NHL 08 Impressions

TRI · Post by **TRI** » Fri Sep 14, 2007 10:10 pm

I am very impressed with the CPU AI after playing several more games. They make adjustments during the game and each game feels different. The more I play the game the more I like it. The players get into position to block shots and defend passes to the slot and the good players if left open are very dangerous. The collision detection is very very good. The fun factor is high even with the flaws.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Fri Sep 14, 2007 10:49 pm

tjung0831 wrote:
Jimmydeicide wrote:Just getting into the game realy but one thing im noticing today as opposed to last night is the cameras wtf they are lagging behind the action all of a sudden.
Anyone else notice this?
Make sure you don't have player lock turned on.

That has happened to me twice now and it doesn't appear to have anything to do with player lock. The camera swings to the player you are controlling (but you can always switch players) and it's very hard to play that way. It never starts out a game that way but I've had it happen twice during games.

I had high expectations going in and this game has done nothing to disappoint me. I'm pretty much blown away right now.

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Fri Sep 14, 2007 11:24 pm

Leebo33 wrote:
tjung0831 wrote:
Jimmydeicide wrote:Just getting into the game realy but one thing im noticing today as opposed to last night is the cameras wtf they are lagging behind the action all of a sudden.
Anyone else notice this?
Make sure you don't have player lock turned on.
That has happened to me twice now and it doesn't appear to have anything to do with player lock. The camera swings to the player you are controlling (but you can always switch players) and it's very hard to play that way. It never starts out a game that way but I've had it happen twice during games.

I had high expectations going in and this game has done nothing to disappoint me. I'm pretty much blown away right now.

Happened to me once too. Not sure if it was anything I hit, but for like 1/3 of the game the camera was centered on my player rather than the puck, but it was really annoying.

Zlax45 · Post by **Zlax45** » Fri Sep 14, 2007 11:27 pm

Naples39 wrote:
Leebo33 wrote:
tjung0831 wrote: Make sure you don't have player lock turned on.
That has happened to me twice now and it doesn't appear to have anything to do with player lock. The camera swings to the player you are controlling (but you can always switch players) and it's very hard to play that way. It never starts out a game that way but I've had it happen twice during games.

I had high expectations going in and this game has done nothing to disappoint me. I'm pretty much blown away right now.
Happened to me once too. Not sure if it was anything I hit, but for like 1/3 of the game the camera was centered on my player rather than the puck, but it was really annoying.

If you hit the back button this will get turned on.

Jimmydeicide · Post by **Jimmydeicide** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 1:22 am

Zlax45 wrote:
Naples39 wrote:
Leebo33 wrote: That has happened to me twice now and it doesn't appear to have anything to do with player lock. The camera swings to the player you are controlling (but you can always switch players) and it's very hard to play that way. It never starts out a game that way but I've had it happen twice during games.

I had high expectations going in and this game has done nothing to disappoint me. I'm pretty much blown away right now.
Happened to me once too. Not sure if it was anything I hit, but for like 1/3 of the game the camera was centered on my player rather than the puck, but it was really annoying.
If you hit the back button this will get turned on.

Yes thats right , i think i was pulling the goalie and hit it its all good again thanks.

And to add a few thoughts , im still on the fence with this game, i cant quite fully enjoy it at the moment, right now its down to the way the defense sets up against the attack its just too passive on any level including superstar with aggression maxed . Also the passing and the shots seem even more assisted than last year and those goddam posts come into play even more because of it.
Whats the point of the pin button? they never, pin they do whatever they feel like again, i was willing to let it go in 07 but not this time.
Im a little dissapointed so far as 07 was my game of the year but its still early but i find myself wanting to check out 2k8 now, im so confused i didnt think EA could f this one up but right now this game feels more like 06 than 07.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 3:48 am

My last game...Detroit (me) vs. Edmonton (cpu). They had 30 shots...3 of those were one-timers.

That is NOT an issue. Play the passing lanes, press the LB a lot to block the lane...you'll be fine.

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 10:43 am

This game is absurdly fun. We played three on three last night, and Terry and I played goalie for our teams, and holy cow, it was so much fun. A completely different experience than playing up ice, you see everything from such a neat perspective, and it's very intense. I think one would get better at it after playing a little while. I let in some pretty bad soft goals, but then again I made a couple of saves that felt amazingly good. The face offs down in our end are SO much more nerve wracking when you are goalie! Our game went to a shoot out, and for some reason, the players who play the goalie take all the shots for their team, which is sort of lame, though I can see why they do that. The shootout was the perfect way to end that first online goalie mode game.

We couldn't get enough, so we played another and this time Scoop and NYIsles played in the pipes. Being able to play goalie from the goalie mode camera is an excellent addition to what is already a superb online game. It's just absurdly fun, this game, no matter what mode.

nyisles16 · Post by **nyisles16** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 10:54 am

Zeppo wrote:This game is absurdly fun. We played three on three last night, and Terry and I played goalie for our teams, and holy cow, it was so much fun. A completely different experience than playing up ice, you see everything from such a neat perspective, and it's very intense. I think one would get better at it after playing a little while. I let in some pretty bad soft goals, but then again I made a couple of saves that felt amazingly good. The face offs down in our end are SO much more nerve wracking when you are goalie! Our game went to a shoot out, and for some reason, the players who play the goalie take all the shots for their team, which is sort of lame, though I can see why they do that. The shootout was the perfect way to end that first online goalie mode game.

We couldn't get enough, so we played another and this time Scoop and NYIsles played in the pipes. Being able to play goalie from the goalie mode camera is an excellent addition to what is already a superb online game. It's just absurdly fun, this game, no matter what mode.

Yes that was so much fun.. I really like goalie mode - very intense, & the shots are at a realistic speed off the stick.. I wonder if goalie ratings make a difference because half those saves I made should have been in the net

Sorry Scoop

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 12:03 pm

That was amazingly fun! Apologies to Terry and Scoop, as I was tired as hell and played that last game on fumes. Still NYIsles did an amazing job tending goal.

So damn much fun!!

MizzouRah · Post by **MizzouRah** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 12:30 pm

GTHobbes wrote:I'd bet its been a good 10 years since I've liked an EA sports game this much...why can't these guys take over development of Madden? This game does more things right about hockey than NHL95-06 combined, IMO.

They've done a great job with this series for sure.

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 1:21 pm

RobVarak wrote:Still NYIsles did an amazing job tending goal.

So damn much fun!!

That one save, when NYIsles dove out to the right of goal for no reason, the pass came in from the high slot, hit the back of the skate of a defender and headed towards goal, and NYIsles comes sliding in across the crease to make the save - WOW! I wish we could have heard your team on that one, because we were screaming and laughing like crazy people!

nyisles16 · Post by **nyisles16** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 1:24 pm

we were all cracking up... i don't even know what I did to move out...

there were a couple of save like that - where the whole side of the net wide open, only to see Luongo "save the day"

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 2:18 pm

Zeppo wrote: I wish we could have heard your team on that one, because we were screaming and laughing like crazy people!

I seem to recall it was:

Rob: Terry, my good man. It seems that Isles has done a stellar job of getting to that difficult puck.

Terry: Indeed.

Scoop: Quite excellent, really. We must remember to give him our heartiest congratulations.

Rob: Indeed. We must.

Zlax45 · Post by **Zlax45** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 3:34 pm

I got this game yesterday and have loved every minute I have played. Could be the best sports game I have played on current-gen/next gen systems.

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 4:18 pm

Jimmy,

Ya there's some parts of hockey that are simply missing in this game. The defense is a sore spot and I think the AI is generally too passive.

Last year you could skate all over the AI. This year it's better. The programmers added a jet-packing hit to make up for questionable position.

And there's zero board game here. Sometimes they will hold a player for a brief second but the game isn't geared for any type of board play. The hold button usually results in a penalty. If you try and play a board game your AI teammates will usually be in ok positions but not great. This leads to a lot of one-timers. I had to forget about playing any type of board game because you will get scored on too much because you can't tie up a puck. Instead the AI can just cycle it back for a one-timer.

I had to drastically change a few sliders to get a messier type of hockey instead of the total-offensive nature of the game. I couldn't stand default all-star or superstar because the game is 100% offensive.

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 4:43 pm

JRod have you tried NHL2K8? If so do you like it better than NHL 08?

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 4:45 pm

Rodster wrote:JRod have you tried NHL2K8? If so do you like it better than NHL 08?

Not yet. I'm enjoying NHL, aside from the lockups the game causes. It has to be the game as I can back out to the dashboard. Weird.

I'm just not going to call NHL a complete hockey game but its fun.

I'm going to try and find NHL 2k to rent soon.

MizzouRah · Post by **MizzouRah** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 5:25 pm

JRod,

I think you bring a ton of passion to sports gaming, but sometimes I wonder if you can actually sit down and enjoy a game for what it is?

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 5:26 pm

He did say "fun" in one of his posts. That's a start.

GameSeven · Post by **GameSeven** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 5:43 pm

JRod wrote:I had to drastically change a few sliders to get a messier type of hockey instead of the total-offensive nature of the game.

MizzouRah · Post by **MizzouRah** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 5:56 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:He did say "fun" in one of his posts. That's a start.

True.

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 6:39 pm

MizzouRah wrote:JRod,

I think you bring a ton of passion to sports gaming, but sometimes I wonder if you can actually sit down and enjoy a game for what it is?

Its a game about hockey no? And this is a forum for sports games no?

There's a flaw in your logic. Talking about the problems and making a post where I display man-love for a game is two different things. What's the point of a forum not to discuss the good and bad with the game? I've talked about the good and I tried to go into detail about the bad. I don't think its productive to make a post saying, NHL is a terrible game because of the defense. That's not highly productive. So I would rather explain it even if takes a long post.

And accepting the game for what it is, is a poor way of thinking about games. Do you accept a 4th round scoring bug in TW because the other parts are a good game. Do you accept the high turnovers in Madden because its the only NFL game?

The problem here is most can't criticize a game and enjoy it. It's like politics in here. Any criticism is taken as the game completely blows and you shouldn't look at the problems in-depth.

Zlax45 · Post by **Zlax45** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 6:43 pm

JRod wrote:
MizzouRah wrote:JRod,

I think you bring a ton of passion to sports gaming, but sometimes I wonder if you can actually sit down and enjoy a game for what it is?

Its a game about hockey no? And this is a forum for sports games no?

There's a flaw in your logic. Talking about the problems and making a post where I display man-love for a game is two different things. What's the point of a forum not to discuss the good and bad with the game? I've talked about the good and I tried to go into detail about the bad. I don't think its productive to make a post saying, NHL is a terrible game because of the defense. That's not highly productive. So I would rather explain it even if takes a long post.

And accepting the game for what it is, is a poor way of thinking about games. Do you accept a 4th round scoring bug in TW because the other parts are a good game. Do you accept the high turnovers in Madden because its the only NFL game?

The problem here is most can't criticize a game and enjoy it. It's like politics in here. Any criticism is taken as the game completely blows and you shouldn't look at the problems in-depth.

Jrod...so what do you rate the game on a scale of 1-10?

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 6:55 pm

Probably a a 7 or 8. Maybe more towards an 8.

MizzouRah · Post by **MizzouRah** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 7:45 pm

JRod wrote:
The problem here is most can't criticize a game and enjoy it. It's like politics in here. Any criticism is taken as the game completely blows and you shouldn't look at the problems in-depth.

No, the problem is your posts have become very predictable and sort of "ho-hum" reading material.

The game has been out 3 days and already you know each and every so called, "flaw" in the game? Thanks for letting me know, you've saved me valuable time learning the way to play defense in this game.