I am in as alawys my biggest complaint is that I wish that NHL 11 wasn't 69.99 but I can't wait for it and the addition of CHL teams is amazing.
I am so tempted to run out to walmart at midnight hoping to find someone who might have access to go get it. No midnight launches here in the US from what I can tell.
My copy just came. Too bad I'm at the office, then I have a court appearance tonight.
I got it. Played one game. It's good. All good. Scoring *feels* easier, but hard to tell after only one game on default settings. (4-2, Sweden - Belarus. Insert Tommy Salo Joke here.)
I got it. Played one game. It's good. All good. Scoring *feels* easier, but hard to tell after only one game on default settings. (4-2, Sweden - Belarus. Insert Tommy Salo Joke here.)
Sweden? Who plays as Sweden?! Ick.
Driving over right now to get it. Will have to wait until tonight to play.
Abner review.
NHL 11 is the best game EA Sports has ever made. The gameplay is certifiably brilliant – the best I have ever seen in any EA Sports game – ever.
edit: Added quote.
You guys suck. Now I have to skip out of here early and play a game.
Oh, wait. That's awesome!
After a 8-3 win and then a 10-2 win I'm moving up from Pro to All-Pro. Too easy on default so far.
I just played my first game, with my Ultimate Team.
It's awesome. The new puck physics are really cool. The Ultimate Team mode seems like it will suck up the majority of my time.
Psycho and I just had 2 amazing games. So many awesome details and organic moments. I lost both games and I don't care because it was so friggin' cool.
Good impressions, Jayhawker.
As far as my theory on shooting, and I'm hardly a great player, but I generally try to pull the goalie out of position, and adjust my shot aim to compensate for what the goalie does. You're generally going to get more goals if you can get a shot off from the slot, as the goalie can't hug the post and shut down most of the net. Seems like I have better luck going stick side, but there's no scientific basis for that.
I've only played two games so far, but it seems like rebound goals are going to be a bigger factor this year with the new physics.
I played the season opener with my Sabres this morning, and had quite the barn burner on the difficulty on higher than Pro (All Star?). I took a 2-0 lead into the third against the Senators. They scored with about ten minutes left, then potted one with less than 30 seconds left and their goalie out of the net. I won the draw, got the puck to Vanek, who worked himself into the slot and scored with 9.7 seconds left. It was exciting.
Finally, they leaked the new Sabres' sweaters this morning, and they need to unlock them in NHL 11 now.
I played the season opener with my Sabres this morning
Wait, there are people that actually like the Sabres, too? Dogs and cats, living together... mass hysteria!
I played a season mode game this morning and got my ass handed to me by the CPU-controlled Senators, 3 - 1. I'm playing Hardcore game style with increased fatigue effect and decreased recovery to get all lines reasonable ice time. My third line defense got caught on a long shift and got burned on a breakaway. It was an amazing goal as the CPU player pushed the puck ahead to get some distance and then deked Ward out into the parking lot. You truly do not want to give breakaways to the CPU, they'll cash in.
I simply can't get over how "hockey like" the games feel. Very few things feel scripted, the puck is lively -- be sure if you're using hardcore to turn down the CPU accuracy one notch since otherwise they have even more of an advantage with the manual passing -- and it's just so damned fun.
I had a blast with the 2 games I played with Coldie last night. All the little details really add to the experience. Afterward, I played one game online with my ultimate hockey team or whatever the hell it's called. I lost 2-0, but I didn't feel like the game was out of my reach. A few more good scoring chances and I think I could have won.
Anyway, if we're doing a league I'll take the Sharks. If not, feel free to seek me out online if you want a game.
I'd love some suggestions from you guys on what goes through your mind as you begin to take a shot.
I'd love to tell you wonderful wisdom but as anyone who plays me often knows quite well when I shoot the only thought that goes through my mind is apparently SHOOT HIGH GLOVE SIDE. What can I say, I get in ruts.
EDIT: In more depressing, slightly off-topic news both Psycho and I noticed that the trade-in price of the game was $25... as we were laying down our $59.99 to walk out with it. What a racket, eh?
TheCounselor wrote:I played the season opener with my Sabres this morning
Wait, there are people that actually like the Sabres, too? Dogs and cats, living together... mass hysteria!
Yep, those are the people that bought all the tickets when the Sabres played the Canes in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2006.
What difficulty level are you guys playing on? I'm outshooting the CPU by a lot on All-Pro(Or is it All-star? I forget). As Toronto, just outshot Boston by 41-7 in a 5min period game...
Won the game 4-0, which seemed realistic given the number of shots I got.
How aggressive do you keep your forechecking and such?
Well, I poke check a lot in the neutral zone and force them outside with my forwards, then check them on the outside with my defense. Don't do that much forechecking, really.
Hmph. 36-10 in shots the game after in my favor. I lost 5-2.
Also, I've got a player in HUT that I cannot figure out how to get into my line-up. He appears in My Collection, but he is not even among my scratched players. I don't mind waiting to plug him in until I improve my shooting and build up some contract cards, but how do I activate him? The only options seem to be Discard and Send to Trade Pile.
Do you need to give him a contract? I plan on doing some serious HUT when I get home, and hopefully that should be soon!
Here's a question for everyone. My copy's winging its way to me via GameFly, but I wonder if a concern from last year is still hanging around. Other than scoring seeming a little too difficult at times, is there finally some distance between the players? By which I mean, are the elites really elite? I remember watching the Caps play about a year and a half ago, and not only did the crowd catch its breath when Ovie got the puck, but you could see everyone on the opposing side think "Jesus Christ, not this guy again" whenever he did, and every shot felt like it might nestle in the twine.
Now, I know that Ovie's a special case, and certainly there aren't a cavalcade of players in the NHL capable of making people that afraid, but it's a gripe that i've had with EA games for a while now. Last year, the league's elite scorers never really felt like elite scorers to me, i'd get my 3rd-liners scoring more than their fair share of goals, even with limited ice time. Do the really good players feel really good?
EDIT: Roughly 4:25 in. Bleurgh.
Yeah, that was a good game, JayHawker. I screwed myself by trying to get too cute with the passes from the goalie.
One tip for scoring: if you're looking to get shots from the point through, and pick up some rebounds, you might want to shoot it low. It works, just like in the real NHL. Imagine that.
I haven't played with any elite players yet, but I can tell the difference between an NHL guy and a minor leaguer that I'm using on my Ultimate Team.
I should have played the demo. Think it's too late?
I booted up the demo and played one game, and nothing happened when I logged back in. I deleted the demo after that. I'd rather just pay the $2 then spending my time trying to get free packs from the demo when the full game is out. Of course, now I know for next year.
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