NHL 09

[FiLTHY_SNiPER]

Anyone played the demo at all?
I'm really not a sports game buff but this game has me hooked.. it reminds me of the good ol days of NHL '96 and even playing Wayne Gretzky's Hockey on the Commodore 64.

The puck control is awesome and the analog stick control system is very intuitive and fun to use.

I highly recommend playing the demo if you're at all interested in Hockey in general.

:thumbsup:

[SoupyC]

Gettin this for the PC when its out. Its funny cuz its the same game, console and PC, yet the PC has scored lower, for seemingly arbitrary reasons. Oh well. Hockey is hockey. :D

[sir_digalot]

i dunno i think i downloaded this on xbox as a demo it was a hockey game, but i can never understand the controls to these things, way too many buttons sticks and triggers rather like the madden series, it looks nice though and probably the closest i will get to playing hockey considering i can barely ice skate *L*

[FiLTHY_SNiPER]

Just picked up the full version today for 360. Haven't played yet but it should be awesome :)

[Prowler130]

Just picked up the full version today for 360. Haven't played yet but it should be awesome :)

I heard this game was badass. Let me know your thoughts on gameplay and game modes (and especially AI).

[FiLTHY_SNiPER]

Well, this game is severely pissing me off.

The AI is pretty dodgy. Just minutes ago a guy on my team took a puck off the boards, skated 8 feet towards our net and put it in for no reason.
They also hardly ever pass when you want them to, and they ice it for no fucking reason a lot of the time.

Apart from the AI, the system that lets you progress your skill level and gain experience is totally fucked (this is in Be a Pro mode). It rates you like in grade school, from A+ to F, which isn't bad, but it's extremely infuriating the way it racks up points. The last 3 games I played, I started with an F in one of the categories for no reason (there are only 3 categories to be rated: Positioning, team play and stats). I tried to boost my F rating in team play by making great passes to my teammates and creating chances, but I couldn't get past D+. This especially sucks when, to get to the next skill level, I need to have at least all Cs.

Lastly, the controls
The analog stick control system for dekes and shooting is all fun and good when your wide open and have time to react, but trying to take a pass while charging the net and shooting where you want is fucking impossible. You're lucky to even shoot it at all. 3 times in one period I was attempting to shoot the puck after getting a quick pass and I got a cross-checking penalty because EA decided to set the same analog stick to checking while you're on defense.

Fuck.. I'm so annoyed I'm not sure when I'll go back to playing.

[FiLTHY_SNiPER]

Ok so I've been playing quite a bit (lol @ ending of last post), but there are still some glaring issues.

The AI is spotty at best. The tactics players take are mind boggling at times.. a right winger will go into the offensive zone then hold on to the puck going back and forth down the boards from blue line to behind the net for like 20 seconds and then lose the puck.
Players will ice the puck for no reason still.. and I mean absolutely no reason.
Defensive tactics are absolutely retarded sometimes, which lead to goals against me because of absolute stupidity.

Here is the worst though, and this is due to the management AI in Be a Pro mode. I was brought up from the AHL to the NHL to play for the Ducks and my record until today was 14 points in 5 games. 9 goals and 5 assists.
I load up NHL 09 today and the first thing the coach tells me is that he's promoting me up to the 2nd line. Ok, cool, I think. Then immediately after (and I mean the next second) the GM tells me he's dropping me back down to the minors again so I can play for goddam Iowa.
what in the fuck?

Also, the puck control for dekeing out players is very dodgy, since they almost always will poke it off you or check you off the puck. So, it seems the analog stick dekeing is kind of pointless unless you get a breakaway or a 1 on 1 with the goalie.

That being said this game is still a lot of fun, regardless of it's pretty blatant AI issues.
There are a lot of good things here and they outweigh the bad in the long run (otherwise I wouldn't be playing) but it can be very frustrating at times.
I guess it's pretty hard to program great Hockey player AI though, considering all the positions and moves they need to have.

Overall, for the fun factor it's an 8/10 (so far)

[sir_digalot]

how do you think it will hold up in a multiplayer when AI is less of an issue?

[FiLTHY_SNiPER]

Multiplayer, I'd imagine, is bad-fucking-ass