For the first time since John Vanbiesbrouck on the cover of NHL ’97, a Goaltender will grace the cover of an EA Sports NHL game. Martin Brodeur from the New Jersey Devils, and Sergei Bobrovsky of the Columbus Blue Jackets, were voted by the fans, as the final two, with only one being able to be on the cover of NHL ’14.
So, without further adieu, let’s reveal the winner of the cover vote, for NHL ’14!
The developers of NHL have released more details on their upcoming NHL 14, scheduled to release September 10 in North America.
Details about the new enforcer engine, and the Official E3 Trailer have been released upon the masses of hockey fans.
NHL 14 ENFORCER ENGINE TRAILER
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMxd8W6r3hA[/youtube]
OFFICIAL E3 NHL 14 TRAILER
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRdHDI4f2IM[/youtube]
Full details on the new Enforcer Engine can be found at the link below:
http://www.easports.com/nhl/news-updates-gameplay/article/nhl14-developer-diary-enforcer-engine
Don’t forget to pre-order NHL 14 for exclusive pre-order content at your favourite game retailers! Details on NHL 14 pre-order bonuses can be found at the following link:
http://www.easports.com/nhl/news-updates-gameplay/article/nhl-14-pre-order
The developers of NHL have released more details on their upcoming NHL 14, scheduled to release September 10 in North America.
Two aspects, the new collision system, and gameplay aspects, have been revealed in the past weeks.
NHL 14 COLLISION PHYSICS TRAILER
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6tggtJBe7c[/youtube]
NHL 14 ONE TOUCH DEKES TRAILER
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjJd6-9I2oM[/youtube]
Full details can be found at the links below.
http://www.easports.com/nhl/news/article/nhl14-developer-diary-one-touch-dekes-t-p-s
http://www.easports.com/nhl/news/article/nhl14-developer-diary-collision-physics
Don’t forget to pre-order NHL 14 for exclusive pre-order content at your favourite game retailers! Details on NHL 14 pre-order bonuses can be found at the following link:
http://www.easports.com/nhl/news-updates-gameplay/article/nhl-14-pre-order
You know NBA Jam don’t you? Of course you do. Everyone loves NBA Jam. With it’s BOOM SHAKALAKA and it’s ‘You’re on fire!’. But what if, you want to play NBA Jam, but don’t like basketball? Maybe you’re a hockey fan? Imagine, NBA Jam, but on the ice.. Sounds awesome right? Well..
Released into arcades by Midway in November 1995, and ported to Playstation (1996) and Windows (1997), 2 on 2 Open Ice Challenge brings all the fast paced action that NBA Jam provided, onto the ice, allowing for big checks, ridiculous shots and goal nets that catch fire.
26 teams consisting of 3 or 4 players to select from make up the rosters. However, with the Playstation and Windows versions, the Winnipeg Jets are replaced with the Phoenix Coyotes, as well as various roster moves that happened in between the arcade and console/PC versions, with commentary on all versions, albeit not the greatest commentary, from then Chicago Blackhawks announcer, Pat Foley. (who by the way is a secret character in the game, but more on that shortly)
This game is very fun to play. It’s not the best graphically, but this is more about the fun than the look, even though from the Playstation version I was using, I am positive I could see the likenesses of Mike Modano and Jaromir Jagr, just to name a few. Even in a single player experience, it’s extremely enjoyable, and even though the periods are only three minutes long, this is more than enough time, due to the sheer fast-paced nature. Defensive skills can be left at the door, as this is all about scoring more goals than your opponent.
The abundance of secret characters has continued from NBA Jam, however with a different mix. Gone are Bill Clinton and Al Gore, enter the creator of Mortal Kombat Ed Boon, and ‘Mr. Hockey’ Gordie Howe. These, as well as many more secret players, can be accessed using the initial system used to keep records of previous matches.
Overall, 2 on 2 Open Ice Challenge may not be the best and greatest hockey game in the marketplace, but it could very well be the most fun you and up to 3 of your friends will have with a hockey game. Now if only they made a 2013 version..
More details have been released, as to how the Enforcer Engine will be integrated into NHL 14. They were revealed as hidden Easter eggs in the NHL 14 trailer released recently. For those who didn’t catch the Easter eggs, here’s a detailed look at what they were, courtesy of.. http://www.easports.com/nhl/news/article/nhl-14-easter-eggs
This sounds like that the game could mean that the game may continue at times, whilst a fight is starting, which would be good, but only it if it seamless and not some kind of loading screen in between the two. Post-Fight Celebrations seem pointless. All-in brawls of yesteryear could finally make it into a video game! The days of when Steve Ott, Sean Avery and Krys Barch would take on entire teams, only without biased Boston Bruins commentary, as in the video below.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-D09wj5VtU[/youtube]
Real Fight Damage sounds like a good idea, but unless they have a lot more close-up shots of players, there isn’t really much point, as you don’t see faces of players all that much, unless they score goals or have a lot of hits/saves etc. All good ideas on paper, but it will be interesting to see how these look when the game hits shelves this September.
The sequel to one of the greatest games of all time (NHL 94), has returned! This time with legends! For the first time since retirement, you can play as such greats as Wayne Gretzky, Jeremy Roenick, Patrick Waaaaahhhh, Chris Chelios and Mario Lemieux. Play as them in the all-new Be A Legend mode, (which is Be A Pro mode, but rather than use a created player, you use a legend) and they can be placed in any team you wish. Have you ever wanted Super Mario as a Chicago Blackhawk? Or Gordie Howe scoring goals for the Toronto Maple Leafs? Or Gretzky back playing for the Oilers? All this can happen. However, don’t play as Roenick, and send him to the Dallas Stars to play. After just four games of the regular season, JR had 11 points (7 goals, 4 assists), and 25 PIM (mostly due to a game-misconduct I received five minutes into one game), and yet this was more than enough reason for the Stars management to send him down to the second line, because I wasn’t good enough. I knew the Stars hated star centres in the past (see Richards, Brad), but this is ridiculous.
However, with that saying, there isn’t really much wrong with this game. The gameplay is more refined, so it plays like a real hockey game. Players now jostle in front of the net for that tap-in or vital block. Goalies can now fight, be it Goalie on Goalie, or Goalie vs Skater. The Winter Classic is modelled to look just like the real thing. The commentary is still the same however, with Gary Thorne (who can also be heard on MLB 2K11), and Bill Clement, saying the same old things they used to, with a few minor differences. The arenas still don’t really feel like the actual arenas. I know it says that the Stars play at the American Airlines Center, and that the Buffalo Sabres play out of the Brett Hull Memorial Arena, but it just doesn’t feel like the arenas. The music played before, during and after the game isn’t the same as that played in real-life. They made an effort to fix this stuff for Madden 12 (even though that sucked), why couldn’t they do it for NHL 12?
The controls are similar to NHL 11, so fans of previous incarnations will find it easy to play. However, the CPU has been amped up a little, so you’ll find it a little harder to smash teams 10-0. The same leagues from NHL 11 are still in the game, and the national teams still aren’t licensed, which is a shame, because it would be fun playing in the KHL (which is Russia’s #1 Hockey League), especially considering the tragicness of the plane crash that killed pretty much the entire team of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, which included former NHL stars Pavol Demitra, Ruslan Salei and Karlis Skrastins. It would be a good way to honour that side, by being able to play as them in the game, maybe EA will add that side in, as a bonus for NHL 13, as a memorial.
The graphics improve each year, with the legends looking like their real-life prime counterparts. The breaking of the glass is a nice new feature, in which you can now break the glass, with the opponent’s head. The gameplay is as slick as an ice-hockey game can get, it’s seamless regardless of which mode you play. The lifespan is long, with Be A GM, Be A Pro, Be A Legend, Hockey Ultimate Team (which is my favourite mode, where else can I have a second line of Derek Roy, Joe Thornton and Paul Stastny), plus the EA Sports Hockey League returns for those fans of playing online.
Even if you own NHL 11, buy this game. It may not be the game NHL 11 was, but it’s the closest thing you’re gonna get to it.
The year is 1998. Before EA Sports bought the rights to everything and nobody could make any sports games. Acclaim tried their hand at a hockey game, to compete in the competitive hockey video game market. It’s poster boy was Phoenix Coyotes Captain, Keith Tkachuk. The game was NHL Breakaway ’98
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzC-tDEdfDo[/youtube]
