One_piece's best game in the world review (NHL 11) :)

Ok guys here we go, the long awaited review for NHL 11. I’ve played it a billion times now as auspuck mentioned before and I must say, WOW! Now I know they get better every year but this is a new level of better.

Let’s start with the intro. The game starts with the usual dramatic intro of bone crunching hits, powerful shots and a flurry of dangles that makes it impossible to keep yourself from drooling all over the control
 s. For the first time ever the Intro is similar to the game play, what you see in the intro is ultimately what you can do during the game itself. More after the jump...

Ok before I get to the game play I just want go through the menus and the new online player card mode. I should have mentioned before, that during the initial start up of the game, you are taken through a confusing and lengthy explanation of these playing cards and how they work. From what I could gather, you choose your Ultimate Team and as you play you receive these player cards with different skills and attributes. You can also obtain separate trait-boosting cards to apply to your player cards; when you need to get a better card, simply put it up on an online trading block to see if someone is willing to trade cards with you...or you can just purchase more packs of cards using either real world money or by collecting EA Pucks from your EASUHL matches. But navigating this whole interface requires a fair bit of patience. Being the only person in the universe that doesn’t have Xbox live I personally haven’t had the chance to test this out. If anyone has, please comment...

There are so many additional things you can do this year that amaze me. Being a forward, we’ll start with my favourite...the Deke’s. Now in previous years, you were able to still do some pretty cool moves. However with NHL 11 you can deke in absolutely every direction, even forward. I remember having trouble playing against a friend. Every time I’d get close to the net, he would dive right at my feet and I’d instantly lose the puck. This year there’s a deke which enables you to lift the puck and JUMP, over the player sprawling himself on the goal line trying to block your shot. Quite similar to Richard Zednik jumping over a New York Islander Defenseman and scoring an amazing goal. Also there are new toe drags and deke sequences that will leave you speechless. Although, the theme for this year is complete realism, so if you’re going to try and pull those moves off you better be ready for a huge hit every time, and man is it huge.

Now the hits are absolutely amazing. EA’s new physics engine has opened a new world of body checking. The hits may not seem big but I assure you, you will be pausing the game and watching the instant replay hit after hit. The new hitting system is fantastic but tricky. Gone are the days when you could lock on to a player 15 feet away and drive him from behind, into the boards, producing a hit that even Patrice Cormier would be proud of. In NHL 11 EA has really forced you to have to play with a bit of style and accuracy. Lining up the hits will prove tricky and frustrating the first few games, however as you start to get used to the skating style and speed of each player, it will be the most entertaining part of the game. Especially with the new hip check button, my favourite. I have to say if any part of the game was going to be called realistic, this is it. The amount of times I’ve connected with a beautifully timed hip check and watched the instant replay turns a 15 minute game into an hour. One problem is, if you miss time the check, you’re left with a burnt D, a goalie with his jock strap in the corner and the opposing team cheering in your face with EA’s customised celebrations.

There isn’t much to say about the shots because not much has changed. However I will mentioned that one of the most realistic parts of the game, are the new ‘broken sticks’. This feature is really cool if you’re watching the opposing team taking a one timer that had goal written all over it. As the stick breaks, the puck rolls off into the corner, followed by the stick less player chasing it to kick it off to one of his team mates. However if he kicks it in the direction of the broken stick you can see the puck connect and interact quite realistically with the stick. Now on the other hand, if you’re that player coming down on a breakaway and looking for a quick shot and the stick breaks? Wow! most annoying part of the game ever. I might just be unlucky but I had a stick break on a damn back hand shot. Now that’s some back hand.

So there you have it. New dekes, new hip checks, smooth fluid skating, breaking sticks and customised celebrations, all part of an amazing game to play. I guarantee that you will love it (until EA brings out the better than NHL 11 game, which will undoubtedly be called NHL 12J). If you haven’t got your copy what are you waiting for? I hope you guys have as much fun playing as I do. I know I’ve left some stuff out so feel free to add and comment on the blog.