NHL 09 Structure Review

NHL 09 has been taking over my life recently. There's a reason that the game is getting such high scores. In fact, I just got done playing quite a few games (with some impressive point totals, I may add).

The structure of this game is just beautifully built. Old NHL games simply followed a pre established pattern. Fans were not happy. I avoided them.

The controls have been completely redone in this version. Instead of the shoot, pass, etc buttons being assigned to A, B, X, Y, whatever, they've been remapped to the joystick for the most part. The left stick controls your player's movements and while many games are restricted by the one-joystick control, it works well in this game. It's sensitive to the perfect amount. The right stick controls your hockey stick. Push it forward to shoot, pull it back to pull your stick back for a slap shot, dekes to the left and right. There's a light learning curve, but it all works perfectly.

The AI is smartly created. They run plays but don't become repetitive. They react well to your moves and they actually LEARN. You have to mix up your plays or else they'll stop you ever time.

The genius addition to the game is Be A Pro mode. It adds RPG elements to a sport's game. You create your player and start in the AHL (a minor league affiliate for a NHL team of your choosing). You play well and move up to the first line and eventually to the NHL. You get experience points at the end of each game and apply them to player upgrades in defense, offense, or athleticism. You only control your one player and have to play well at both ends of the ice. It's easy to trust your AI-controlled teammates because they play like a real human. You can always call for the pass with the right trigger if you feel you're being ignored too often. The best part of Be A Pro mode is that it helps you learn the basics of the game without feeling like your shortcomings create the loss for an entire team.

While Dynasty Mode is far from my favorite, it's in there too and apparently VERY in depth with a long list of minor league and foreign players.

When you play a normal game (where you control the whole team), helpful plays are highlighted on the ice that you can utilize. This is just another aspect of the game that helps initiate you into the hockey system and play style. It takes a hard learning curve and turns it simple.

Coming up... I take a look at my favorite game of all time: Legend of Zelda, Ocarina of Time (maybe not the most original selection... but I've loved it forever and there's a reason why it's always ranked so highly!)

NHL 09

I bought NHL 09 two weeks ago and haven't put it down since. I've never been a fan of sport's games (probably because I wasn't good at them), but I love hockey and therefore really wanted to get this game. It's amazing. Apparently there are a lot of new features, but it's all new to me. I tried playing my friend who plays hockey games religiously (but hasn't played this one yet) and he gave me quite the challenge despite the fact that I've been practicing for days. I guess all sport games have a similar learning curve. Fortunately, I'm a pretty adaptable gamer and was able to turn his own strategies against him on the offense while shutting him down in the defensive zone. I won two games and he won one. He went out and bought the game himself after that, so it will probably be a lot harder to beat him next time. The only answer to that is: practice, practice, practice.

I'm off to go camping this weekend, so I'll get more into the game's structure and features later... there's a lot to talk about when it comes to NHL 09!