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Things that would make NHL 11 a must-buy
We've all read all the stuff about real-time physics, new faceoffs, new teams and broken sticks. But what about the existing features in NHL 10 that need to be improved upon? In my opinion, those are just as important as the new stuff. So, here is a short list of items that, along with those new bells and whistles, would make NHL 11 a must-buy for me this year.
NOTE: These points are for offline vs. CPU play (on Pro level), and have not yet been addressed in all the NHL 11 talk thus far from what I've read.
Improved CPU AI
Both teammates and opponent AI needs to take a step forward in NHL 11, both offensively and defensively. On offense, the CPU team sometimes appears to be lost. They play keep away and pass the puck from wing to point, and rarely cycle the puck down low unless my defense forces it. When on a breakaway, the CPU used to bury the puck (NHL 08 & 09). In NHL 10, the player forgets how to stick handle, and rarely does it result in a goal. On the rush, CPU players don't rush the net as often as they should, instead opting to stop short for some strange reason. When the puck is on net, players should be crashing the net until the puck gets cleared, rather than giving up and going into forecheck mode so quickly.
On defense, way too many cross-crease passes get through to the stick of the offensive player, sometimes passing through two or three defenders. Defenders play the body (by cross-checking the offender) rather than playing the puck and intercepting the pass or clearing it. It would also be nice if EA implemented some sort of "stand up" move for defenders who are playing the puck handler on a rush. It happens all the time IRL: offensive player enters the zone and gets stood up by the defender and the puck goes to the corner. Also, the defense always seems to be really spread out when in the defensive zone or on a penalty kill. Usually there is a defender right on top of the point man, even when the puck is down low. I don't see this too often IRL. The defense should collapse down low until the puck is passed to the point.
In the neutral zone, the puck handler skates from blue line to blue line without even being nudged by a defender. The defense should be way more aggressive here. And when the CPU is puck handling, can we please get rid of the whole "I'm gonna skate back and forth, from boards to boards until the defense gets frustrated and lets me through"?
An overall point about AI: Pro difficulty makes the CPU AI a bit too easy, but the goalies seem realistic. On All-Star difficulty, the CPU AI seems more aggressive and difficult to play against, but the goalies are super-human. I'd like to see something in between.
CPU Line Changes
So many times in NHL 10 (and 09 & 08) the CPU leaves their players on the ice for way too long (sometimes 5 mins or longer). It would be nice to improve this and have the CPU team (or human team if line changes are on Auto) change lines more frequently when possible to make it more realistic.
Penalties
Penalties can sometimes be non-existant in Human vs. CPU mode. I've played many games where there are only one or two power plays over 60 mins. Even when penalties are called, it's normally the same three: Tripping, Slashing, and Hooking. Even worse, when something like Interference is called, it's usually because a player gets slightly bumped somewhere away from the puck. I'm really hoping this gets improved, because penalties and special teams are such a huge part of the game.
Be A GM Mode
We all know the bugs that exist here (trade logic, freezing, UFAs), so I won't waste my time mentioning them.
Bugs aside, this mode needs to be improved in other areas as well. It would be sweet if you were more submerged in the experience. Is it even possible to see other scores from around the league besides your own team's games? I'd like GM mode to be more about the league as a whole rather than just my NHL and AHL teams. This is one of the few instances where NHL 11 should take a page out of Madden's book.
Presentation
The presentation in this game is starting to get stale. I love Gary Thorne, but he hasn't done an NHL broadcast for years. A switch here (although it would probably have to be implemented in NHL 12) would be nice. A refresh of between whistle animations, and perhaps a better, longer team celebration when hoisting the Stanley Cup would be welcome additions too.
Conclusion
While I love all the new stuff that's being talked about, I will remain a bit nervous until I see that some of these issues have been addressed. The NHL team last year was great at showing the improvements by releasing videos and blogs -- let's hope they continue doing so this summer up until release!
Thank you for your time!
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06-19-2010, 02:41 PM
