The Blog for the Sports Gamer Three guys who love Sports Gaming rant and rave about various stuff.

NHL2K11 impressions

My first thought about this game is that people will miss out by not trying it.   Part of the problem with sports games on the Wii, in my opinion, is that most of the Wii owners aren't much more than casual sports fans.  Or if they are really into sports, they just don't think of the Wii as their sports gaming system.

As a result of that, I think that the biggest problem that 2K will run into with the title has to do with the fact that they're selling it for the $49.99 price point.  If they would release this for $19.99 or even $29.99, you could find a lot more of the casual Wii fans picking up this game to try out the season, franchise, or mini-game aspects.  As it is though, I think you will see people passing on a sports title for the Wii and picking up the High Definition title by EA for only $10 more.

Here's what I've found in regards to the game...

Graphically, the game is greatly improved over last year.  Players faces look a good deal more like their actual counterparts, but the models for the players still look a bit blocky.  Each players shoulders look "too square" and just look wrong.  Obviously, it's not a terrible thing, but it does just look out of place and takes away some of the realism.

As far as other gameplay changes go, 2K states that they have improved the AI for the game, and it is noticeable.  I have noticed quite a few situation where my opponent has really taken advantage of defensive mistakes that I have made and created odd-man opportunities out of them.  As a result, I've had to adjust how I typically play, and play a bit smarter as a result.

Just like last year, the control component of the gameplay does require a few adjustments for you to get used to it, but it does not take too long to get the feel of it.   After you take the time with learning the controls, I feel that the Wii Motion Plus addon does give you a much control scheme for playing a hockey game.  Hold down the B button, then swing your remote like you're pulling back for a slapshot and you see, nearly, 1 to 1 movement on the player that you're controlling.  Swing it back down and you complete your shot.   A wristshot is pulled off by just flicking the remote upward, but as you can see, both shots are very simple to pull off and... more importantly, are fun to execute.

It just goes without saying that when you score a goal by doing something that emulates a slapshot, that it is a good deal more fulfilling than a button press.  Maybe that's just me that feels that way though.

One thing that I would love to see, if the franchise continues, is to see them adapt this for the Playstation Move.   Add HD graphics to the same control scheme and I think you would have a sensational hockey game for the PS3.

As far as the goals that I have scored, all of them have looked realistic.   I've already scored on a slap shot high on the blocker side, on a wrist shot through the 5-hole, and have hammered home a rebound when the goalie was down.   I've seen the CPU make a deke and get my goalie to commit, then pull the puck back and lift it just over his leg.  Even when I've had goals scored against me, I can see that goals are being scored on quality opportunities, and that's a great thing.

Besides the standard Franchise, Season, and Quickplay modes, you have a new party game called 'Road to the Cup' where you (and up to 3 others) play through mini-games, trivia competitions, and skills contests in a Mario Party style competition.   Some of the mini-games fall short, but here are two of the ones that stood out to me.

1.  You and 4 other skaters try to skate over moving numbers (1 through 4) on a sheet of ice.  The bigger the point value, the smaller the circle is.  Each time you skate over a number, it turns to your color, but once someone else skates over it, they claim it.

It's a silly little game, but I can picture that friends would have a good time going back and forth on the ice trying to take back points from each other.

2.  The other memorable game was called 'Hot Streak.'  Each of the 4 skaters on the ice has a trail that is following behind them.  If you skate over one of your opponents trail, then you fall down.  The game is over when 3 of the skaters fall down 3 times.   What I found to be fun about this mode was that even after you have been eliminated, you can still mess with all of the other skaters.  So, rather than having you sit out after screwing up, you get to mess with your friends.

The process for starting up an online game is pretty straightforward, as you can just play a game against another person via the Quick Game portion, or create a league or tournament to play with others.

The only problem is that I have not been able to get into an online game at this point, as I just haven't seen any people online playing the game, but that probably has more to do with the fact that the game has not been released yet.

2K's decision to abandon their NHL franchise on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 was an interesting one, but I think it could work well for them if people can get their hands on this game.   It's a game that is deep enough for the average hockey fan, but is still fun for a casual gamer.

If you're on the fence for this title and have Gamefly, you really need to put this in your queue, just to try it out.  I think you'll find that you'll like as much as I do.