Good Sports Game for 2009
It may be a wee bit cynical to say that Electronic Arts allowed its long-running NHL series to languish through the first few years of this decade until it was pushed so hard by rival 2K Sports that it had to do something. But whatever spurred the gaming giant to revitalize and so impressively upgrade NHL over the course of the last two years, I, as a hockey-playing madman, give thanks. That NHL 09 exhibits the same level of innovation and value as its most recent predecessors is great news for all of us.
The big deal in 2009 for the world's preeminent hockey franchise is a brand-new mode that really does alter the way that you play the game. It's called Be A Pro, and it plunks you in the skates of a promising rookie toiling in the low-rent American Hockey League. You progress through a career of sorts, where gameplay experience and favorable coaching reviews garner attribute upgrades and, hopefully, a call to the NHL.
Click the image above to check out all NHL 09 screens.
In Be A Pro, you are a player. When you're on the ice, the camera focuses on you. When you want the puck, you call for it. When you're off the ice, you watch the action unfold through the eyes of a guy sitting on the bench. And when you screw up (a cheap penalty or a few intercepted passes) or succeed (a nicely timed body check or several quality shots on goal), the management notices, doles out accolades or condemnation, and perhaps takes appropriate long-term action.
To EA's credit, Be A Pro is far from a frivolous extra. It's challenging, it's substantial, and it definitely isn't for the impatient. Indeed, you may need a full half-season of solid, team-first play just to get noticed by the big club. Unfortunately, it's also erratic. You'll get chastised for your faceoff work even though you have a winning percentage, and you may well earn applause for positional play even when you've had a brutal period. As an experiment, I played five strong games in a row then purposely imploded -- completely disregarding Be A Pro's visual cues -- in the sixth. Was I benched? Demoted? No. Instead, I was given props and bumped from the third to second line.
Click the image above to check out all NHL 09 screens.
In the heat of action, NHL 09 is more believable and more capable than ever before. EA Canada revolutionized video hockey when it turned a gamepad into a hockey stick in 2007 with its pioneering Skill Stick control set, and in 2009 it adds to the repertoire with new flip dump-ins, sweep checks, stick lifts, and one-handed dekes that not only look but feel as realistic as I'd hoped. Being a defenseman is definitely more fun now, and I love the way EA is opening up virtual hockey to all the authentic permutations of the real-life sport.
But if you prefer old school to new school -- which some of us still do -- or if you're a casual player, the game has that covered, too. Not only can you opt to adopt a pre-Skill Stick, circa-2006 gamepad setup, but you can also go all the way back to 1994, when two buttons handled most everything.
Unfortunately, no matter which configuration you prefer, NHL 09 is not free of past unrealistic annoyances. I was still privy to bizarre last-minute goals that were seemingly designed only to keep the score close, and I still feel that one of the best defensive moves is to viciously chop players to the ice. It is time for EA to correct such indiscretions.Read full review
