Your Thoughts on NHL 11

by pastapadre
Posted September 7th, 2010 at 5:00 pm

NHL 11 arrived in stores today boasting real-time physics, the addition of the CHL, and the new Ultimate Team Hockey League mode. Early reviews have been expectantly positive, though the prevalence of pay-for-boosts and issues with Be a GM mode are notable. If you picked up the game feel free to leave your early impressions in the comments!

Tags: latest news

http://www.facebook.com/people/Donovan-Marston/509292428 Donovan Marston

The controls are really clunky. I’m not a big hockey fan, so I’m no authority, but I prefer the now discontinued 2K series. It was just much simpler to control, yet it seemed deep enough for those that mastered the games.
TheDCD

Not trying to spam here, but here are my thoughts. http://www.gameplaybook.com/reviews/nhl-11-review-xbox-360-playstation-3/ Really good, a little repetitive from last year but still fun.

http://www.facebook.com/JayNoc Jamar C. Anderson

Do you expect a game to change differently every year? You can only go so far with skates and controls.

Turningblue

The action of the game is slower especially at the Pro level. It’s harder to hold on to the puck and shooting from the point is a more difficult than it was in NHL 10. Regardless, I still think that this is the best game out there bar none. With this release and Madden 11 I won’t be a productive member of society until February…okay, maybe April…

Megamante360

madden 11 is garbage no offense =)

Dougieis2fresh

no its not
Dougieis2fresh

no its not
Dougieis2fresh

no its not

Fudgebar

Chalk me up also as a fan of the 2K Hockey also….The EA NHL game this year is better than NHL 10 but only marginally, 2K had better more realistic puck physics and player attributes

Fudgebar

Oh and another thing….the NHL series by EA from NHL 08 to NHL 11 has been the most overrated sports video game ever. Yes I will agree that NHL 08 was a major stride in the right direction for the game, but since NHL 08, it has taken baby steps each year and has remained by and large very much the same and the Franchise/Be a GM feature is deep in some areas but embarrasingly shallow in other areas such as the lack of boxscores, around the league updates, and a general overall feeling of playing ‘alone’ No sense of life whatsoever

G0nucksG0

You’re an idiot. NHL 10 is one of the best sports video games of all-time. NHL 11 only improved on it, and by a lot.

Anonymous

Dont fall for the bait. The 2k cronies are trying to get you. They are like a cancer that spreads from one game to the next. The only cure is the dismantling of 2ksports.

JR

I don’t understand why you waste your time trying to pick fights?
Anonymous

I find it funny that people pick sides. I would prefer 2K and EA flourish. That means more options for gamers. Who cares which game is better? Wanting a specific company to fail is downright idiotic. I am not a fanboy of any company. I hope the NFL does not renew with EA so we can get some competition up in here. I enjoy Madden but the evolution is moving slowly.

Same goes with the MLB.
Joeyland

More then u think feel this way

Bend Ovie

You’re all on copious amounts of crack or some other mind altering substance. NHL is better than the 2K series ever was. I too enjoyed 2K and its skills competition/outdoor hockey/etc, but it is/was nowher as good as NHL. This year is no different (yes I am aware 2K is only on wii now).

NHL 11 is definitely worth picking up.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Donovan-Marston/509292428 Donovan Marston

Ok, I believe you. I just had more fun with 2K. Course I don’t follow hockey.

Anonymous

Of course you did……..smh

http://www.facebook.com/people/Donovan-Marston/509292428 Donovan Marston

What’s your problem?

Anonymous

Oh what, you can dish it but you cant take it HUH. You have a pretty short memory there 2kfanboy.

Think real hard and maybe you will see the irony of the situation.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Donovan-Marston/509292428 Donovan Marston

Are you talking about Madden and 2K? Do you know me? Because I don’t seem to know you, so who are you to call me a fanboy?
Anonymous

I enjoyed a few editions of 2K hockey especially in the early 2000′s when EA decided that arcade hockey with humor would fit the consumer best. Yeah, it was brutal….

Although I like EA’s game better over the past few years, 2K added some cool touches such as playoff beards, the Winter Classic and the zamboni mini-game was awesome. I rented it just to drive that damn zamboni for hours….

One thing I would like EA to fix in regards to visuals is the ice. 2K’s ice looked natural.
Anonymous

Oh what, you can dish it but you cant take it HUH. You have a pretty short memory there 2kfanboy.

Think real hard and maybe you will see the irony of the situation.

Fudgebar

I think you my friend are the one that is smoking the cheap stuff that is clouding your judgement and depth perspective, because the NHL series, including 11, is shallow and has always been a shallow sports game with nice animations (altho quite repetitive)

NHL 2K8 is still one of the greatest Hockey games closely followed by NHL 2K5, but lets just compare NHL 2K10 (not their best) to NHL 11 (EA) just for giggles:

2K10 has a superior franchise mode with a more immersive sense of updates, boxscores, and around the league action

2K10 gives you the ability to jump in and play any matchup in your league if you want to mess around with other team games or just simply play out the Stanley Cup playoffs with different teams

2K10 still has a more realistic faceoff engine with scrappier fighting for the puck

2K10 still has more lively and organic puck physics that more realistically flutters, flips, spins and ricochets off of players and objects. (Altho NHL 11 has improved somewhat this year)

2K10 has much better defensive control, in the NHL series trying to play defense is like trying to control a marble with chopsticks

2K10 has more realistic and more varied goalie animations (except for the infamous FLOP) Altho NHL 11 has improved here too

2K10 still has better and more realistic neutral zone play

2K10 has a more overall organic feel to the shooting physics and all around play versus the NHL series that just feels like it is too much on rails from time to time

However NHL does have the broken sticks which I like and the physics based checking engine which is headed in the right direction but still feels to similar to last year’s scripted checking system. Not enough of a difference. NHL 11 is good but not great…and it is extremely highly overrated.

Also Madden sux this year and is inferior to NCAA 11, and their Live Basketball game has always been crap.

In fact, I think the FIFA series and their MVP and NCAA Baseball games were EA’s crowning achievements!

2K Sports has deeper more sports minded programmers that know how to capture the game better. They just need help in the motion capture department. Many of 2K’s animations feel a bit stiff and stilted…and lack a certain polish and human fluidity. But their game engines are DEFINITELY deeper than EA’s…that’s the truth…Ruth
Semoredhawk28

As a St. Louis Blues fan I am very disappointed and completely confused why Scottrade Center is not the home arena for the Blues? Last year all of the correct logos and names were on center ice and the announcers actually referred to it as Scottrade Center as well as the title screens, now it’s just St. Louis Blues arena. Nothing has changed with the naming rights to the arena between now and last year’s game, why would they go out of their way to remove it?

Gamerz

probably not EA’s call. thered be no reason for it.
Anonymous

Could be a licensing issue. Many of these arenas have the huge Corp name attached and to use that name costs some dough…You would think the company would want free advertising but the almighty dollar usually wins…Again, this is speculation…
Anonymous

Could be a licensing issue. Many of these arenas have the huge Corp name attached and to use that name costs some dough…You would think the company would want free advertising but the almighty dollar usually wins…Again, this is speculation…
Anonymous

Could be a licensing issue. Many of these arenas have the huge Corp name attached and to use that name costs some dough…You would think the company would want free advertising but the almighty dollar usually wins…Again, this is speculation…

Gamerz

great as always. best crowds of any sports game belong to the NHL series.
Jonblack13

I bought it for the PS3 and I’m selling it to a friend tomorrow and buying the XBOX version. Maybe it’s my setup (I doubt it because the XBOX and PS# are connected the same way) but the PS3 version looks horrible compared to the XBOX 360 version. I booted up the PS3 version and the demo on the XBOX and it blew my mind how different they looked. How can this be? It’s the same game. Really ticked me off. I had planned to spend the night playing it but just could not get myself to do it knowing it looked so much better on my XBOX. Anyone else notice this?

Anonymous

I like the feel of the 360 controller over the PS3 controller. It is the R2 and L2 buttons that I hate. They don’t feel as firm.
Anonymous

I like the feel of the 360 controller over the PS3 controller. It is the R2 and L2 buttons that I hate. They don’t feel as firm.
Anonymous

I like the feel of the 360 controller over the PS3 controller. It is the R2 and L2 buttons that I hate. They don’t feel as firm.

Rda03c

Anyone want to start a “Fire Ian Cummings” Facebook page?

We need Competition!

yeah

Anonymous

One word: Frustrating.

The new Physics system is cool, but the feel of everything is off…The speed is a little floaty and they took out the ability to invite friends in OTP. It’s ridiculous. I have 4 friends that play Team Play with me and I can only play with one at a time.

Not only that it is nearly impossible to hold on to the puck if you get touched and no players can field a pass….I’m no rookie at this game and was dominant on OTP last year, so this is a bit disheartening.

NHL is my favorite sports game franchise and I am quite disappointed. I expect a patch soon to fix a few things….

Megamante360

maybe you need to adjust or you suck?

Anonymous

One word: Frustrating.

The new Physics system is cool, but the feel of everything is off…The speed is a little floaty and they took out the ability to invite friends in OTP. It’s ridiculous. I have 4 friends that play Team Play with me and I can only play with one at a time.

Not only that it is nearly impossible to hold on to the puck if you get touched and no players can field a pass….I’m no rookie at this game and was dominant on OTP last year, so this is a bit disheartening.

NHL is my favorite sports game franchise and I am quite disappointed. I expect a patch soon to fix a few things….
Pumpiron38

Once again the best sports game out there. Always a few tweaks they could do such as new voice comments from the announcing team, but the broken sticks and new puck physics are great. Addition of the CHL, OHL and QMJHL are icing on the cake. This game will play fresh for a long time.
Lonnie

i have owned and played every EA hockey game since they started making them and owned and played a few 2k hockey games as well and after spending most of the day playing this one i have to say…this is the best hockey game i ever played..everyone has a right to their opinion and i respect it,so i hope you respect mine…the only problem i had was,i had to increase the passing accuracy and i increased the passing speed,after that it played just the way i want it to..the addition of broken sticks,the chl and they give more options in the create a team,although there could be more logos…i do not play online,so i can’t judge that part but there are enough game modes to keep this gamer on the ice for a long time,or at least till nba2k11 drops.
LivngDead

Jury’s still out for me. I was a 2k kid for years, tried the Demo since they were the only game in town this year for 360, was in love with the demo.

This is the first EA game I’ve Bought in years. Whether i made a good choice or bad remains to be seen.
ryan

Best sports game ever. Period. And this will be supported when it wins sports game of the year. Any hockey fan that isn’t a fan of this game is confused.
Ericfollman

NHL 11 builds on the greatness of NHL 10. It is more realistic more animations and the EASHL has improved alot. ALmost all my time is spent in the EASHL but i could see myself playing the ultimate team a litlle bit. And Pasta the pay for pay boosts even is someone were to pay for all of them doesent make them superman. They are of course better then thier opponents but not by an unbeatable margin. and you dont have to pay for them

Darkfudge

I think NHL 11 is the best version EA has made yet…but I still think it lacks the dynamic and organic play that makes 2K’s Hockey games so much more immersive and intense. The puck physics and the lack of a neutral zone game still has EA’s game somewhat lacking

http://twitter.com/rezluk Kevin Kulzer

this game is amazing goty

Darkfudge

NHL 2K8 is still one of the greatest Hockey games closely followed by NHL 2K5, but lets just compare NHL 2K10 (not their best) to NHL 11 (EA) just for giggles:

2K10 has a superior franchise mode with a more immersive sense of updates, boxscores, and around the league action

2K10 gives you the ability to jump in and play any matchup in your league if you want to mess around with other team games or just simply play out the Stanley Cup playoffs with different teams

Darkfudge

2K10 still has a more realistic faceoff engine with scrappier fighting for the puck

2K10 still has more lively and organic puck physics that more realistically flutters, flips, spins and ricochets off of players and objects. (Altho NHL 11 has improved somewhat this year)

2K10 has much better defensive control, in the NHL series trying to play defense is like trying to control a marble with chopsticks

Darkfudge

2K10 has more realistic and more varied goalie animations (except for the infamous FLOP) Altho NHL 11 has improved here too

2K10 still has better and more realistic neutral zone play

2K10 has a more overall organic feel to the shooting physics and all around play versus the NHL series that just feels like it is too much on rails from time to time

Darkfudge

However NHL does have the broken sticks which I like and the physics based checking engine which is headed in the right direction but still feels to similar to last year’s scripted checking system. Not enough of a difference. NHL 11 is good but not great…and it is extremely highly overrated.

Also Madden sux this year and is inferior to NCAA 11, and their Live Basketball game has always been crap.

In fact, I think the FIFA series and their MVP and NCAA Baseball games were EA’s crowning achievements!
Schmitty72691

These are all opinions and I strongly disagree with all of them. If NHL 2K10 was superior, why didn’t it win more awards? Because it was garbage.

Darkfudge

2K10 still has a more realistic faceoff engine with scrappier fighting for the puck

2K10 still has more lively and organic puck physics that more realistically flutters, flips, spins and ricochets off of players and objects. (Altho NHL 11 has improved somewhat this year)

2K10 has much better defensive control, in the NHL series trying to play defense is like trying to control a marble with chopsticks

Darkfudge

NHL 2K8 is still one of the greatest Hockey games closely followed by NHL 2K5, but lets just compare NHL 2K10 (not their best) to NHL 11 (EA) just for giggles:

2K10 has a superior franchise mode with a more immersive sense of updates, boxscores, and around the league action

2K10 gives you the ability to jump in and play any matchup in your league if you want to mess around with other team games or just simply play out the Stanley Cup playoffs with different teams

http://twitter.com/rezluk Kevin Kulzer

this game is amazing goty
Beef Jerky Fanatic

not as good as madden 11
Beef Jerky Fanatic

not as good as madden 11

Megamante360

madden 11 is garbage!!
http://twitter.com/amassicott alex massicott

Madden 11 is great
Chugsy16

your an idiote madden is horrible this year

Keith.

I just wish they’d make the broadcast camera angle actually look like a broadcast tv camera angle. The one they’ve got is terrible and hasn’t been changed in 4 years.
Def

10 was better !!
Beef Jerky Fanatic

nhl needs new commentary badly

Nystyle4683

I love the game but wish you could turn the damn autosave off

Anonymous

Top notch game as expected. Some of the early reveiws complained of game speed and frequency with which sticks break in the game. Both of these items are slider controlled as are many other features of the game.
aaron 77

i think the game is pretty decent for sure. franchise mode needs work tho , still seem that they pass aweful lot when the comp has the puck . dont understand why they have like 20 songs in there when u have people like us that can add 100′s to make it more realistic, this goalie mask thing is gay as hell beapro still only has the defaults and u cant use any of the other ones that are in the chl…ohl in be a gm no idea why they keep doing this. be a pro made could use some serious work if ur not gonna do anything with the mode then just leave it out and concentrate on the actual game .dont know what the deal is with the puck always landing on the goalie shoulders then just staying there .wish they would take that card idea they have going on and make it towards old superstars like bossy and coffee get those cards and unlock them for the next years draft so they can be drafted. that would be a kick ass idea. let us make our own goalie masks , like how teambuilder has there own site for ncaa make something like that for nhl , how cool would that be.. i like the game alot tho im holding off on the francise till they get this ahl situation straightend out .
turf12

I’m enjoying the game, but I am curious why the Nashville Predators’ arena is called the Nashville Arena. It should be called the Bridgestone Arena.
C Tryon

As a strictly off-line user, this years game was a big disappointment for me in terms off ice improvement. I like the addition of the CHL, however it is hardly even used…(really only in be a pro for 4 to 6 games)

Overall I like the one ice action (though I would love to see better puck physic instead of the canned crap they’ve given since 08…)…Broken sticks add to realism of the game, and the new hitting physics are great. Glad that the suction like hitting is gone, and you see a lot more missed checks. They still need to do something with the stamina…players never get tired when playing 8 min periods…

If this is the type of improvement they give next year, you can count me out…

Schmitty72691

your joking me right? the improvements to Be A GM? What did you expect…ridiclious

Shawnguzik

hate how u cann’t play with ur friend in a franchise mode like madden. PLEASE get ride of GM MODE. we want to control more then 1 human team
Shawnguzik

hate how u cann’t play with ur friend in a franchise mode like madden. PLEASE get ride of GM MODE. we want to control more then 1 human team
Nick

I think you should be able to create your own celebrations… like you could make it so you drop your skick and act like its on fire (like ovechkin!!!) or you could throw your stick into the crowd. it would also be cool if you could shatter the glass on the boards!!!