Have you ever been to a fight and a hockey game broke out?
While this old punch-line has been used for years to lampoon the integral part that fighting plays in the sport of ice hockey, much like with an old stereotype there is often a hint of truth, and this particular truth is also a necessary evil (and guilty pleasure) in the virtual representation of the sport. Gamers have enjoyed throwing down gloves and slugging it out on the ice since Nintendo’s Ice Hockey and Konami’s Blades of Steel, and aside from a hiccup in NHL ‘94 during the heavily politically-correct nineties, fighting has always been a staple of EA’s juggernaut NHL series as well. And this was a point EA seemed determined to drive home at this week’s exclusive cover athlete reveal at the Renaissance Downtown Hotel in Toronto. Seemingly spurred on by criticisms from gamers that the fisticuffs in NHL 09 were too tame, EA has come back swinging with a whole new fighting engine with enough stand-out enhancements that it nearly threatened to take the centre stage away from the event’s two star guests, newly announced NHL 10 Cover Athlete Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks and John Tavares, this year’s top pick at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.
For the first time in the franchise, fights in NHL 10 now take place in first-person (fights involving two human players take place in horizontal split-screen), so players can now see the damage they are dealing to their opponent first-hand. Taking a page from the EA Fight Night franchise, left and right punches are thrown using the Right Analog stick, while dodging left or right and jersey pulling (!) is controlled via the Left Analog stick. Just like in real hockey fights, the slickness of the ice affects momentum, so pummelling your opponent with right hooks will shift the action to the right, and vice-versa for the left. Both thrown and landed punches rattle the screen, and each time the player absorbs one his or herself, the screen whites out convincingly. When one player has suffered too many blows, they he will collapse to the ice in dramatic slow motion while the victor towers above him. Players can also turtle by holding the Left and Right triggers as well. Curling up into the fetal position may not be the most courageous way to bring a fight to a close, there are actually good strategic reasons for doing this, as it might be able to save a star player from an injury that will take him out of the game.
While fighting will definitely be one of the main attractions this time around, it’s not all there just for show. Accompanying the new fighting engine hand-in-hand is a new intimidation system which can be used to rally your team, light a fire under the crowds and turn the tide of the game. For example, winning a fight can raise the morale of your team when you’re trailing by a few points, but may lose you the sympathy vote if you have a substantial lead and are picking fights unnecessarily. Conversely, losing a fight at a pivotal moment can demoralize your team and make your star players more susceptible to cracking under pressure. Enforcers can ratchet up that pressure by putting the hurt on star players with devastating checks, making them more likely to fumble a pass or hesitate from taking a shot in order to avoid a collision. Of course, you’ll have to get through the other team’s enforcers to get to those players, as they will come rushing to their defense (they’re paid to do that, after all) and fight in their place if you try to goad a star into a one-on-one tussle. Apparently, scrums (minor group fights) can also be initiated, although neither evidence of this feature nor how to do so were demonstrated at the event. Nevertheless, the most exciting part about NHL 10’s intimidation system and fighting engine is that both are hud-less and seamless, which means that players won’t need to be concerned with keeping an eye on distracting health-meters or “rage-meters” as they play. Likewise, audio cues for fight opportunities are signalled naturally through the ongoing play-by-play commentary, and better yet, fights can be initiated even after the referee’s whistle has already blown, meaning that even the end of a period or even a game may not save a player from taking a few lumps. This latter feature is sure to be welcomed by all the crap disturbers out there, and the opportunity to let off some virtual steam after a humiliating loss might even save a friendship or two.
Another notable addition to NHL 10’s gameplay is a new “Board Physics” engine where players can fight along the edge of the rink for control of the puck. At any time, a player in possession of the puck can huddle up against the boards with the Y button to shield the puck with his body, and then use the Left Trigger in combination with the Left Analog Stick in order to kick the puck left or right to an adjacent teammate, or simply pull back on the Left Analog Stick to “tow” the puck back with the player’s skate, pull out and go back on the offensive. Similarly, an attacking player can use the Y button to pin the puck carrier against the boards and attempt to hold him until teammates can arrive to fish the puck out to thwart the offensive play.
While there was not much time during the event to observe or try out more of NHL 10’s extensive laundry list of over 200 new features, enhancements and refinements, one thing which stood out immediately was the game’s improved visual presentation, particularly the crowds. During camera cutaways and replays, audience members can be seen rising out of their chairs, and chanting, gesticulating and reacting to the action playing out on the ice. During board play, they will even bang on the boards to cheer on or distract the puck carrier, and many of them will proudly display their team spirit by waving towels above their head and wearing their chosen team’s jersey complete with face-paint in team colours. NHL assets and special effects used for transitions between replays and actual play are all professionally slick and authentic looking, emotions on players’ faces as they react to checks, collisions and goals and seem believable and appropriate (and there is still more work to be done on each individual player’s features between now and the game’s September release), and details on players’ uniforms and the arenas appear to be especially sharp. One minor small gripe is that the action on the ice seems to move at 60 frames per second while replays and crowd shots run at a noticeably slower 30 frames per second, but most players would take the details over the framerate any day.
NHL 10’s Producer, Sean Ramjasingh, promised that NHL fans will have much to look forward to in this year’s edition, saying with proud excitement that “…We (EA) have only talked about twenty percent of the stuff that will be in the game this year…literally, twenty percent.” When pressed further to discuss whether NHL 10 would feature an extensive Online Franchise component like EA’s upcoming Madden 10, he commented, “We’ve got some things in the works for Dynasty Mode…we’re not ready to talk about it yet but in the next couple of weeks you will start hearing about our Dynasty improvements, as well as the other features…people should be very excited about the stuff that we haven’t even announced yet. There’s tons and tons of stuff to come.”
Newly-minted New York Islander (as of this writing) John Tavares was unavailable for comment on the game as he was too busy taking on all comers from the media on one of the demo units, but the event’s main attraction, Patrick Kane, who was still smarting from a period loss to Tavares in a friendly match had a little time to discuss what aspects of the game stood out to him the most.
“…the board play for sure. Guys will be tearing you up and you’re kicking the puck to the open guy on the other side, it’s pretty cool…obviously there are other things like passing where last year everything was more like a direct tape-to-tape pass and this year maybe if a guy is not there you are throwing [the puck] into an area where the guy can catch it…you really have to play it to see what it’s like and see how realistic it is...”
As for his loss to John Tavares:
“…I was a Playstation guy my whole life, so… it was a little bit different for me playing Xbox…I was at a kind of disadvantage; I think that’s why JT won. They (Kane’s PR reps) kind of took me away while I was on a 5 on 3 power play…that was kind of cheap too…”
A little cheese with that whine, Patrick?
As the next instalment in EA’s NHL Hockey franchise, NHL 10 seems determined to over-deliver this year, as it looks to promise not only an embarrassment of riches in enhancements and improvements over last year’s game, but also may serve as the much needed gateway drug to bring even more non-hardcore hockey fans to the game with the new, up-close and personal fighting engine and the game-changing intimidation system. Even this reviewer is itching for a fight.
Preview By: Khari Taylor
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