NHL 11 is EA Sports flagship hockey title for the year. While hockey is not the most popular sport in the United States, it still has a very large following and NHL 11 brings some really great (and not so great) features to the table for to enjoy.
While NHL 11 features a number of game modes, this edition of the NHL series is really built around the EASUHL, or, EA Sports Ultimate Hockey League. This online gameplay mode uses a trading card system for team building. Players receive a starter deck and gain new cards through in-game currency or real money purchases. Unfortunately, while this system is a lot of fun, the real money purchases makes competing online difficult unless you are willing to spend some cash on cards. Player cards can also be traded or put up for auction on the marketplace. In terms of overall gameplay, the other game modes like ‘Be A GM’, ‘Be A Pro’, ‘Playoff’, ‘Tournament’, and ‘Practice’ were, sadly, left largely unchanged.
A new real-time physics engine can create some very authentic inter-player hits and crashes. It also means shots and passes work like they do, pretty much, in reality. It also adds a level of unpredictability in where exactly that puck will end up. Sometimes a hit off the wall will result in a crazy deflection. This adds another element of fun to the game and helps keep things fresh.
Visually, NHL 10 looks and runs better overall than its predecessor, with the exception of some frame-rate hiccups in ‘Be A Pro’ mode. Players are realistically detailed and look like their real-world doppelgangers. The entire game has a TV sports broadcast-feel, although the instant replay system can sometimes choose wonky plays to bring up instead of the awesome one you just pulled off.
Game audio is excellent, surrounding you with the sounds of a hockey game from crowd chatter to skate ‘swooshes’. NHL 11 also features an in-game commentary by ESPN announcer Gary Thorne and former hockey-pro and analyst, Bill Clement, although sometimes their cues don’t seem to jive with what is actually happening on-screen. The game’s soundtrack rocks and features hits from bands like The Ramones to Europe and more.
EA Sports has overhauled the control scheme to allow for more in-depth moves and even allows for better more options during face-offs – from changing your grip on the stick or even trying to lift your opponent’s stick. Speaking of sticks – in this edition of NHL 11, you can even have player’s break their sticks! AI has been enhanced since NHL 10, with players acting in a more realistic and strategic manner, though even with these improvements, sometimes players held onto pucks a little longer than they should have or just plain missed the opportunity for a shot when they were wide open.
Overall, NHL 11 is EA Sports best entries into the NHL series yet with improvements in almost every area of play. Unfortunately, while the EASUHL is a lot of fun, it can put thrifty gamers at a disadvantage.
