NHL 11 Bringing Lots of DLC Options

If you like to pay for downloadable content in the form of attribute boosts you’ll love how NHL 11 is shaping up. The game features 156 different power-ups of various strength to choose from to be applied to Be a Pro players. NHL 10 was really the first game to introduce DLC that created competitive balance issues online as boosts were activated for those players that could then be used in EASHL. It doesn’t appear that EA has changed their mind on allowing advantages to those who are willing to pay for them. MultiplayerGames (via Kotaku) discovered the boosts which can actually be found right now on the Xbox Live Marketplace.

Boosts offered targeting individual specific attributes: acceleration, agility, balance, shot power, shot accuracy, passing, deking, face-offs, discipline, aggressiveness, checking, endurance, strength, puck control, durability, hand-eye, shot blocking, fighting, offensive awareness, defensive awareness, and stick checking. For goalies: speed, agility, shot recovery, glove high, glove low, stick high, stick low, five hole, rebound, passing, poke check, endurance, angles, breakaway, aggressiveness, durability, and vision. Each attribute can be purchased with +1 (80 MS points), +3 (120), +5 (160). That amounts to $1, $1.50, and $2.

There are also equipment boosts that allow for slots to boost attribute levels and overalls. Those are applied to skate, stick, glove, helmet, mask, goalie stick, pad, blocker, and trapper. They are +1 slot (80), + 2 slots (120), +3 slots (160).

Then you have your boost packs which go for 240 MS points or $2.50. That boosts attributes for all player types in question. Defensive defenseman, offensive defenseman, grinders, playmakers, snipers, power forwards, two-way forwards, tough guys, two-way defenseman, stand-up goalie, hybrid goalie, butterfly goalie.

One big difference this year to consider yet again is the addition of the “Online Pass” which EA hopes will get consumers to view online play as a value add-on. As with the first titles to release utilizing the “Online Pass” they have yet to produce any real bonuses and instead it seems to be just acting as a bridge to enhanced opportunities for DLC.