As requested, played 2 games on "Superstar" Default everything else.
Me - Ottawa at home vs Dallas.
Game 1:
Lost 5 - 2
Shots: OTT 27, Dall 28
Hits: OTT 19 Dall 28
Faceoff: OTT 11 Dall 15
PIM: OTT 4:00 DAL 6:00
PP: OTT 1/3 DAL 0/2
% passing: OTT 81 DAL 91
Game 2:
Lost 2 - 0
Shots" OTT 14 Dall 36
Hits: OTT 16 Dal 22
Faceoff: OTT 5 Dall 14
PP: OTT 0/0 Dall 1/1
%passing: OTT 76 Dal 93
Overall I thought I would get creamed alot worse on superstar, since I don't normally even approach the max difficulty in games, since in general I suck. Also I don't have a good grasp on the defensive controls yet and haven't quite got the skill stick figured out on offense. This didn't seem as hard as I thought it would on superstar mode. It felt like I could play a possession game if I wanted to, but I was trying to score and would lose the puck at that point alot.
I definitely did see a bit of "feels like a PP even in 5 on 5" situation, as in Dal wouldn't attack me as much as I expected on the periphery of the OFF zone, but they did collapse fairly well and I had trouble getting shots through.
The AI does adjust to your tactics though. I noticed them changing the way they cover my guys as I kept trying similar attacks (to test the AI.)
Goalie AI is pretty good (keep in mind that I suck!), goalie animations are amazing, and I think I see a reasonable level of penalties in the game... you definitely run the risk of getting a penalty if you use the A button to try to take the puck away.
Atmosphere, presentation are pretty good. And man they've got ONE HELL of a soundtrack to this game. I don't know all the artists but I absolutely love the music.
I'll go back to All-star now and play more.
NHL 08 Impressions
Moderators: Bill_Abner, ScoopBrady
James, from those stats, I can see that the faceoff % has improved, unlike 07 where the CPU would win most of it. Also the SOG's are quite realistic. One thing though. Did you play 5 minute games? Is there a choice to adjust to 7 or 8 minutes before going to the 10 minutes period like last years? I hope EA gives us that choice.
Those were 5 minute periods.
The options are 5, 10, 15, 20
Just played again on All-star. OTT vs. Dallas.
I got outshot bigtime, was 1-1 at the end of regulation but won the game in a shootout.
I have a habit of pressing the RT (to change players) far too often in my defensive zone. BAD IDEA. That just throws one of my players out of position and they get alot of shots due to this. Gotta play position in this game.
One thing I noticed... if you want to make sure you get it out of your own end, take it back behind your net, just like in NHL, and do an organized breakout. They seem to give you a break if you do that rather than trying to just rush out. Slowing down the game pays off.
Game speed is too fast on default. I like hockey games with reasonable speed, (not like some who enjoy 0 speed setting in the 2K series) but default is just too quick... at least the puck speed anyway.
The options are 5, 10, 15, 20
Just played again on All-star. OTT vs. Dallas.
I got outshot bigtime, was 1-1 at the end of regulation but won the game in a shootout.
I have a habit of pressing the RT (to change players) far too often in my defensive zone. BAD IDEA. That just throws one of my players out of position and they get alot of shots due to this. Gotta play position in this game.
One thing I noticed... if you want to make sure you get it out of your own end, take it back behind your net, just like in NHL, and do an organized breakout. They seem to give you a break if you do that rather than trying to just rush out. Slowing down the game pays off.
Game speed is too fast on default. I like hockey games with reasonable speed, (not like some who enjoy 0 speed setting in the 2K series) but default is just too quick... at least the puck speed anyway.
Sounds good James. Glad to see the AI is outhitting and outshooting you on Superstar. The only negative is that they dont press you if you control the puck along the perimeter, but i wonder if that can be changed with slider adjustments? Sounds like you are generally please with the game so far. Any glaring faults? Are there sliders for the AI's aggresiveness? If so, try cranking those up and see if they still give you a lot of room.
thanks for the impressions!!!
thanks for the impressions!!!
Jack I'm not messing with sliders for a while, other than perhaps to tone down the speed.
Cause man the AI does tic-tac-toe so freaking fast sometimes... holy s***. I know I'm old and slow.. but man this is just ridiculous... imagine 5 or 6 one touch passes in a row... puck is flying around tape to tape in my defensive zone. And they do this alot. Puck is just moving TOO fast.
10 minute periods are too long, at least with the current speed settings. Dal outshot me 59-28 with 10 minute periods, and beat me 5-3 (with an empty netter at the end.) I had 3 unanswered goals in the 3rd period to tie it and then they got the go ahead late in the 3rd and I had to pull my goalie.
Cause man the AI does tic-tac-toe so freaking fast sometimes... holy s***. I know I'm old and slow.. but man this is just ridiculous... imagine 5 or 6 one touch passes in a row... puck is flying around tape to tape in my defensive zone. And they do this alot. Puck is just moving TOO fast.
10 minute periods are too long, at least with the current speed settings. Dal outshot me 59-28 with 10 minute periods, and beat me 5-3 (with an empty netter at the end.) I had 3 unanswered goals in the 3rd period to tie it and then they got the go ahead late in the 3rd and I had to pull my goalie.
Sounds like some old EA hockey AI code is still in there for the CPU offenses. Disappointing, but not completely surprising.James_E wrote:Cause man the AI does tic-tac-toe so freaking fast sometimes... holy s***. I know I'm old and slow.. but man this is just ridiculous... imagine 5 or 6 one touch passes in a row... puck is flying around tape to tape in my defensive zone. And they do this alot. Puck is just moving TOO fast.
I am not necessarily versed in the strategy of hockey, but maybe the other team was not pressing because they were winning. I wonder, if the AI is down, maybe they press more.JackB1 wrote:Sounds good James. Glad to see the AI is outhitting and outshooting you on Superstar. The only negative is that they dont press you if you control the puck along the perimeter, but i wonder if that can be changed with slider adjustments? Sounds like you are generally please with the game so far. Any glaring faults? Are there sliders for the AI's aggresiveness? If so, try cranking those up and see if they still give you a lot of room.
thanks for the impressions!!!
I can see 5 minute periods not being enough and 10 minutes being too much. Maybe if you play on 10 minutes, slow the game down a little, it may work out well.
I have played 2K for the last few years and am looking forward to something different.
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sportdan30
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Five minutes isn't bad if you want to get in a couple quick games. I'm not overly concerned about realistic stats in hockey games as I am about having an overall enjoyable gaming experience.JackB1 wrote:I really hate that 5 or 10 minute thing. 5 is too short and 10 too long.
I usually pick 5 because 10 gives unrealistic shot totals.
Hockey is the best game for a quick 'pick up and play' game on a console.
Has anyone tried the AHL teams? From what I have heard, a lot of AHL teams are going to have new uniforms this year, but they are not going to be revealed until after the end of this month, so there will be a code released later so that you can get the new uniforms at that time. Can you play along an AHL season like you could play the minors in MVP Baseball? For some reason I love playing with minor league teams.
Has anyone tried the AHL teams? From what I have heard, a lot of AHL teams are going to have new uniforms this year, but they are not going to be revealed until after the end of this month, so there will be a code released later so that you can get the new uniforms at that time. Can you play along an AHL season like you could play the minors in MVP Baseball? For some reason I love playing with minor league teams.
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sportdan30
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Well, I opened it. And I played it.
I've only played a quick two periods thus far. The framerate is notiecable, but it's certainly not as bad as Madden was, but perhaps a little worse than NCAA. It's hard to describe. Once your eyes get accustomed to it, I wasn't focusing on it during the gameplay. I'll have to play it a few more times to really get a sense of whether or not it hinders my enjoyment. I do think the classic camera might not be as bad framerate wise. That is not the default camera.
The A.I. is a S.O.B. on All-Star. They definitely attack you when you have the puck and are trying to set up a shot. I could tell a huge difference from playing on Pro and playing on All-Star. It'll definitely be a challenge for sure. I don't think I'm ready for AS actually. They were schooling me big time.
One negative I did notice fairly quickly, and this has happened twice so far in less than 15 minutes of play. I was playing against the Coyotes. Two of their players would attack and while one would make a dash for the net with the puck, the other would set up for a one-timer. My goalie would solely focus on the player with the puck, however did not react at all once the pass was sent over for the one-timer. Even after it was put in the net, the goalie just stood there motionless. Perhaps there is a slider for goalie awareness as I haven't bothered to check yet. But it creates for a cheap easy goal for the computer.
I turned down game speed one notch along with with pass speed a couple notches as well.
By the way, the atmosphere is outstanding with surround sound. Love the chant of "Lets go Blues" and "shoot the puck" when I'm on the powerplay. Great crowd reaction. They do however tend to clap a little too much when the opponent scores, but they quiet fairly quickly.
I've only played a quick two periods thus far. The framerate is notiecable, but it's certainly not as bad as Madden was, but perhaps a little worse than NCAA. It's hard to describe. Once your eyes get accustomed to it, I wasn't focusing on it during the gameplay. I'll have to play it a few more times to really get a sense of whether or not it hinders my enjoyment. I do think the classic camera might not be as bad framerate wise. That is not the default camera.
The A.I. is a S.O.B. on All-Star. They definitely attack you when you have the puck and are trying to set up a shot. I could tell a huge difference from playing on Pro and playing on All-Star. It'll definitely be a challenge for sure. I don't think I'm ready for AS actually. They were schooling me big time.
One negative I did notice fairly quickly, and this has happened twice so far in less than 15 minutes of play. I was playing against the Coyotes. Two of their players would attack and while one would make a dash for the net with the puck, the other would set up for a one-timer. My goalie would solely focus on the player with the puck, however did not react at all once the pass was sent over for the one-timer. Even after it was put in the net, the goalie just stood there motionless. Perhaps there is a slider for goalie awareness as I haven't bothered to check yet. But it creates for a cheap easy goal for the computer.
I turned down game speed one notch along with with pass speed a couple notches as well.
By the way, the atmosphere is outstanding with surround sound. Love the chant of "Lets go Blues" and "shoot the puck" when I'm on the powerplay. Great crowd reaction. They do however tend to clap a little too much when the opponent scores, but they quiet fairly quickly.
The coyotes...sounds realistic to me...sportdan30 wrote:
One negative I did notice fairly quickly, and this has happened twice so far in less than 15 minutes of play. I was playing against the Coyotes. Two of their players would attack and while one would make a dash for the net with the puck, the other would set up for a one-timer. My goalie would solely focus on the player with the puck, however did not react at all once the pass was sent over for the one-timer. Even after it was put in the net, the goalie just stood there motionless.
try practice 2-0 against the cpu goalie is fun...
I'm glad your enjoying the game Dan. I'll tell you NHL 08 does more right than it does wrong this year. The fun factor is still there and it easily replaced NHL 07.
My only nitpick I can find and this is only with one game on Pro is that the CPU sometimes holds the puck to long behind their own net when on the power play. I was down 5-3 on 2 penalties and watch the CPU bring the puck behind their own net and used up like 3-5 seconds while waiting to setup. I'm sure that most NHL teams would ratchet up the pressure being to men up on the ice. I must suck bigtime cause i'm down 3-0 to the Rangers late in the 3rd. I'm having a blast and kudos to EA for one great game.
My only nitpick I can find and this is only with one game on Pro is that the CPU sometimes holds the puck to long behind their own net when on the power play. I was down 5-3 on 2 penalties and watch the CPU bring the puck behind their own net and used up like 3-5 seconds while waiting to setup. I'm sure that most NHL teams would ratchet up the pressure being to men up on the ice. I must suck bigtime cause i'm down 3-0 to the Rangers late in the 3rd. I'm having a blast and kudos to EA for one great game.
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sportdan30
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I like to add three more things I like about this years game. First the soundtrack has to get mentioned because it's one of the better ones and finally you can actually spell out the entire team name and year, like Florida Panthers 2007. No more Prof_1. OMG we are truly next-gen now. 
Last thing is the audio has been improved with more Thorne and Clement. Can't get enough of the best commentating team in any sport.
Last thing is the audio has been improved with more Thorne and Clement. Can't get enough of the best commentating team in any sport.
u can just play the AHL if you want....kevinpars wrote:Hockey is the best game for a quick 'pick up and play' game on a console.
Has anyone tried the AHL teams? From what I have heard, a lot of AHL teams are going to have new uniforms this year, but they are not going to be revealed until after the end of this month, so there will be a code released later so that you can get the new uniforms at that time. Can you play along an AHL season like you could play the minors in MVP Baseball? For some reason I love playing with minor league teams.
and they are getting new unis... they wear practice jerseys until then
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FifaInspected
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