got a bit tangled and the puck slid away from the two of them and the defender did keep his body between me and the puck but after the puck slid far enough away he took off and left me alone.

I hear your concern because if the puck slides in a favourable position for your opponent you could be in trouble. Still, it was great to see the puck as a 'live' element.

One more thing on the hitting. I had the puck behind the oppositions net, a defender came out and tried to hit me, he dislodged the puck from my stick and he spun around because fo the impact and then the two of us fought after the puck behind the net. But there was nothing unnatural about the whole thing. The defender did not warp back onto the puck or magically get into an advantageous position. It all looked legit. Really good stuff, way more like the real thing.