Lots of promise, but actual product is disappointing. Real-time physics look great, but gameplay took a step backwards.
Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let me then say that this game isn't anything revolutionary. It's still the same enjoyable NHL series we've all come to know and love, but given all the improvements that were promised and hyped up in this iteration, it's a bit of a let down. In fact, it's still basically the same game from '08, just with major updates to game modes, and some minor tweaks to actual in-game action.
That's basically where my disappointment stems from. The game modes, like the new "Hockey Ultimate Team" this year, show so much promise. It's an ambitious concept; the ability to create a dream team of players through a card trading online marketplace. It has certainly worked for other sports franchises like FIFA. Yet the gameplay mechanics are still impossibly difficult at times and otherwise just plain frustrating.
HUT itself is pretty cool, but feels incomplete. I feel like this is a great start, but there's a lot missing. There are a lot of practical inconveniences that prevent HUT from being what could have been such a great final product. For example, you have none of the same powers you have over your team in "Be a GM" mode, like being able to edit a player's equipment, jersey numbers, set captains. All minor things, admittedly, but couple this with not being able to save team strategies, something not so minor, and you have a product that sure doesn't feel polished. Every game you have to manually set line strategies, because the game simply won't remember them for next time. That can be a huge annoyance, and is really something that should have been thought through.
I like the ability to play online or offline with your "ultimate team", though only playing offline will leave you strapped for the online market's currency, "EA Pucks". I've found that being a latecomer to the online marketplace can leave you at a disadvantage. Even the lower-level teams you'll face will slaughter you, since they've had a head start on building up an all-star line up. Playing online can be a pretty big let down when you find yourself getting slaughtered by a team you are not evenly matched against, and without any way of escape that won't punish your record with a permanent "Did Not Finish" marker, you just have to sit their and watch the red light behind your goalie burn out. A "forfeit match" option would have done well here.
This, of course, brings up another huge flaw in the marketplace, but a predictable one. Players are more or less able to buy an all-star team with real cash, in the form of Microsoft Points. You can trade in actual money for "EA Pucks", which you can then use towards buying packs of super valuable cards. For people not prepared to invest actual cash into their game, it's a much slower and more frustrating road to the top, and it leaves the playing field way off balance. If anything, it makes it impossible to get your team off the ground without an infusion of cold hard cash.
It's not a surprising move; EA no doubt saw the profit potential in a in-game marketplace. Still, it would've been nice to separate the players who have simply bought their team from the players who aren't as well off financially. It does feel pretty unfair after parting with $70 or more for the game alone to then have to hand over more cash simply to be able to compete online.
My biggest disappointment, though, is with the actual gameplay. I don't want to sound like sour grapes here: Don't get me wrong, this game gets a lot right, but it also gets a lot wrong. While the heavily touted "real time physics" certainly look great, and hits certainly are way more explosive this year, your AI teammates have not gotten any smarter. If possible, they've lost some IQ points. I still find myself shouting at them to stop giving up on loose pucks so easily, if their able to locate them at all. Even on "Full Attack" offensively, your teammates will wait for the other team to move first.
Passing this year is horrendous. Manual passing, i.e. having to charge a pass before releasing it, is set to on by default. While it makes some sense, as it didn't seem fair for every pass to have such power to go tape-to-tape in previous years, it can still be a huge annoyance. If you overcharge your pass, it will go flying past the intended receiver. If you undercharge it, it will simply dribble out in front of you, and likely onto an opponent's stick. Trying to find the right balance can be a challenge, especially when you're attempting to go tape-to-tape-to-tape, which the AI is able to do against you effortlessly. Stringing a couple completed passes in a row is almost impossible. The game goes by simply too fast to spend time "charging" your stick for a pass.
On top of that, passing interceptions are just outrageous. No matter how good your aim, expect to see at least 30% or more of your passes go right to the stick of an opponent. Not just to their vicinity, I mean right on the tape of their stick, as if that was your intended receiver. It produces some moments of controller-through-the-window frustration, especially when you're in the defensive zone and you end up passing to an opponent practically standing on top of your goalie, rather than to an intended winger.
Hitting after the whistle is fun with friends, sure, but when playing a faceless offline opponent with a team stacked with heavyweight tough guys, it feels like harassment. Considering that if a player exploded into you in a real life game they'd be suspended or worse, it doesn't make a lot of sense to see arcade-like behaviour in a "hockey simulation" game. On top of that, you can't even skate away because your player's speed is reduced after the whistle.
What it sums up to, then, is online play that amounts to playing against a snotty-nosed preteen kid who has bought and paid for his team with his parent's cash, slaughtering you both on the scoreboard and with gigantic explosive hits after the whistle.
Again, maybe I am just sour grapes, but my point is that a more even playing field and less annoyances in gameplay could have solved that problem pretty easily. I don't mind if some people want to play an arcade style game - with gigantic hits and a stacked team. I guess I'd just like to be able to avoid having to play against them simply to be able to play HUT online at all, which could have been accomplished with separate leagues or conferences online.
With all that ranting out of the way though, there's no denying this game is a step forward. The inclusion of the CHL is a big plus, and "Be a Pro" and "Be a GM" are certainly looking better (though still not quite perfect). EA Canada simply needs to follow through on the ambitious game modes they create with actual in-game improvements.