NHL 11 Review
Great core gameplay changes and enough new content mostly overshadow the lingering issues that still remain
This year’s Be a GM has been left relatively untouched as well, with the only significant addition being the introduction of UFA/RFA rules. It certainly adds a new level of depth of signing free agents, and trying to steal restricted free agents from other teams. However, this is only really relevant to the offseason, as not many teams go chasing RFAs during the year. Trades have been expanded to include 5 slots, and ability to trade draft picks from future years. The draft has been expanded to 7 rounds, and now included are CHL prospects. However, if you choose to send your CHL prospects to the minors, they are stuck there for the whole year, and you’re not even able to track their progress, so again it seems the CHL integration adds little actual value. There’s also preseason games now, with a chance to try out all the prospects before signing them.
The online play, namely EA Sports Hockey league, also saw a few changes. One of the changes this year is the limitation for clubs to only play one game at a time. So, there can be no more concurrent games with only a few human players on each team. This makes sense, because clubs can no longer boost their records by playing multiple matches at once with just 2 players per team. There’s also a practice mode, allowing a team to get together and play against the CPU online (effectively a private Online Team play mode). There are also three skill-based divisions now, with teams being able to move up or down during the season based on their skill levels. Early on, things are still a bit unbalanced, but the system should prove fair in the long run.
The presentation has seen both improvements and detractions this year. The opening cutscenes to the games have changed, but also made shorter and not as exciting as in previous year. On the ice, the graphics definitely got sharper and player faces are more accurate than ever. Sadly, the commentary remains very much the same as previous years, literally having some lines from 2008. Only new additions are related to the broken sticks. Unlike previous years, the soundtrack this year is heavy on techno beats and intermission-style music, which plays both in the game itself and in the menus. Confidently though, the system to import your own tunes has been made more user friendly. On the technical front, the game runs pretty well, though the game is starting to show some aging. There are a few framerate issues that occur on the same places on the ice that need to be taken care of, and random glitches still exist in the game. On the PS3 specifically, the boards finally move this year as players hit them. On the other hand, there are still very poor voice quality issues during online play that haven’t been addressed since last year.
In comparison to NHL 10, the team at EA Sports has decided to put in a lot of effort into HUT and the core gameplay mechanics this year. This means that most gameplay modes have seen no major changes or overhauls. The new gameplay mechanics such as broken sticks and the physics engine add a whole lot of value to the game, though not everyone is going to appreciate the new passing system. The inclusion of CHL seems like a huge missed opportunity to be integrated more into Be a Pro and Be a GM, both of which saw few gameplay additions. The RFA system is implemented well, but is unfinished with no salary arbitration. HUT adds value to the overall package, but prepare to grind offline for new card packs and better players, or spend real money, if you wish to build a competitive team. Online play remains largely unchanged, though the restriction of one club game at a time seems like a step in the right direction. The graphics have improved, but overall the presentation suffers from shorter, uninspired cutscenes and repetitive commentary. Still, if you look past these problems, NHL 11 is a good value overall package that comes recommended even to those who own last year’s game, simply because the new core mechanics add so much more to the experience.
Our ratings for NHL 11 on PlayStation 3 out of 100 (Ratings FAQ)
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