NHL 11 News Post

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

06:32 AM - August 17, 2010 by Lubey

EA Sports NHL 11 demo is now available on Xbox LIVE and the PLAYSTATION Network. Powered by a revolutionary real-time physics engine, the franchise that has won 22 sports game of the year awards over the past three years will showcase two game modes in the demo: Battle for the Cup and the all-new Hockey Ultimate Team.

Battle for the Cup:

In Battle for the Cup, players will experience all the emotion and drama of the third period of Game 7 of the Stanley Cup� Championship between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Chicago Blackhawks. The mode features an all new faceoff system, new quick dekes and the ability to score amazing goals even while lying on the ice.

Hockey Ultimate Team:

The all-new Hockey Ultimate Team brings Online Dynasty play to the EA SPORTS NHL franchise for the first time ever. In the demo, players will be able to pick up a starter pack of cards to build their Ultimate Hockey Team. Take your new team to the ice and play against either the Canadian Hockey League�s Windsor Spitfires, or the NHL�s Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers. Play and win games in the demo with your Ultimate Team and earn up to two additional packs in the full version of NHL 11, when it is released on September 7, 2010.

The demo will also feature an interactive tutorial that will allow those new to the franchise to learn the controls, and allow long-time fans to practice some of the new controls in the game, including Faceoffs.

Game: NHL 11Reader Score: 7.5/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3 / Xbox 360Votes for game: 36 - View All

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Member Comments

# 261 eddiing @ 08/17/10 11:38 PM

The CPU just got a goal that was kicked in, the goal was reviewed and then called a non-goal.. it was awesome.

it's a lot easier to score off a well placed wrist shot as well!

# 262 SinisterAlex @ 08/17/10 11:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RealmK


	Thanks for clearing that up Redshirt. Btw if you had a major hand in the AI tuning this year, if I'm ever in Vancouver I wanna buy you a beer. Good stuff!

Haha I could be in Vancouver in 50 minutes

Although I'm a year under the legal drinking age in B.C (I'm 18) I could still buy you some sort of beverage or food! Love this game to death!

Thanks for all of your hard work! Tell the team I said thanks!

# 263 JT30 @ 08/18/10 12:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Segagendude


	Second demo impression in the same day........good sign! Basically, I can't put this thing down, and it's only one quarter!

I like the demo so far, but are you sure you're playing hockey? One quarter?

# 264 SinisterAlex @ 08/18/10 12:20 AM

Just had my first goal review. Took a slapshot from the point with 3 bodies in front. Hit Kane in front of the net. The ref comes flying in, waving his arms. Replay's get shown and the ref points to center ice. Only thing that sucked about that was the ref had no audio... could've recorded some random guy to say two lines, one for goal and one for no goal...

Also I laid a hip check on Pronger with Seabrook. I guess Pronger was trying to carry the puck in and made him go head over heels!

# 265 BlueNGold @ 08/18/10 12:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by centauris


	one thing I don't like and i'm not sure if it's just me.. but the line change menu seems to pop up so slow for me.. anyone?

Yeah it does. Someone else pointed this out but it's because they gave it this flashy animation to match the rest of the graphic overlays. Hopefully they can fix this but it's not too big of a deal.

On another note, I just got done with another hour long session or so with this demo. Next to the UFC 09 demo, this is one of the few demos that is literally owning my soul.

I played about 6 more games. Lost 2 Battle for the Cup games that were pretty fun. Once I switched over to Ultimate Team though, things got very fun.

First off, I started off with a much more stacked team than my last playthrough. I had Malkin, Zetterberg, Backstrom, Seguin, Hall, Eberle, Doughty, Myers, and Ryan Miller among others. I lost the first game to the Spitfires but then ended up going through the entire tournament and winning it (anyone else win the whole tourney yet?).

I seen about 4 of the best goals I've ever seen in NHL and 3 of them were clean wrist shot snipes. 2 of them to others wouldn't probably be considered some of the best goals they've seen, but I was just so excited that I was able to score in the situations I scored them in.

The first was in my second game against Windsor. It went to a shootout and we were tied at 1 goal a piece. I had the game winning goal on my stick with the 3rd shot of the shootout and it was Nik Backstrom taking it. I came down towards the goalie and he was giving me the blocker side (left). So I decided to try and snipe a shot on him to that side and it worked. This made me really happy because as far as I remember, it was damn near impossible to score in the shootout off of wrist shots. You almost always had to deke.

The second goal was one with Jordan Eberle that was easily the best goal I've ever scored. I came into the Philly zone on the left side, got into the corner and put on the brakes which put some seperation between me and the d-man. Then I did the between the legs quick deke to dangle an oncoming forward, cut into the high slot and sniped a shot top right corner over Leighton. If only EA would've let us save demo highlights.

The third goal was on a breakaway with Tyler Seguin. I just flat out sniped on Broduer and scored. It's been a long time since I've been able to score off clean wrist shots on the break.

Finally the fourth one was a CPU goal. There was a scrum of players in my offensive zone in the faceoff circle on the right side. The puck was loose and then Patrick Kane came trailing in and took a massive slapshot that beat Ryan Miller far side top shelf and off the inside of the post. It was a thing of beauty and just felt so awesome because it was a goal you could picture Patrick Kane scoring.

So to wrap this long post up....well done, EA, well done.

# 266 06woz @ 08/18/10 12:32 AM

So happy with this game as of now. Just scored my nicest goal yet( i guess it's a matter of opinion, I'm a Bure fan).

Shootout, first shot. Came right to left with Hall, dropped it to the skates, kicked it back. Did a very(very) short right to left deke and netted it.

# 267 BlueNGold @ 08/18/10 12:35 AM

Forgot to add this to my last post.

2 other improvements I've noticed are the spin move being much more realistic and now if an opposing player is using boardplay and you come in to hit him with the R stick, it lets you pin him instead of last year when you'd just bounce off him like nothing happened.

It really seems like they have everything covered with this game. Can't wait for a Be A GM preview from wherever that breaks down all of the new features and AI.

# 268 SinisterAlex @ 08/18/10 12:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlueNGold


	Forgot to add this to my last post. 2 other improvements I've noticed are the spin move being much more realistic and now if an opposing player is using boardplay and you come in to hit him with the R stick, it lets you pin him instead of last year when you'd just bounce off him like nothing happened. It really seems like they have everything covered with this game. Can't wait for a Be A GM preview from wherever that breaks down all of the new features and AI.

I noticed the spin move as well.

Anyway, just had a neat tripping call. I knocked a guy down on his back near the end boards and as I skated to get the puck, I tripped over his stick as he got up. That wouldn't have happened in NHL 10. God I love this game.

# 269 MiNiDiTkA @ 08/18/10 12:49 AM

Overtime goal to win the cup! - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRIwcN21-L8

# 270 Qb @ 08/18/10 12:51 AM

I was mistaken earlier when I said we couldn't turn off auto back skate in the demo. It's under controller settings this year, not in the gameplay settings. You have to scroll down one click to see it under "shooting controls". Much better now...

# 271 plaidchuck @ 08/18/10 12:52 AM

Alright got some games in and here are some thoughts on the gameplay, first the cons and then the pros(switching it up)

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.

Dump and chase seems kind of pointless now because the goalies in the demo ALWAYS get posession of the puck behind the net. On the subject of goalies, they still do the "spin-o-rama" too much. Who knows, maybe certain goalies will be more gutsy like their real life counterparts.

The hustle feature seems like the vengeance of the turbo boost, I beat defenders to the puck almost everytime.

Still cannot put a check on a player using boardplay. The suction is improved but this will most likely still be abused online.

I have yet to get a powerplay in the game, must be just something peculiar with the demo.

CPU still a little too pass happy on Superstar, but at least it just doesn't pass it back and forth from Dman to winger.

Pros:

AI much improved on all difficulty levels. They will actually cut off obvious passing lanes and punish you for mistakes in your zone. Your own players will get into better positions offensively.. how well the strategies work this year remains to be seen. Top players like Malkin/Toews/Kane in the game will actually try dekes and be creative. Bravo to the team on this one, a 180 degree turnaround in this regard.

Improved puck physics, every year the puck gets a little more livelier. Although it seems some of the wrist shots are a bit fast, shouldn't be a problem if the sliders work right.

The goalies are human this year with some new animations!! Although it seems the game will be a little too offensive minded this year, it will beat constantly having 0-0 games on Versus. Goal variety seems much improved, and getting traffic in front of the goalie matters now.

The goal reviews work surprisingly well, they actually make sense when they happen and make the correct call.

The stick breaking seems to be handled correctly, I actually haven't noticed it all that much, my stick has yet to break.

Well that's it for now, overall the good far outweighs the bad, the game will certainly be a lot more fun and have greater replay especially offline. Personally I think it still has a ways to go in the sim department, but once the physics are fully fleshed out it should be amazing.

# 272 The Visualizer @ 08/18/10 12:57 AM

I'm loving the CPU A.I. on offense on Superstar, as they have been really been giving me good game. My only complaint is they don't dump and chase enough when you stop them at the blue line, they like to turn back and dangle too much when that happens. Especially nasty is how they keep catching me reaching with the poke check with that new quick deke move that drops the puck back to your skates... that move can make even the best defenders look silly.

Don't have much to report good on the goalie front, both Leighton and Niemi have been godawful stopping basic shots on all difficulties. Don't even get me started on their flopping, hopefully the A.I. has been tuned for the retail version as both of those goalies are frauds in the real NHL, but they aren't as bad as the game is making them out to be.

# 273 Sandman42 @ 08/18/10 01:10 AM

This game is awesome. Absolutely loving the demo.

Last year 10 got a little stale because it felt a lot like 09. Love the changes so far this year, the way the physics engine works with the hits feels great. Using the right trigger to gauge the power of passes should help a lot and reducing the tic tac toe passing that got tiresome in the past.

# 274 VanCitySportsGuy @ 08/18/10 01:35 AM

Enjoy the demo but I hope the dev team really focuses on the presentation in 2012. I like Thorne and Clement but something needs to be done to freshen up the audio. A studio highlight show would be good for franchise mode or even an insider type segment with Bob McKenzie.

The gameplay looks to be rock solid again but I really feel like the game is missing the "wow" factor.

Redshirt, do the fans chant Louuuuuu when he stops the puck at Rogers Arena?

# 275 CS10029 @ 08/18/10 01:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Qb


	I was mistaken earlier when I said we couldn't turn off auto back skate in the demo. It's under controller settings this year, not in the gameplay settings. You have to scroll down one click to see it under "shooting controls". Much better now...

Big help Qb, thanks a lot.

# 276 Lubey @ 08/18/10 02:20 AM

I'm still a little confused on the hustle button. I understand what it's supposed to do, but I tried it and it didn't seem to do anything. Does it only work if I don't have possession of the puck? Is it really noticeable? Is it possible I just haven't noticed it working?

# 277 CS10029 @ 08/18/10 02:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lubey


	I'm still a little confused on the hustle button. I understand what it's supposed to do, but I tried it and it didn't seem to do anything. Does it only work if I don't have possession of the puck? Is it really noticeable? Is it possible I just haven't noticed it working?

You have to be going straight for the most part.

# 278 Lubey @ 08/18/10 02:30 AM

Well if my HUT guys aren't hustling all the time they're gonna get sat or sold.

# 279 CS10029 @ 08/18/10 02:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lubey


	Well if my HUT guys aren't hustling all the time they're gonna get sat or sold.

IF they are fatigued they won't get much increase in speed.

# 280 Lubey @ 08/18/10 02:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CS10029


	IF they are fatigued they won't get much increase in speed.

That could be it too. I think I only tried it like twice.

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