First Impressions of 3 on 3 NHL Arcade

3 On 3 NHL Arcade hit PSN earlier today and will arrive on XBL next week. I downloaded it and spent some time playing through so I wanted to get some initial impressions up. Going into it I was pretty hopeful considering the enjoyment that arcade hockey games have presented in the past and the very reasonable $9.99 price that comes with a downloadable game.

For an arcade game it has a nice amount of options. Three different difficulty levels, two different camera angles, three different game speeds, “play to” scores of between 5-20, having the home team alternate direction or “always up” or “always down”, and the ability to have power-ups on or off. You can use the right stick just like in NHL 09 or use the buttons. There is Play Now and Online.

When selecting from the group of players they are laid out in three different classes. All-Around, Strong, and Fast. There are advantages to each type and how you put your team together is a strategical element of the game. It would’ve been nice to be able to create-a-player and involve them but for the most part people aren’t going to spend much time picking out players. They’re basically unrecognizable and nameless during gameplay anyway.

The first game I didn’t even score a goal but since I’ve started to pick up on some strategy like how to utilize the power-ups and taking out the opponent’s goalie. Overall the fun factor of the game definitely comes through but this is going to be primarily a head-to-head or online game for any potential longevity.

I’ll have more impressions tomorrow night or Saturday. Continue on for a screen that lays out the power-ups and a full game video.