NHL 09 Review

Hockey is the king of winter sports, so those gamers that enjoy playing with their controller rather than going outside in the rigid cold temperatures stick to EA’s NHL series. The sports games genre plays to the most realistic fantasies a gamer may have – while you dream of fighting aliens or taking over the world in other titles, in sports you can relate much more to the game, to the players, and really feel like you are part of the action. Be that a head coach, a manager, or a player – sports games were always fun not only for the “gamer” crowd, but for more casual participants as well.

When it comes down to NHL game offerings, the consoles have the EA Sports and the 2k series to battle it out for your cash. However, if you are an owner of a PC, you’re in a tough spot – and have been for the past 3 years. Against the waves of complains and insults from the fans, EA Sports continues to produce a PlayStation 2 game which offers no innovation – and then porting it to the PC. You read this correctly, fans – do not be fooled by the false advertising EA has somehow not been sued for – the NHL09 version for the PC is (and has always been) a port of the PlayStation 2 game and engine. Ever since EA took their series to next-gen consoles, they seem to have left the PC users behind. What’s more infuriating is the false advertising EA submitted to various gaming websites year after year, showcasing promised but never delivered jump to the next-gen engine on the PC. In fact, EA keeps their mouths shut up until about a week from the PC release, when a small blog on the official website makes a statement that it is, in fact, still a PS2 port. Whatever fans of the game are left on the PC are more than well aware of the situation by now and just update their rosters every year from fan-made patches, probably for the last NHL game they purchased, NHL 06. This review was not intended to sound like a rant, so we will get on with the details in a moment, but the poor behaviour of EA Sports towards the PC platform could not be ignored.

NHL09 features many gameplay modes, but none of them are particularly engaging or deep. There’s the usual “Play now” option which lets you select two teams and play a game. “Play a season” lets you select a team in one of the 7 leagues across the world (with variable quality of accuracy) and play through a season. “Dynasty Mode” is the career mode, you pick a team from one of the 4 leagues (the other 3 do not have enough database info to support more than a season, so they are not available here). And you try to guide them through to a good result each season, for up to 10 years (after which time you’re forced to quit, probably because the random player generator has exhausted itself). You can do all the usual things like buy/sell/trade players, but it does not go further than that. Often an objective will be given to you for the season, like reaching a certain point total or making the playoffs. Failing means you get a warning, and if you fail for 3 years in a row you are fired and thrown back to the main menu (there is no choice to join a new club). There are also weekly objectives, like scoring a number of goals or winning all games that week. The training options have barely any effects on the players, as does morale or their salaries. There is a simple upgrade system which uses stars to boost various aspects of your club such as head coach quality, better travel arrangements, etc. You earn stars by meeting your season and weekly objectives, but once again there is barely any noticeable difference on the gameplay – except for the salary cap increase. After many hours of simulation, it seems that EA continues to favor the teams which made the playoffs in the real world over the past few seasons – expect the same teams to show up in the playoffs year after year, even with major trades and lineup changes.

“World tournament” mode lets you select a country and guide them to the World Cup title. You can select the format of the competition before you begin and there are no trades allowed – pretty close to the real format. “NHL Playoffs” lets you pick a team and just play through the playoffs with randomly generated teams from the NHL to see if you can make it all the way. It’s a dull mode, and there is no reason to pick it over Dynasty or Season. Then there are the two “party” modes, Free for All and Shootout mini game. In FFA, you and up to 4 players on the same machine (stock up on those USB slots for your friends) can play against each other by trying to score on an AI-controlled goalie. Fun doesn’t seem to be in the agenda. The Shootout minigame works the same way, except it is just you and the AI goalie, trying to make the most points. Then the controller can be handed off to someone else who will try to beat your score.

And finally there is the “NEW!” mode, Be a Pro. While the idea did originate from the next-gen versions of the game, it is merely a shallow copy here on the PC. You are given a choice to create a player or choose a pro and play through a career, but it’s less exciting than it sounds. Whenever the AI coach (or you) do a line change, your control is simply transferred to the player in the same position on that next line. So you’re not sitting on the bench and watching the game like in the console versions – you just play a different player in the same position. You get similar options to the “Dynasty” mode, except you cannot trade or sign players – but you can manage the lineup, tactics, etc so it almost feels like Dynasty mode all over again. Starting at level 65 if you choose to create a player, you'll always be in the first line unless you change it manually, and this makes little sense. You cant start in the AHL like on the sonsole versions, and furthermore they pretend to put you into the 1st line from the beginning - not very realistic nor do you get a sence of accomplishment. You’re given season objectives like scoring a certain number of goals or getting many assists. You can follow your player growth that way, and watch your stats increase. From the many times we have tested the game, you are never traded to another team, so choose your team wisely if you want to experience the playoffs more than a few times. The camera is custom for this game mode, and is always focused on you from behind. While that serves the purpose well it’s not very comfortable, especially with PC’s technical issues which are discussed later.

The gameplay is unchanged from past few years, thanks to the same engine. You can have a level 77 player become a top scorer and pay him $1m a season while your 98 level superstar struggles to score with the $12m paycheck. The only noticeable stat difference between the players is their speed and shot accuracy. After a few seasons of play you will pretty well have mastered the game – if you play a lowly team such as St Louis Blues, you will still win the Cup year after year and pretty much finish undefeated – on the hardest difficulty. The game is easy to figure out given enough time – the AI will run the same plays over and over, and you will be able to score on the same plays every time as well. One personal issue I have with the game is AI shooting – no matter what you set in options, the AI will only take about 15 shots per game, while you outshoot them by 30. The funny part is, the AI seems to also only know one way to score, and 3 shots out of those 15 will always result in goals for your opposition. They will be rebounds that your goalie will give up, and the next attacker will put away. Again, it does not seem to matter if your goalie’s rebound control stat is at 99 or at 60. Speaking of goalies, your AI-controlled goalie for some reason will always play worse than the opponent at the other end of the rink. While you pour shots on the opponent and score maybe 2-3 times, your goalie will give up a goal on every 5-7 shots (via the same AI plays, of course). It just seems frustrating and for no reason. But at the same time, I am afraid to think the scores that would result if your goalie played the same as the opponent one. 10-0 would not be uncommon. On hardest difficulty.

Alright, it’s time to get back to EA Sports’ ignorant ways and talk about the technical issues. The game is a PS2 port – this should already tell you many things. The max resolution is 1280x1024, the textures look hideous, and overall there is no mistaking that this engine is very old. The crowd are cardboard cutouts – while that’s forgivable in games such as FIFA where the crowd is ten times as big, it’s just plain lazy for NHL arenas. The players move fluently enough for it not to be an eye sore, but the goaltenders seem to act like statues for most of the time, sliding across their crease as if you’re playing table hockey.

Being a copy of the previous year’s game, it means the commentary is back, and without a single new line. If you’ve played NHL 06, 07, or 08 you will know what they are going to say and often finish the sentences for them in your head. Scary indeed. If only it was good enough to be copied every year like that. The music in the game is probably the only respectable part of the game, the soundtrack is solid and catchy, fitting the game well and helping you ease the pain of the visuals and commentary.

Overall, NHL09 is literally nothing more than NHL06 with a different background image, soundtrack, updated rosters and shallow new game modes. Amusingly, EA went as far as permanently labelling those new “modes” in the main menu with an appropriate “NEW!” sticker, perhaps as to emphases that “Hey! We DID do something new this year!” But the truth is, this game is not worth your money. You’re much better off picking up NHL06 in a bargain bin for $5 and downloading some new rosters.